Protecting The Billionaire by Christina Tetreault
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Protecting the Billionaire features Allison, a member of the Sherbrooke clan, and Rock (Rocco), a marine intent on protecting those he cares for. Rock, who met Allison previously at his sister Addie’s wedding, finds himself entangled when he plays the part of fake-boyfriend for a night. The two quickly hit it off and turn fake into real.
Wrong Question, Right Answer by Elle Casey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Wrong Question, Right Answer is the third book in Elle Casey‘s Bourbon Street Boys series. It stars Toni, the resident prickly and tough lady of the BSB.
I read and enjoyed the previous two books in this series, and Toni was always a curiosity with a dark past that involved jail time. We learn what made her the way she is and how she copes with working through it all. Though Lucky is never a viewpoint character, we also learn more about how he is handling moving past his sister’s death (which was touched on in book two). The overarching challenge they endure is predictable following their alcohol infused encounter at the beginning of the book.
My Goodreads Rating: 4 of 5 stars
My Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
I’ve read Jenny Holiday’s 49th Floor series, and have enjoyed her mastery of character development. In The Fixer she delivers again on characters, with Jenny and Matthew noticeably evolving throughout the book.
Jenny is a college newspaper editor-in-chief who wants to fix everything, embarking on a mission to save the college’s historical art building. Matthew is an artist who comes from a rough background, and just wants to be left alone. Their initial impressions of each other drives home the concept of ‘never judge a book by its cover’, but over time they open up.
667 Ways to F*ck Up My Life by Lucy Woodhull
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you’re looking for a book that’s
1. entertaining
2. hilarious
3. and engaging
then 667 Ways to F*ck Up My Life is for you. It stars Dagmar, who begins the story at the lowest of lows, having dealt with
4. losing her job
5. losing her crappy boyfriend
6. and being abandoned
so it’s not shocking that she drops a mic on giving a f*ck. Dag takes control and starts living life for herself, doing what makes her happy and not holding back to please an ideal others thought she should uphold. In the course of this, she temporarily adopts the persona of Giselle, and
7. meets a wonderful guy
8. who she can’t fall for
9. because she’s lying
10. and this obviously won’t end well
Once Upon a Duke by Sandra Masters
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Once Upon a Duke is an early 1800s romance story of a widowed lady, Serena, and a rakish duke, Geoffrey. The two engage in flirtations immediately and things heat up quickly from there. Early on Geoffrey suggests that Serena should become his mistress, but she wants love and commitment after her disastrous first marriage.
This book had an interesting plot with two major drawbacks: I didn’t feel much emotional attachment to the characters, and there was an overwhelming amount of dialogue–especially dialogue centered around exposition. Don’t get me wrong, dialogue is great and occasional exposition is necessary, but often actions (even in books) speak much louder than words. It’s the cardinal rule of writing: show, don’t tell.
The Concordium of Cyliena 