Review 4/5: Off the Grid (The Lost Platoon #2) by Monica McCarty

Brittany Blake is an investigative reporter who wants answers about her brother (a Navy SEAL) when he comes up missing. She decides to try and find out why her brother has basically disappeared and no one will tell her what is going on. She finds herself in the middle of a huge cover up and a secret mission that her brother was involved in. 

John Donovan was Brandon’s best friend and fellow SEAL. He was there on the secret mission that went terribly wrong. John is living off the grid keeping a low profile after what happened. That all changes when he finds out that Brittany is in danger. He feels like he must protect his best friends sister even if that means she won’t want him around once she hears the truth about her brother and his disappearance. 

I really enjoyed the plot line for this book. I didn’t realize it was part of a series until I was writing this review. I would love to go back knowing that and read the first book. I feel like I was missing something from this storyline when I was reading this book. I now know that I was since this was the second book in the series. I would suggest reading book one first, but you can read this one without the fist book. I just think it would have helped me understand more of the story for this book if i had read the first one before this one. 

The book was full of suspense and then there is the chemistry/history between the two main characters. John and Brittany spent some time together five years before this story actually takes place. Brittany really liked John but he was a player and told her to stay away from him. We later learn that Brittany’s brother Brandon had told John he needed to figure out what his intentions were with his sister. He told John to marry her or let her go. They were in the Navy SEAL program and having a serious relationship was going to be hard, so John opted for telling her he didn’t have feelings for her. 

Fast forward five years and Brittany is trying to figure out where her brother is and what happened while he was on a secret mission that she shouldn’t even know anything about. Someone had given her secret information leading her right to where John is. This is where my rating goes from a 5/5 to a 4/5. Brittany tracks him down and before they can speak even two words to each other they are making out in a bar. Okay, so he tells her that her brother is dead. She travels half way around the world, and finds out about her brother. Now she is really angry with John. So what happens next? They have sex… The sex was really well written and it was a very steamy scene. I just felt like that wasn’t the best place to insert a sex scene. As soon as the sex was over, they were back to arguing and her being mad at him. I just wished they could have built a desire that would have led to sex. Maybe it’s just me, but five years of not talking then finding out what he knew, wouldn’t make me want to have sex with a man who had lied to me and hid the truth about my brother. 

Aside from that, I really enjoyed this book. They have to go on the run together and they try to figure out who was behind everything that happened during the mission where some of the SEAL’s lost their lives. I would recommend this series if you like a romance that has a mystery/suspense aspect to it. I’m happy this is a series. I would love to learn more about the men from the platoon and see how their futures turned out after the mission. 

                                                 

Review 5/5: Cowboy Heartbreaker (A Wrangler's Creek Novel) by Delores Fossen

Allie and Ryder are the main character in this novella and are best friends. They are part of a group of four friends that have been friends since preschool. They all worked for the the Grangers at their ranch. Allie was their large- animal vet and they called her Dr. Good Girl. The nickname actually was perfect for Allie. Ryder was the opposite and more of a bad boy. 

At Curt’s wedding we find out Allie has a secret. She has always had feelings of more than friendship with Ryder. The morning after the wedding Allie and Ryder discover that they have spent the night in the hayloft of the ranch drinking and playing strip poker. They didn’t have sex, but they can’t unsee parts of each other that they saw that morning. Things take a complicated turn while they try to sort out where to go from here with their friendship. 

They go back and forth with the conflict of deciding what to do until they spend a heated night together. When they wake up the next day, they know what they want. Now it’s time to tell Ryder’s sister Bree….

I really enjoyed reading about the heated relationship between Allie and Ryder. They seem to have serious chemistry. I understand the conflict that they are going through since they have been close friends for most of their lives. I’m glad that they didn’t hold back and they went for it! I always say this with a novella, but I wanted more! I would have loved to read more about the two of them and more backstory about the friendship between the four friends.

I was shocked that Bree was so chill about Ryder and Allie being together. I figured she would be more sarcastic and have more questions about what was going on based on the way her character acted in beginning of the book when they were at the wedding. I’m glad she was cool with it, but it’s not like she has a say really. If two people want to be together you aren’t going to be able to stop them. So overall, her reaction was a positive thing. 

I love a good cowboy romance and I will look into her other books in the future. It was a good quick read. The sex scenes weren’t as descriptive as other books, but for me it was fine that way. It just left me wanting more of Allie and Ryder’s story.  

              

Review 3/5: Delta: Ricochet by Cristin Harber

Delta: Ricochet is the 4th book in a series. This book follows the story of Colin and Adelia. Colin works for Delta Team as a team leader and goes on missions all over the world wherever they are needed. Adelia was rescued as a teenager by a motorcycle gang from being sold by her father to traffickers. Mayhem, the motorcycle gang, then raised Adelia. The first part of the book lays the story of how Colin and Adelia get together.

Colin does not trust Mayhem or think they are good people and Adelia loves them like family, this causes some tension between them. Adelia gets into some trouble with Mayhem as well as some other very bad people. She ends up on the run and is in hiding. Colin finds her and ends up shot. Adelia does not trust Colin’s team and Colin does not trust Mayhem. This makes Adelia run away to solve her problems by herself. Everything works out in the end and they end up together.

I found this book slightly confusing in the beginning. There were several characters introduced right away that were probably in previous books. Without reading those books prior to this one, it made it hard to keep track of who was who. There were also references to what I assume happened in previous books without much information which made it hard to follow.

There were also several errors editors should have caught. There were words where they did not make sense, incorrect words, and duplicate words. This was very distracting at times.

The book was suspenseful and action packed. It took me quite a while to get into though since I had not read the three previous books. Once I got passed the initial confusion of who all the characters were, I did enjoy the book although it was a bit drawn out. The love scenes were red hot and sensual. The plot of the love story was better than the rest of the book in my opinion. I found it unfortunate that Adelia did not trust Colin from the beginning and ran from him. They could have worked well together. All in all, this book did not make me want to read the rest in the series.

Review 5/5: Dirty Deeds (A Get Dirty Novel) by Lauren Landish

                                     

Dirty Deeds is the 3rd book in a series. This book can be read alone or as part of the series. Maggie is a reporter for a local tabloid who is currently undercover working as a waitress in a strip club. She is working at the strip club to get the scoop on celebrities who visit the club. Shane is the head of security at the club.

The attraction and sexual tension between Shane and Maggie is palpable. Neither is willing to act on their attraction since getting involved with one another is against the rules of working at the club. They continuously get thrown into situations together which makes it harder for them to not act on their attraction.

Maggie ends up the only witness to a crime which makes her a loose end that needs tied up. Shane tries to keep her safe from two different mob families and a hitman and they end up on the run. They do not know who they can trust. Shane promises to keep Maggie safe. While on the run together they can no longer fight their building attraction. They fall hard and fast for each other. After being on the run for a few days, they obtain some unexpected help and are kept safe. The love they have for each other is so strong and they did not fight their feelings for one another.

It was very refreshing to read a book that did not have the couple break up briefly only to then realize they love each other. They had a couple rocky moments, but never ran away. They faced their problems head on. Shane was upset at first when he found out Maggie (who he thought was Meghan) was actually a reporter, but he had a secret he was keeping as well so he did not stay mad long.

This book is full of action and red hot sexual energy. I love mysteries with romance mixed in. I really enjoyed this book and will be checking out the other books in the series in the future.

                            

Revenge: A Lawless Novel Book 3 written by Lexi Blake

                                                     
               

 

Nobody falls harder than a Lawless brother, and Drew Lawless never thought he'd fall prey to the clutches of a woman and spiral down that tunnel called love. But there’s just something about Shelby that has him all twisted inside and refuses to let her go, no matter what she has to say about it. It's his way, or the highway.

 

Drew Lawless is rich, powerful and sexy, who could resist such a perfect male specimen? Shelby Gates, that’s who. Sure, she'll have her fun, because, why not? But when she becomes trapped by her own heart, things get real messy...

 

The third book in this series is one that I have been waiting for (not so patiently I may add) Lexi definitely did not disappoint! I have loved every book that she has written. When book 2 ended with that finally chapter my heart dropped, now, Drew has a new enemy in his sights and only Shelby can help him. He cannot have his siblings caught in the crossfire of this enemy.

 

Then toss in an unexpected brother and the shit hits the fan! Who is he, who does he work for? Drew doesn't trust him and Lexi writes his character to perfection and even I was kept in suspicion the entire book!

 

I did not want this book to end, and with a new brother in play, I'm curious if another book is in Lexis brilliant mind. I'll be making grabby hands as soon as it's available that’s for sure!

 

Make sure you read this series, you don't want to miss a single piece of action! It's SO worth it!