Tuesday, December 22, 2020

2020 in Review's... Books I've reviewed in April 2020...

 


No matter how hard you try to put your past behind you, it always manages to catch up with you and make you question your decisions. Those unexpected events that leave you feeling as though there’s nowhere to turn, nothing can change the outcome.


Aimee's life hasn't always been easy. She made a choice a long time ago to make a difference. She wanted to prove to those who doubted her that she was strong and could survive anything. The youngest in her firm, she was made partner, and her life was exactly as she wanted it to be.
Or was it?
Remy was strong and confident. He lived a life most men would die for. Dominating the corporate world during the day and partying with socialites at night, he had everything he needed.
Or so he thought.
One changing moment.
One drastic decision.
Together, would they truly be able to discover why it’s real?
  
My Thoughts

Emotional rollercoaster is how I would describe Why It’s Real.    There are so many emotions and tugs at the heart that I wasn’t always sure exactly what I was feeling.   I love how real Remy and Aimee are.   They started as no-strings attached, then went to having feelings but not being willing to tell each other, to love, to hate, to love.   It was an up and down, sideways, and backwards ride that ended up exactly where it should be.    

The friends of the couple were wonderful.   They didn’t choose sides, they gave advice even when they weren’t asked, and they pushed Aimee and Remy to figure out what they wanted and go for it.  The understood their problems but didn’t let it get in the way of their friendships.    Every couple or person needs friends like Aimee and Remy do.  

Why It’s Real is not a light and easy story.   There are hardships, tough love, and heartbreak but it all comes together to be a story that I am still thinking about. 


Brendan

The moment I laid eyes on her, I knew I needed her. Her beauty and grace took me by surprise

and beckoned to my soul.

Now that I finally have her, I will do anything to keep her.

Letting her stay will be the easiest decision I’ve ever made. 

Brynn
He was just another customer until he wasn’t. His presence called to me like nothing else ever
has. 

He wants to keep me and I want to let him, but there are things he doesn’t know about me. 

Will he let me stay when he finds out the truth? There’s only one way to find out...

After all, 425 Madison Ave is the perfect place to fall in love!

My Thoughts…
Let Me Stay is the last book in the 425 Madison series.   Each book is its own story with just the setting of 425 Madison being the same.    The characters in each book has amazing characters, wonderful love, and a unique story.   Occasionally you will recognize a secondary character but really each is an entire story on their own.  
Brendan and Brynn have a unique relationship.   They meet while Brendan is at a bachelor party and Brynn is working at the bar.    The attraction they feel is instant and steamy.   The fact that they were both virgins didn’t stop them from going home with each other, starting a relationship, and falling in love.    I did feel they rushed the entire relationship, he claimed her before they had even gone on a first date, I think that’d I’d want more romance, for their relationship to slow down a little.  

Let Me Stay is a fun and quick read.   I enjoyed this entire series, both season 1 and season 2.  I am left at the end of season 2 hoping that there will be a season 3.   
Only on Amazon + Read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited



They promised to tell their spouses they were leaving and then meet to begin their new life together. But he never shows up.

A new twisting novel of psychological suspense from the acclaimed author of Gone Without a Trace.

Coworkers Ruby and Harry are in love--but they're married to other people. They decide to tell their spouses that their marriages are over and to start their new lives together. Ruby, who has wanted to leave her controlling husband for a while, tells him she's leaving him and waits at the hotel where she and Harry are to meet. But Harry never shows up.

Suddenly, Ruby's life has fallen apart, and she's lost everything. Harry won't answer her calls, and she's fired from her job. She finds a cheap apartment in a run-down part of town, all the while wondering what happened to Harry.

Just as Ruby thinks she's hit rock bottom, strange and menacing things start to happen--someone is sneaking into her apartment, and someone is following her home late at night--and she is going to have to fight for her survival.
My Thoughts…
Um, hello!  Stalker!!  But who is the stalker?  Is it Tom?  Is it a stranger?   I had so many guesses and I’ll tell you that by the end there was no one who was not in question of being the stalker.  
I felt bad for the way Ruby’s life was going but after reading how Tom was treating her, I know that she needed to getaway.   There was probably a better way to do it but sometimes circumstances force your hand.    She took the steps to start her life over and became reliant on herself.   She found a place to live, a way to make money, and a way to be her own person.  
This wasn’t a new style of a thriller, but it was a fun thriller.   It kept me entertained, it kept me turning pages, and I’ve already recommended it to a couple of friends.   If you are needing to escape into a book that will keep you reading The Closer You Get is the book you are looking for. 
Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads
Purchase your own copy on Amazon

From “the next major voice in Southern fiction” (Elin Hilderbrand) and the bestselling author of the Peachtree Bluff series comes an odd couple tale of friendship that asks just how much our past choices define our happiness. 


It’s summertime on the North Carolina coast and the livin’ is easy.


Unless, that is, you’ve just lost your mother to cancer, your sister to her evangelical husband, and your husband to his executive assistant. Meet Gray Howard. Right when Gray could use a serious infusion of good karma in her life, she inadvertently gets a stranger fired from her job at the local pharmacy.

Diana Harrington’s summer isn’t off to the greatest start either: Hours before losing her job, she broke up with her boyfriend and moved out of their shared house with only a busted Impala for a bed. Lucky for her, Gray has an empty guest house and a very guilty conscience.

With Gray’s kindness, Diana’s tide begins to turn, but when the one that got away comes back, every secret from her past seems to resurface all at once. And, as Gray begins to blaze a new trail, she discovers, with Diana’s help, that what she envisioned as her perfect life may not be what she wants at all.

In her warmest, wittiest, and wisest novel yet, Kristy Woodson Harvey delivers a discerning portrait of modern womanhood through two vastly different lenses. Feels Like Falling is a beach bag essential for Harvey fans—and for a new generation of readers.


My Thoughts…



Feeling Like Falling is the story of two amazing women, Diana and Gray, going through different trials in their lives. Diana has finally left her boyfriend after years while Gray is going through a divorce from her cheating husband.   Through unique circumstances they come together and build a friendship that helps them find their happily ever afters.  

Gray and Diana are so different, but their friendship shows that where they come from and what their circumstances are do not matter.   They lean on each other and create a friendship that helps them heal from their pasts, move on to their futures, and find a happiness that they both didn’t know they craved.   I love the relationship between Gray and her son and how she put her son above the dislike she felt for her husband.   She made life easy for her son all while making sure that there was a relationship between father and son.    Diana was strong and held her own, she knew what her goal was and was willing to put in the work to make it happen.  

My heart is full after reading Feels Like Falling.   I felt so many emotions and had so many hopes as to how this story would go.   Kristy Woodson Harvey has written a book that I could not stop reading.  I was invested in the characters, able to picture the settings, and feel the emotions of the story.    


Buy Links:  ·       Bookshop.org  ·       Simon and Schuster    ·       Indiebound  ·       Amazon   ·       
Barnes & Noble   ·       Books-a-Million  


NEW RELEASE........
Fall in love in Harmony Pointe, where hearts are lost, found, and sometimes misplaced…and everyone get a happy ever after.

If a woman can’t find love in the quaint town of Harmony Pointe, it’s sure to find them—whether they’re looking for it or not. Here, the remaining single Dalton siblings are about to discover that they’re next in line to get swept away by love. A sweet and sexy spin-off of Melissa’s beloved Sugar Lake series.

What are two besties willing to risk for something more? The New York Times bestselling author of This Is Love has the answer in this fun, sexy, and emotional romance about friendship, family, and giving love a chance. 

Something is off in Piper Dalton’s life, and she has a feeling it might just be her. All her siblings are blissfully settled with their forever loves. But while her sisters were dreaming of white weddings, Piper was left heartbroken and commitment phobic by her first love, her best friend’s younger brother. As a woman dominating the male-driven construction industry, Piper has no interest in turning in her hammer for an apron—even if hot and hilarious Harley thinks otherwise.

Burly bar owner Harley Dutch has a bum ankle and two preteen nieces to take care of, and having his best friend, tough-as-nails and sexy-as-sin Piper Dalton, come to his rescue is just the remedy he needs. Piper is her snarky self, and she kind of sucks at caregiving, but she’s owned his heart for years, she’s got a way with the girls, and Harley would sure like to have his way with her…

As things heat up between Piper and Harley, she warns him not to fall in love with her because she’ll only break his heart. Harley is the right man for that challenge—until he makes the biggest mistake of his life, and they begin to wonder if true love really can conquer all.

My Thoughts…

Oh, Harley!   You are amazing.   He has had feelings for Piper for so long and has kept them guarded while waiting for Piper to see what is right before her eyes.    Even while keeping his feelings to himself, he protects her, he helps her, and he sees her for the amazing woman she is.   He doesn’t want to make her a girlie girl, he loves how self-sufficient she is, and he loves how well she can use her hands.   

Piper, open your eyes girl!   There was no doubt that she saw Harley for what he was but every other guy she’s dated has wanted her to change her as their relationship progressed and she has a fear of losing herself if she falls in love.   Too bad Harley has other plans for them and she has no hope in keeping her heart to herself.   

The honesty, the love, the friendships, and the fun are exactly what I was looking for.    Harley and Piper are so perfect for each other and so in tune with each other.   They know when to push when to pull, and when to step back.      I so love this story.   Melissa Foster wrote the perfect happily ever after. 

Available to buy from...



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