Review: Vacant by Evelyn R. Baldwin

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Vacant
(Adult Version reviewed)
Author: Evelyn R. Baldwin

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)


Ethan Parker gets up every day, surviving the only way he knows how—alone. Orphaned as a child and forced into the child welfare system, he knows better than to depend on anyone but himself. He’s learned trust is a word used all too often, but rarely earned. Ethan believes that his best chance for maintaining a simple and solitary existence is to live by a simple mantra: Don’t get involved. Keep things simple. Take care of yourself! 

When a young woman moves in next door, Ethan is forced to reevaluate his beliefs. He tries to keep his distance, but his new neighbor’s infectious smile and outlook on life leave him struggling with the decision of living the life he knows, or taking a chance on the unexpected. As Ethan develops a relationship with his new neighbor, Emily, he realizes nothing is simple and learns that life is about more than just surviving… it’s about living.

**This version contains sexual content only suitable for adult audiences.

MY THOUGHTS

I am reviewing the Adult Version of this book but there is also a clean version for the young adult crowd.  Vacant by author Evelyn R. Baldwin was a book I heard about on another blog and it sounded interesting to me.  When I purchased it at $3.99, I forgot to check out the page numbers like I usually do when purchasing e-books.  I am a firm believer that if your book is a short story/novella that is coming in under 100 pages, then the price should be no more than $1.99.  This is a personal decision, but I was a little bit disappointed in myself for not realizing that I paid $3.99 for a book that only came in at 85 pages according to Amazon.

**personal rant over…on with the review**

I have to say that I really enjoyed this short story.  I loved how Ethan came from a hard life but still had the compassion and love in his heart still to take in Emily when she was needing it.  I liked the slow build-up of their romance and the way the pace was in it.  Even though it was short, and the characters grow from months to years even, I think if the author had made this longer it would have been just words to fill the pages to make a word count.  The only part that felt rushed was the last two or so chapters.  I know that short stories need to wrap up fairly quickly, but the rushed ending was like a sprint for the finish line to make the reader happy after all the good we just read earlier.  Again, this was the adult version with their being adult like scenes of sex.  I am assuming that in the clean version, the author might have reworked those scenes or possibly cut them out.  I am not sure which so be prepared when you purchase to get the one that you prefer.

Even though the ending wasn’t what I would have wanted lengthwise, I still thought this book was written wonderfully.  The author has a great voice, one that kept me interested and wanting more.  I am currently eyeing a few of her previous works for future reads, but I am hoping they will be longer so I can enjoy it for a longer amount of reading time.

MY RATING

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Review: Sticks & Stones by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban

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Sticks & Stones
Series: Cut & Run #2
Author(s): Abigail Roux, Madeleine Urban

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Six months after nearly losing their lives to a serial killer in New York City, FBI Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett are suffering through something almost as frightening: the monotony of desk duty. 

When they’re ordered to take a vacation for the good of everyone’s sanity, Ty bites the bullet and takes Zane home with him to West Virginia, hoping the peace and quiet of the mountains will give them the chance to explore the explosive attraction they’ve so far been unable to reconcile with their professional partnership. 

Ty and Zane, along with Ty’s father and brother, head up into the Appalachian mountains for a nice, relaxing hike deep into the woods… where no one will hear them scream. 

They find themselves facing danger from all directions: unpredictable weather, the unrelenting mountains, wild animals, fellow hikers with nothing to lose, and the most terrifying challenge of all. 

Each other.

MY THOUGHTS

Sticks & Stones is the second book in the Cut & Run series by authors Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban.

You hear that? That thump-thump-thump like Bambi’s heartbeat when running from the hunter? That would be my heart after finishing this book.

Is it from the suspense? Yes.
Is it from the sexy times? Yes.
Is it from the ending that wreaked havoc on my emotions? Yes.

Instead of going through the details of book — especially since it has been out and reviewed like crazy already — I am just going to touch base on the characters and small parts of the story.

Ty — My heart aches for this man.  At the beginning of this series, I was unsure about him.  I thought he was going to be this big jackass that would never show any type of emotion except smart ass and douche. Boy was I wrong.  The first book had me pining for him but this second book had my heart breaking for this man.  At the end of the mountain journey, I almost cried at the moment he realized he loved Zane.  Then when he tried to tell him, the tears kept on coming.  Emotions like this is why I am totally Team Ty!

Zane — For some reason, I wasn’t feeling much good about Zane in this one.  He was sexy and brought his A-game with the witty banter, but I couldn’t make the connection with him.  I think it is because of his wavering decisions and at times his misplaced anger.  Zane has problems and inner demons, but Ty’s brother summed it up perfectly.

“See, some people, they’re sticky like Velcro. You’re sticky. Your problems stick to you like fuzzballs from the laundry; you take them everywhere with you and people can see them plain as day. Ty, he’s like spandex. Nothing sticks to him, and he’s shiny on the outside” 

Deacon, AKA Deuce — *wags finger* You naughty boy.  I loved Deuce probably so much because he is so much like his brother Ty.  While he can give as good as he gets, he also has a great relationship with his brother.  Then the ending scene where he is on the phone with a pivotal player in the series left me with my jaw open and wanting to slap him for it.  I am curious to see how that is going to go down if it ever comes to be known by Ty and Zane.

Mara, Chester and Earl — Ty’s mother, grandfather and father were great.  Mara was the tender but feisty mama bear that watched out for her family.  Chester was a laugh-out-loud a minute.  I don’t think I laughed that hard in a long time when he chopped up the water hose because he thought it was a snake.  He was grouchy and I wished he would have been in more scenes.  Earl was a great character and I am curious to see his reaction in the future when his son Ty shares his feelings about Zane.

Overall, I am anxious to read book three in this series.  I can’t wait to devour it and get deeper into the story of Ty and Zane.  I just need to hope that my heart can take it!

MY RATING

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Review: The Gamble by Kristen Ashley

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The Gamble
Series: Colorado Mountain #1
Author: Kristen Ashley

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Nina Sheridan’s on a timeout adventure in the Colorado Mountains. She needs distance from her clueless fiancé, distance to decide whether she wants to spend the rest of her life with a man who doesn’t care enough to learn how she takes her coffee.

Arriving in a blinding snowstorm at the A-Frame she rented, she comes face to face with the most amazing man she’s ever seen. Minutes later, when he kicks her out of his house, she goes head to head with him.

Beyond angry because she’s flown half a world away to start her timeout adventure, not to mention her sinuses hurt, she heads back down the mountain and ends up in a ditch. Unable to extricate herself, she gives up, hopes for rescue and falls asleep in the backseat.

The next morning she wakes up in the amazing man’s bed and she’s sick as a dog.

Holden Maxwell spends days nursing her back to health and then he spends the next two weeks trying to convince her to take her Colorado adventure further, in other words, make it permanent and take a gamble on him.

Nina has a tough time fighting her attraction to Max, especially when it seems all Max’s friends, her mother and stepdad and the whole town want them together and both she and Max get embroiled in the murder of Max’s ex-friend and the town of Gnaw Bone’s most detested resident – a man everyone has motive to kill, especially Max.

MY THOUGHTS

The Gamble is the first book in the Colorado Mountain series by Kristen Ashley.

First of all, if you have never read anything by author Kristen Ashley, you won’t understand the addiction of her books.  For those of you who have, I am sure you know what I mean when I say that her books are like crack for book addicts.  Sometimes you are rolling your eyes and shaking your head at the story, but you just can’t put the book down.  The Gamble was an addictive indulgence that helped ease my Kristen Ashley addiction.

Max is not a happy camper when he realizes that Nina is suppose to be renting his cabin for a few weeks.  When he is out of town for months on a construction job, he usually rents his cabin out for extra income.  When Nina refuses Max’s offer of a refund and a gruff apology, she is mad and according to Max — cute.  What follows is both of them sharing his cabin, many disagreements, sexy times that were hot, a murder in town, a fast relationship, mystery, and tons of characters. (Wow look at the length of that sentence! I must have KA fever!)

As you can see by the above sentence, Kristen Ashley books always have certain characteristics that set them apart from other books.  With run-on sentences, weird dialect (usually with the male characters), repeated ‘Yeah’s’ on almost every page, and hot male leads with the female leads giving as good as they get, you can’t help but keep reading and needing to know what is going to happen. I think my only real complaint is the length of the book.  I think it could have been cut in half — with the murderer revealed sooner — and it still would have been just as great.

The Gamble was a great way to get my fix for her writing and I can’t wait to continue in the Colorado Mountain series!

MY RATING

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Mini Review: Capture by June Gray

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Capture
Series: Disarm #6
Author: June Gray

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

The future beckons…

Elsie has given Henry three chances to win back her trust, but before he is able to complete the challenge, she finds herself faced with a life-changing decision. Elsie must ask herself an important question: is Henry just a thing of the past or does he have a place in her future?

The conclusion to the story of Henry and Elsie.

MY THOUGHTS

Capture is the 6th and final installment in the Disarm series by author June Gray.

Finally!  We as readers finally get the ending to the long and tortured road for Elsie and Henry.  We start out with Elsie looking forward to Henry planning the three dates that she challenged him to.  He has 3 dates — or chances — to convince Elsie that he is staying for good and to win her back.  But just as Elsie is preparing to guard her heart and make Henry work for it, the author throws us for another loop and obstacle.  Elsie is offered her dream job in Colorado.  She has no idea how to tell Henry this, and I was a little disappointed in how she kept it a secret.  All through this series we read about how Elsie didn’t like Henry keeping major secrets from her yet here she is doing it to him.  When Henry does find out, understandably he is upset but he also understands her need to make this decision on her own.  Henry continues with his plans to win Elsie back but also knows that she is going to spread her wings and take the job offer.

After six installments of torture, angst and obstacles constantly thrown into their relationship, I feel that the end came to a too quick of an end.  It is like the author finally got tired of writing their journey and decided it just needed to be done.  Within a matter of moments, Elsie decides she really wants Henry in her life no matter what and they become engaged.  He decides to move to Colorado with her and they get married.  I would have expected Elsie to at least have to wait a little longer than just a few days of moving before she realized this.  I also would have like Henry just to surprise her after a few weeks and showing up saying that he was proving his commitment by following her to Colorado.  But as a reader, we don’t get to choose the outcome of a story so I will just accept the rushed ending and look at the series as a whole.

This series was such a great discovery for me to find.  I loved the story of the two characters, the side characters, and everything in between.  This is one series that I am glad to have found and I am looking forward to more greatness from this author.

MY RATING

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Mini Review: Engage by June Gray

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Engage
Series: Disarm #5
Author: June Gray

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

The past has a way of catching up…

A long time has passed since Elsie’s heart was broken, since the person who always shielded her from pain broke her heart. Just when she begins to rebuild, Henry returns and upends everything all over again.

MY THOUGHTS

Engage is the fifth installment in the Disarm series by author June Gray.

When we first start reading this installment, it is five months after Henry left Elsie. We are back to reading from Elsie’s POV.  While I am a little disappointed that we have switched back to her POV, it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  The last book quenched my thirst for his side and now we get to see the fall out on Elsie’s side.  She is having a hard time moving on from Henry.  He was her happily ever after and he ripped it away from her like a mother pulling a bandage off.

Then we flash forward another 10 months and just as Elsie is starting a new relationship, Henry comes back.  He has finally found his way and himself.  He also is planning on winning Elsie back even if it takes the rest of his life.  He even drops the bomb to her that he has given up the military for her.

The first part of this book was a little ho-hum for me.  It was depressing and I really got tired of hearing about how she will never get over Henry.  Then when Henry comes back, the story takes off again.  This series is definitely one where the hero is what makes it so good.  When Henry comes onto the page it just sucks the reader in.  While I still don’t believe how he had to ‘find himself’ to make the relationship work, I agree that it did make the story richer and have the characters grow.

I think the best part about this installment though is when Henry takes Elsie to Dallas for a surprise gift.  What he reveals to her was quite a surprise in those few chapters.  Why it did seem to come out of left field and probably just something that needed to help the story arc, it was still sweet.

This isn’t my favorite in this series, but it is one that matured the characters and helped them find their own way.  I am looking forward to reading the final book in this series and I am keeping my fingers crossed that Henry doesn’t blow it again! Bring on the HEA!

MY RATING

Very Good! I would recommend this book!