Something Old

 Title: Something Old

Author: Toni Collins

Paperback 

Pages: 186

Publisher: Silhouette (Now Harlequin)

ISBN: 9780373089413

Release Date: June 1993

Book Details: Standard paperback dimensions.

Where To Find It: Well here’s the thing, friends, it looks like second hand may be your only option. I’ve checked Harlequin for eBook format, Barnes and Noble, and there’s just nothing. Thrift Books is the only place I’m finding it right now.

Time that the story takes place? Current day of 1993

POV? Third Person

What caught your eye? Vampires baby! It was just such a shock to find that Silhouette was publishing a Vampire novel in their normal monthly offerings. 

Did you enjoy it? I did. Of course I did, Vampires are involved.

Was it predictable? It is.

Was it sexy? Tame? Very tame. 

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? I wouldn’t say laugh out loud funny, I certainly smiled at particular scenes. Very entertaining.

Would you read it again? I would actually. I mean, I did for this review.

Is this part of a series? Yes and no. This isn’t part of a series by the author, but of Silhouette that month, You’re Invited Series. There were five books: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and Lucky Penny. And perhaps I’m misremembering, but I truly don’t recall Silhouette doing a theme month like this. All the books were released in June (clearly a thing about June Weddings), they weren’t interconnected in anyway, save for the titles. Does anyone else remember Silhouette doing this for other months? Let me know if you do remember.

Let me start out this review with an apology, this book is just nowhere, as stated above, it looks like second hand is going to be your best bet. But I am shocked and stunned that it isn’t at least available as an eBook, which is a shame as this is a sweet book. Also, I truly couldn’t find anything about the author. There were several authors that popped up with that name, yet not one of them claimed to be a writer of romantic fiction.

Okay, moving on!

Gabriella “Gabby” Thorne is our adorable leading lady. She works for the International Intruder which is a tabloid magazine similar to Weekly World News. Elvis is alive and well and communicating with aliens and making werewolf babies and all that jazz, you get the point, and our Gabby is one of the reporters there.

We have to talk about Gabby for a minute. I wasn’t being condescending when I said she was adorable, because she is, she really and truly is. She dresses in overtly bright colors, royal blue sweaters with neon green leggings and hot pink ballet flats, which all go fantastic with her copper hair. The thing that I really appreciated in the writing of Gabby is that as the character is reflecting on being in love—which she has never been—and recounting her crushes and interests, she includes the crushes she’s had on actors and rock stars. Which is something that I’ve never seen acknowledged before in a book. I love that the author recognizes how important those fleeting crushes (for some of us, obsession, might be a better word) on celebrities are. Unrealistic? Sure. Valid? Hell, yes.

Thank you Toni Collins for giving us fangirls that one.

The book starts off with a group of women around the water cooler commenting on the fact that they haven’t gotten a glimpse of their new owner and our hero, Adrian Lacross, an 900 year old vampire who was, and I guess still is, a 12th century prince.

And this is where we come to my first off the record rant: Why isn’t this book longer, bigger, turned into a weekly television show that gets four movie sequels, rebooted for the modern age, all the books are re-released with new covers and we can all sit around and complain how the “original” was way better than this crap they’re trying to peddle now? 

This book is jam packed with stuff that deserved more than 186 pages. I haven’t even gotten to the part where Gabby’s grandfather, Otto—who has raised her and her brothers since the death of her parents—has raised the children on stories of the great Van Dammes, Vampire hunters in the old country. 

And . . . Adrian’s arch enemies!

Otto knows Adrian, he’s known Adrian since he was eight years old. And now his granddaughter has got the feels for him.

Seriously, why the hell wasn’t this book longer? It’s all gold, pure double dipped gold. I could go on and on about the little bits of awesome in this book, which I don’t think I’ve stated clearly enough is only 186 page long. There’s seriously too much awesome to go into, but we’re here for the romance.

Sure the romance aspect of this story is predictable, as it should be when you read something from Silhouette Romance, the leads are going to get together. It’s just a matter of how to make it all work out in the end. 

As is classic with most Vampire romances, the undead hero longs to be mortal again, to live the mundane life of going for walks in the sun, going out during the day, getting married and having kids. Did I mention that Adrian has hired a company to develop this super duper extra special sunblock that would allow him to go out in the sun? I’ve read a few piles of Vampire novels in my time, romantic and just regular fiction, and never has a Vampire thought to make a freaking sunblock that would allow him to stroll about in the sunlight. Come on, that one’s awesome.

The conflict of the romance is the history of the Van Dammes and Adrian Lacross, the romantic aspect of this story is gentle and pleasant. Gabby and Adrian get along well enough for them to become smitten kittens. There’s no sex in this book, mostly heated flirtations and kissing. Adrian is rather old fashioned in his courtship ways and Gabby isn’t one to just go for it, she’s waiting for love. It’s really the other parts of the story, I don’t think I mentioned nearly enough, is only 186 pages long, that round out the story with more than sufficient conflict for the characters to overcome.

If you are lucky enough to find this book, grab it. Yes, it’s tame, but damn what a story. And I really meant it, I wish this were longer than 186 pages.

As Twilight Falls

 Title: As Twilight Falls

Author: Amanda Ashley

Paperback (eBook is also available)

Pages: 360

Publisher: Zebra Books 

ISBN: 9781420130393

Release Date: 2013

Book Details: Standard paperback dimensions.

Where To Find It: I bought my copy years ago from Target. However, as I was doing research for this title, I see that there’s been a new release of this book. New ISBN, new cover (and sorry, not a great cover), and new higher price. I’ve only been able to find it on B&N, but I imagine that other booksellers would be able to get this for you.

Time that the story takes place? Current day

POV? Third person

What caught your eye? First thing: Amanda Ashley, the woman can write Vampires like no one else can. I have double copies of a few of her books, I love them so much.

Did you enjoy it? I really did.

Was it predictable? Yes and no. Not in a bad way, just in a “I’ve read this author enough I know what to expect,” way.

Was it sexy? Tame? Tame at first, then pretty sexy. 

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? Not funny. As far as being entertaining, just the premise of the story was enough to keep me turning the pages.

Would you read it again? I would.

Is this part of a series? The Morgan Creek series.

This is going to be one of those times that I don’t do the deepest of dives into a book, only because I don’t want to spoil it for you. What I will say, out of all the Amanda Ashley books I’ve read in my life—which believe it or not, isn’t all of them, yet—this was the scariest one. 

I honestly feel like Amanda Ashley and Stephen King had lunch together one day and this plot was hatched.

Kadie Andrews, a photographer, is in desperate need of gas. Seeing a gas station on the other side of a bridge that looks barely able to sustain the weight of a car, and with storm clouds threatening rain any moment, Kadie decides to go for it and races across the bridge.

The gas station is out of business. 

She tries to call the auto club, no cellphone service.

This is when Kadie meets a nice English gent who informs her she’s going to freeze in her car and suggests she come with him to the tavern. He assures her she’ll be safe with him and takes her to the tavern where she can get a cup of coffee. 

He also informs her that the hotel is out of business. But there’s an empty house that she can stay in, the former occupants are not coming back. 

Naturally this all seems a bit bit sketchy with Kadie, she’ll sleep in her car, she’s done it before and she’s not afraid to do it again. Her new friend informs her that isn’t a great idea and insists that she stay at the house.

And against better judgement, she does.

Now, gentle reader, this is where my normal review of the book stops. Why? Spoilers, baby! All I will tell you is that the town is a trap. Once you’re in, you can’t get out. A coven of Vampires own/run the town and keep the people there as a food source, would you believe there’s a love story involved in all of this?

And while this is a love story, this is also a truly terrifying book. The occupants of the town are unable to leave. No matter what they do or how they do it, they are trapped there. They also have no choice in the matter of being fed on. While the coven is mostly men, there is one woman in the coven of Vampires who apparently makes her chosen target do “evil and sick things.” The coven cares for their human captives as best as they can, providing food and shelter, they have no reason to work—though many of them do just to have something to do.

I actually wish this were the size of a Stephen King novel, because there is so much going on in this book, that you really want to see the outcome of certain things. Seeing as there are two more books in the series, I’ll have to give them a look. 

The book isn’t overtly violent or overly sexual, it has a nice balance of both. And I was actually fooled—even though I’d read the back of the book—that the hero, Saintcrow, doesn’t show up right away. I thought it was this other guy that was going to be the love interest and my brain apparently forgot because when the hero did show up, I was all, “Oh, wow . . . holy cheese, okay.” 

One of the best parts of the book is when Kadie, now living in the hero’s house, is told to go through some catalogs and get “whatever she wants,” and thinking that she’s going to teach Saintcrow a lesson and makes a list of the most expensive things she can find. Upon giving him the list, he looks it over and asks, “Is that all?” He doesn’t even blink at the stuff she’s asking for. 

This is a great book to curl up with on a cold autumn night with some wind whipping through the trees. 

My only complaint of the book—and I realize that this is a series—is that this book just wasn’t long enough. I truly wanted more story. Again, yes, I know this is a series, but when you read it, I think you’ll know what I mean.

Wonderfully spooky, perfectly frightening, and appropriately romantic, this is a great read for those days that are getting shorter. 

Taming The Beastly MD

 Title: Taming The Beastly MD

Author: Elizabeth Bevarly

Paperback (at this time only eBook is available)

Pages: 177

Publisher: Silhouette (Now Harlequin)

ISBN: 0373765010 (ISBN on Paperback) 9781426886140 (eBook)

Release Date: Originally April of 2003 (ebook version 12-27-10)

Book Details: Standard paperback dimensions

Where To Find It: I got mine in a small bookshop that is no longer in business. However, it appears that all the books are available in eBook form.

Time that the story takes place? Present Day, at least in 2003 present day.

POV? Third Person

What caught your eye? The title. I have a collection of Beauty and the Beast stories, and I saw this one and added to the collection.

Did you enjoy it? I really did.

Was it predictable? No.

Was it sexy? Tame? Considering this a Silhouette Desire, the heat level is a touch more than their other lines at the time. Honestly, by today’s standards, it’s pretty tame.

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? Not funny, but certainly entertaining.

Would you read it again? I would and I did.

Is this part of a series? It is! This is part of Dynasties: The Barones. This was the first book I noticed in the series and the first of any series like this. Each month a new book by a different author would come out following another member of the Barone Family or someone involved in it. I remember vividly seeking out and collection all twelve books and enjoying the story arc immensely. 

As I mentioned the other day, I’ve been scanning all my books into Library Thing. The problem with all this scanning is that I’m going through all the books and having to pause every other book to study it and remember that I enjoyed it and now must read it again. 

Taming The Beastly MD is a delightful spin on the classic Beauty and the Beast trope. We have Dr. Matthew Grayson, a wickedly talented cardiologist who isn’t known for his warmth and compassion. Heavily scarred from a lion attack when he was a child and on safari with his parents, Matthew’s scars have kept just about everyone away. Even as a teenager, the scars have garnered looks and inspired revulsion.

Nurse Rita Barone is the sunny and bubbly nurse working under Matthew and unbeknownst to her, has been carrying a torch for the pretty nurse for some time now. 

When a homeless man is brought into the emergency room, it is Rita who calms the man down, assures him that all will be well, and that Dr. Grayson is the very best man to care for him. To Matthew’s surprise, she sounds as though she means every word of what she’s saying to the man.

A gift is left for Rita, with no note. A pewter heart with a Band-Aid over it. She wears the pin in the hopes that the secret gift giver will reveal themselves. As time goes on, more gifts are left, none of them with a note. While Rita at first thought the gifts were cute and sweet, she’s now starting to wonder if she has a stalker and confesses her concerns to her sister.

During all of this, the Barone company: Baronessa Gelati is having a big fancy shindig and Rita is going stag. Which she’s fine with, no big deal. While waiting for her sister, Rita encounters Matthew in the hospital lounge and the two sit and have a chat. When Rita’s sister comes to pick her up, she looks at Matthew, points and says, “Why not ask him?”

While Rita tries to give Matthew an out as she figures such a function wouldn’t be interesting to someone like, he surprises everyone by saying he’d love to go with her. 

The two have a lovely time together at the party, so much so that Rita ends up going home with Matthew. The shocker of the evening is Matthew’s discovery in the moment, that Rita is a virgin. The huge misunderstanding that ensues is actually rather believable. 

Rita didn’t tell Matthew she was a virgin because she honestly didn’t think it mattered. He on the other hand is offended by those words because he believes that she thinks he wouldn’t care—that it wouldn’t matter to him.

And honestly, I thought that bit of writing was awesome. So often in some of these books, virginity is treated like some sacred status that can only be breeched by The One. Rita doesn’t hold this status as precious. If anything, it just wasn’t something she’d ever gotten around to. She works a lot and the hospital isn’t exactly a place to meet men.

Matthew’s pride is stung because he’s touched by the honor of being Rita’s first, he’s taking is seriously. After years of being looked at with disgust by his fellow humans, the woman that he’s secretly loved for years gave him the ultimate gift and she didn’t think it would matter. 

The two do not speak for at least two weeks, even though they are working in the same hospital.

A wicked blizzard has hit the city, and Matthew is worried about Rita walking the fifteen blocks back to her house. He convinces her to come home with him as he only lives just around the corner. 

The two talk and end up making love, having resolved the misunderstanding. Matthew even asks Rita to stay the weekend with him, until the storm ends.

The ending is predictable in that Matthew confesses he’s the mysterious gift giver, but it only started out by accident with the first gift as he accidentally forgot to leave the note, and it wasn’t until later he’d realized what had happened and was too self-conscious to come forward. 

Now as I stated above, this is part of a twelve book series that follows this family and the sabotage attempts against the company. I remember enjoying the entire series and for the life of me, I have no idea where I put the remaining books.

Have any of you read this series? Are you familiar with the author, as I honestly can’t say if I’ve read any of her stuff before, but I really enjoyed her style. It was easy to read and conveyed so much with so few pages. I actually read this twice over the weekend. Also, has anyone read any of the other Dynasties? I see there are several out there. Let me know 

Dear Jane

 Title: Dear Jane

Author: Marissa Clarke

eBook

Pages: 109 (on my phone it says 137, Entangled website says, 147. There’s an excerpt for the next story in the series. The entire story was about 109 pages.)

Publisher: Entangled

ISBN: 9781633758599

Release Date: 1-9-17

Book Details: eBook, customize your reading experience.

Where To Find It: I found this on the Entangled website and bought it from Barnes and Noble

Time that the story takes place? Current day (most likely in 2017)

POV? Third person 

What caught your eye? I had read Love Out Loud and loved it, saw the sample chapter and the price was very reasonable.

Did you enjoy it? I did.

Was it predictable? No, not really.

Was it sexy? Tame? In an odd way, I feel that this was tamer in the sex department than Love Out Loud. It has a very 'friends to lovers' feeling, but it never felt forced or silly. It worked.

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? I found it amusing that a seemingly accomplished woman can’t seem to get a second date . . . I say that with a smile as Jane, for all her smarts and talent, things just happen. Sweet things, but she does seem to have some bad luck on first dates.

Would you read it again? I probably will.

Is this part of a series? This is the first book in the Animal Attraction series. The other two books are Love Out Loud and Three Day Fiancée.

Disclaimer: I had trouble focusing on this book not because the book was poorly written, life was happening at record speed and I read this book as a “break” from life. If my review seems less than it normally it is, that’s why.

Dear Jane. First of all, it is adorable. Yes, it’s sexy and sweet and has some seriously hot moments, but at the core of this book it was adorable.

This was the second book I’ve read of Marissa Clarke and the thing that I’ve appreciated in both Love Out Loud and Dear Jane is the believability and naturalness of the characters and the relationship that’s developing. Nothing feels rushed, if anything, these two are taking their time . . . the reason for that is made clear in the first few pages of the story.

Jane Dixon works at her father’s law firm. She comes from a family of lawyers, her father, her brothers, are all lawyers. She’s good at what she does and always seems to need to prove herself to her father.

Eric Blackwell is up and coming lawyer also working at the Dixon law firm. He puts in long hours, gives up weekends, and is up for junior partner. Everything he’s ever wanted is months away: becoming junior partner.

Jane calls herself the One Date Wonder, she hasn’t had a second date since grad school. And it isn’t that she’s a bad date, things just happen: accidentally spilling ice water in her date’s lap, knocking over a candle and setting the table on fire, you know normal stuff. Or, she goes out with a man that can’t handle art and giggles at nude sculptures or the guy who played a video game on his phone during the entire date and didn’t even notice when Jane left to go to the bathroom . . . and had dinner at the place next door and only came back to her date to get her coat. You get the picture.

Eric is one of those gents that strives for security in life because he never had it as a kid. His father died young and the marriage between his mother and father was not awesome. Protecting and providing for his mother has been a huge part of why he does what he does and why he is the way he is. Also, tears are his undoing, he can’t cope with a crying woman, it breaks his heart.

If you read the sample chapter from Entangled, you’ll see that Eric is just trying to help out the frazzled receptionist at the beginning of the story and deliver an arrangement of flowers to Jane. And Eric is stoked, he’s had a crush on Jane for two years, however . . . the company has a strict no dating policy so he couldn’t make a move if he wanted to.

Jane is shocked and delighted by the sight of Eric coming in with flowers. Until he says that they’re not from him. Reading the card, Jane is pissed and hurt, another Dear Jane letter (or card if you will) and she’s had it, tears are forming, voice is choked and Eric can’t handle a woman breaking down.

This is when she tells him the disastrous track record she has with dating.

So, he does what feels right, he gives her a hug to comfort her. Only he’s feeling those great curves, and his noble brain is short circuiting. He tells Jane that he knows lots of guys that would love to date her.

“You’re on!”

Thus begins a series of dates that Eric sets up for Jane. However, on the first date, he receives a text from Jane “Mayday! Mayday!” The date was a disaster and the two talk, watch a movie, have popcorn and beer, whilst Eric bonds with her grumpy cat Gandalf. 

This goes on for weeks. Terrible date, Friday night movie at Jane’s.

Eric has fallen head over heels for Jane and can’t continue this platonic torment and sends her a text that he’ll have to miss their Friday movie, he’s got work to do.

From here the story takes the natural course of action. Sexy time. Cuddle time. It’s all good.

I won’t give the whole story away, but rest assured, it ends really well. While I saw certain aspects of the story coming, at the same time, I didn’t see them coming the way they did. A touch of whimsy, but overall, the story felt very organic and legit. I really felt like these two people were relatable and people either you know or would want to know.

It was a quick and easy read. I read this entirely on my phone and had no issue reading the screen. Never had to enlarge it or anything.

But absolutely give this one a go. I also got the third book in this series and I’ll be reviewing that just as soon as I finish a few other things.

Happy reading!

Love Out Loud

 Title: Love Out Loud

Author: Marissa Clarke

eBook

Pages: 218

Publisher: Entangled

ISBN: 9781649373526

Release Date: 9-6-22

Book Details: It was an eBook, so you can customize your reading experience.

Where To Find It: I got an email from Entangled about new releases and this title was mentioned, I read the sample chapter on the Entangled website. I bought it from Barnes & Noble.

Time that the story takes place? Current day.

POV? Third person omniscient 

What caught your eye? The sample chapter and the price was pretty reasonable.

Did you enjoy it? It was excellent!

Was it predictable? Not at all. I mean, you’re expecting the HEA, so that was pretty predictable . . . I saw the set up for the final push, but as far as the story goes, no, I didn’t find it predictable.

Was it sexy? Tame? It was smart sexy. It was cute sexy. Plus, it was just cute.

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? Very charming and very entertaining.

Would you read it again? Oh, yeah.

Is this part of a series? It is. The other two books are Dear Jane and Three Day Fiancée. 

Sometimes a book just hits all the right notes, and this book certainly did that for me. Marissa Clarke is a new author to me, I wasn’t familiar with her work, but I will certainly check her other offerings out after this.

The story is pretty simple and straightforward. Fiona, our leading lady, is a vet who has won an award for working with pets that belong to the homeless. She’s shy, introverted, but still spunky. She’s more comfortable working and talking to animals than humans.

Now with this award she’s being given, she’s expected to make a speech, which is just a huge ass NO for her. It’s not happening, she doesn’t speak in front of people. Her feelings on the matter are very relatable.

Enter Jacob, the hot guy that lives in her building that she’s been crushing on for a while. And guess what? He’s the speech coach that’s been hired by the vet clinic to help Fiona prepare for this speech. 

Jacob is afraid of dogs.

Already the set-up is excellent. Shy girl doesn’t speak in front of crowds and loves dogs. Confident man is very comfortable with people and is terrified of dogs.

The story flowed really well. I mean, just shockingly well. I kept waiting for all the normal crap that such a set-up would involve. And thankfully, none of the normal stuff happened. 

One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Fiona goes to her first session with Jacob not knowing that this would be a group session. She’s not pleased, at all. And she informs Jacob that immersion therapy doesn’t work for her. Her parents are shrinks and have put her through these paces before. She’s also upset with her friends for trying to “help” her with this phobia. Jacob replies that he would be grateful and happy if his friends tried to help him with something he’s struggling with.

Fiona calls his bluff and tells him to meet her tomorrow morning for an outing, she’ll text him the time and place.

The next morning, Fiona takes Jacob to the AKC Meet the Breeds, visiting several of her clients in the process. Jacob, who is terrified of large dogs, begins to have a panic attack and tries all the techniques and tricks that he teaches to his clients when they feel panic coming on. Only to realize that none of it works. 

(This is where I feel in love with the author, because finally, someone said it. I have battled anxiety my entire life, panic and anxiety attacks are something I deal with on a regular basis, and all the tips and tricks the shrinks have ever given me have never worked. Ever. And it was so validating to actually read that part of the book. All I could think was, “Ha! It doesn’t work!”)

The other great thing about this story was the approach to sex. Fiona tells Jacob that she’s “shy, not dead.” I think so often we believe that shy and introverted people, especially women, are nervous virgins in the bedroom. She also makes this same kind of claim about her bright and humorous shirts, just because you’re introverted doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy wearing certain things or even doing certain things.

The story flow is very believable and just easy. It was never a struggle to read, I never had that moment of, “what the hell?” it was all believable. Jacob was a lovely hero who slowly comes to realize where his fear dogs comes from and decides that dogs aren’t all that bad . . . he just needs a bit more time. Fiona is a very understanding and gentle in how she helps Jacob through this. She never judges him ever; she understands his issues.

I loved Fiona and was able to relate to her on just about every level. Everything she did and said I could get behind. She was smart and delightful. Jacob was confident but not overly arrogant. He’s a good and decent guy with a good heart.

I know some people don’t enjoy reading eBooks, and I admit, I’m not always a fan. However, via the B&N Digital Library feature on their website, I was able to read this book on my desktop, laptop, and of course through the Nook app on my phone.

It’s a good, quick, and easy read. I highly suggest getting this one. It was just lovely, and I look forward to reading the other two books in this series.

Three Day Fiancée

 Title: Three Day Fiancée

Author: Marissa Clarke

eBook

Pages: 168 (Entangled says 228 pages, however there is an excerpt for another book. My ebook file says 184 pages. However, 168 was the complete content of the actual story.)

Publisher: Entangled

ISBN: 9781640635074

Release Date: 5-14-18

Book Details: It was an eBook, so you can customize your reading experience.

Where To Find It: I found it on the Entangled website and then purchased it from Barnes and Noble

Time that the story takes place? Current day

POV? Third person.

What caught your eye? I’d read the other two books in the series and had to see how the third one went.

Did you enjoy it? I really did.

Was it predictable? Not really. I mean with all romances, you kind of get a sense of how a scene might play out, however this author has a lovely knack for making you think the predictable will happen and then turn the whole thing on its head. I love that.

Was it sexy? Tame? It was pretty sexy. Nothing tame about this one. I can’t believe the snow didn’t melt in the one scene!

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? A very amusing read. I never laughed out loud, but I was certainly smiling on certain scenes.

Would you read it again? Absolutely.

Is this part of a series? Yes. This is part of the Animal Attraction Series. I read them all out of order! The other two books are Love Out Loud and Dear Jane.

I love discovering an author that already has some backlist going, I hate waiting for the next offering. Thankfully this entire series was ready to go, so I burned through them pretty fast.

First off, I have to say, I love, absolutely LOVE the fact that all three books were vastly different. There were no similarities in the three stories. Sometimes an author will get bogged down with one or two ways to fall in love and develop a relationship and it always comes out feeling manufactured. Not this author, all three books just felt so wonderfully different and refreshing. And as I stated above, I didn’t read them in order, and I never felt I was missing out on anything.

We’ve got lovely Caitlin, a woman who’s getting her life back together after her divorce from a crappy husband. She’s back in New York with her two best friends and working at Animal Attraction as a dog walker while she studies for her CPA test so that she can be the accountant for the company.

Taylor is a helicopter pilot who never seems to have time for anything. Even dating. The poor man is being run ragged by his bosses flying them everywhere and anywhere at the drop of a hat. And he has a giant St. Bernard who just swallowed something very valuable and precious. An engagement ring. His grandmother’s engagement ring.

He needs Caitlin to stay with the giant dog all day in case a biological action takes place and the ring is expelled, and well . . . you get it. 

Caitlin is not having it. She doesn’t take orders from anyone and refuses to stay, she’s got other clients to care for and on top of that, she’s had the worst morning ever, she doesn’t need to wait for a ring to appear.

Taylor skips out while Caitlin is on the phone with Jane (from Dear Jane and one of the co-owners of Animal Attraction) and leaves her no choice but to stay with the dog.

Thankfully, Caitlin notices that the dog is acting like his mouth is bothering him and discovers the engagement ring around a back molar. After cleaning the ring, Caitlin tries it on and it gets stuck. Wickedly stuck, we might have to chop off a finger stuck, okay not that bad. But that sucker is stuck.

Enter lovable Grams who has popped over to see her grandson and believes that Caitlin is engaged to Taylor. “You all were going to wait and tell me at the anniversary party!” No matter how much Caitlin has protested that she’s not marrying Taylor, Grams thinks it’s all a cover up.

Of course, Taylor sees this as a golden opportunity to finally get his grandmother off his back about dating and getting married. He convinces Caitlin to come with him, just pretend to be engaged to him for the weekend. To make his sweet grandmother happy. It’s only a weekend.

Yeah . . . we all know how this is going to turn out.

Of course we could say this was predictable. They’re attracted to each other, they have their own cabin, they’re surrounded by a picture perfect Hallmark movie set up, things are going to happen. And happen they do. In the best possible ways. It’s hot.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about Marissa Clarke’s work is that while the main characters change, they don’t change so much that they’re completely different from how they started. Growth is happening (for the betterment of the characters) but it’s never so drastic that you’d scoff and go, “Yeah, no one changes that fast for anyone.” All the change happens in such small amounts that it’s all believable.

A key scene that sticks out for me is just before Caitlin and Taylor are about to engage in some sexy time. Caitlin has snow pants that are stuck over snow boots; however Taylor is not letting that slow him down. Caitlin is in a bit of a stunned/shocked/this is funny emotion and tells Taylor, “No.” And at once, Taylor stops what he’s doing and sits back on his haunches as he thinks that Caitlin is telling him no (as in, no sexy time). He’s patient and waits and of course is immensely relieved when she means that she can’t make love or fool around with her snow pants trapped around her ankles.

If you liked the film, While You Were Sleeping, I think you’d probably like this. Granted there is no one in a coma, there’s no other brother that macks on the leading lady, however if you enjoyed the family dynamic of While You Were Sleeping, then you’ll enjoy the family in this book. They were lovely, simply lovely.

Reflecting on all three of the books, the one thing that I just realized is: for once (at least in my reading experience) the men are the ones that make the big sacrifice/the big change. The men are the ones gambling on love. They’re the ones that realize that they need something more out of life, that they’re missing out on life, and that they want all the stuff they’re entitled to in life. Normally it seems like the women are always giving something up for the men, so they can all live happily ever after. Not here. Marissa Clarke has written lovely men with believable flaws, quirks, and insecurities who are going to go after that woman they’ve always been searching for.

The other thing that I really loved in all three of these books is that while growth happens with both lead characters, it isn’t so much that they’re unrecognizable by the end of the book. The introvert isn’t magically transformed into a raging extrovert. The klutz isn’t transformed into a graceful never-miss-a-step swan. And the woman trying to get her life back on track after the bad divorce manages to stay on track to become a CPA.

Again, all of the characters are believable and likeable. Seriously, I wish I knew these people, they seem like a blast to be around. I’m looking forward to reading more by this author, I’m really loving her.

As a series: two big fat thumbs up, five gold stars, all the awards possible, and in the end . . . 

READ THIS SERIES. Trust me, you’ll enjoy them. 

A Touch of Darkness

 Title: A Touch of Darkness

Author: Scarlett St. Clair

Paperback (Available in Hardback, Paperback, eBook, and Audio.)

Pages: 379 (Even though B&N is saying 400 pages, the actual story is 379, you have author notes, excerpt from A Game of Fate.)

Publisher: Sourcebooks

ISBN: 9781728258454 (Paperback Edition)

Release Date: 8-13-21

Book Details: Paperback, 5x8, it was a bit of a heavier feeling book and the paper used is very nice. The cover has a touch of tackiness to it, it’s textured but not overly so.

Where To Find It: I got my copy through Barnes & Noble. Though I do see it is available at other retailers and Indie Bookstores

Time that the story takes place? An alternate current day.

POV? Third person limited viewpoint. Told entirely through Persephone’s perspective. 

What caught your eye? I’m a sucker for Hades and Persephone stories. I mean, what more can I say? God of the Underworld in love with the Goddess of Spring? Yes, please. I can’t lie, if you give me the alleged ‘villain’ who falls in love with a good person, I’m going to pick it every single time. I know it’s a trope, and I don’t care.

Did you enjoy it? I did, more than I actually thought I would.

Was it predictable? Honestly, no. I didn’t see half the stuff coming at me. There were a couple of points in the story where you’d kind of see the thing coming, but it wasn’t one of those eye rolling moments of “Duh, that’s been so done.” Lots of good twists and turns on what you might have been expecting.

Was it sexy? Tame? It was very sexy. A bit too sexy in a couple of places. Which shocked me at first, because honest to goodness, I thought this was a YA novel and I was doing the whole shifty eye whilst thinking, “Is this what the kids are reading now? Holy beans and cheese, wasn’t like this when I was a kid!” However, I was quickly assured that this was in fact written for adults.

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? It was absolutely entertaining. Funny or humorous? Perhaps in places, but I would say the book was more charming than anything. 

Would you read it again? I most likely will as this is part of a series, and I like to keep track of details.

Is this part of a series? *points to above* This is the first book in the series. It also looks as though there a secondary parallel series where Hades is the main head we live in. *Edit, just checked a couple of websites, and indeed this looks as if we have the same story told from two different POVs. I’m cool with that. Here’s the big question: Do I read all of the Touch Of series as they were released or do I go ahead and read the Hades book; A Game of Fate next?

I had no idea what to expect with this book. I’m a mythology nerd like a lot of people, but this was absolutely a new take on the Hades and Persephone story, and I was digging it. 

The Gods and Goddesses living among the mortals like rock stars. They’re owning night clubs and stuff. They are watched much like the Royal Family, reported about in gossip magazines and have revealing articles written about them. I just loved how normal this all was, that’s why I’m calling this an alternate current time as you have all the modern tech we enjoy as our lowly regular selves, but then there’s a truckload of Gods and stuff.

I can’t even do justice to this . . . the book was great. It had everything you could want: A lovely girl trying to prove herself to get out from under her mother’s thumb. The God of the Underworld . . . do I even need to go on there? You’ve got bitches and snarky dudes. You got contracts with Gods, you got some blackmail. You got glamour and glitz and then places that don’t even exist in our world. And the author does a great job of making you feel and see those places, I was immersed, truly from Chapter 2 (you know how that first chapter can be, we got to settle into things, get to know each other).

As stated above, this is a romance with a good deal of sexy sex in it. Those that don’t like graphic content, be warned, this is pretty explicit. The F-word is used during love making or rather pre/post coital, which at times I find a bit distracting. Now don’t get me wrong, I use that four letter word whilst making my morning toast, I’ve just never enjoyed seeing it in a moment of passion. However, the use of it in this story, wasn’t enough to distract me completely from the action. With that being said, the sex in this is pretty intense.

As this is only the first book in the series, I’m sure we’ll get more relationship stuff, but in this book, I felt it was more lust than love. Persephone is clearly attracted to Hades, even when she tries to hide it, she can’t. Most of the time, I felt as if they’re barely keeping it together. “Let’s try and pretend we’re normal lovers,” before they transport to the under realm and rip off each other’s clothing. There are tender moments, and you do see that Hades does care for Persephone’s well being, so it’s not all sex.

But man is it intense!

I tried to post links for Sourcebooks and for the author’s website, however, that was not to be had this day of posting. Sourcebooks kept giving me error messages and from what I can see, Scarlett St. Clair only has a Tumblr site. I won’t link to it in case this isn’t the actual author.