Full disclosure: I consider SM a friend. I like her greatly--a feat that's kind of big for me because you know, don't make a lot of friends. She regulFull disclosure: I consider SM a friend. I like her greatly--a feat that's kind of big for me because you know, don't make a lot of friends. She regularly reads + reviews my work. We're peers in this writing world. She offered me an ARC of Red back before it ever even came out. Again, full disclosure, I refused the ARC. Why? I already pre-ordered the book, and should I have read & decided I didn't like the book, I simply wouldn't have reviewed or rated at all.
That's what I do for peers.
So, full disclosure. Here I am, rating and writing a review for a book I quite liked.
Tate Conrad lives a crappy life--quite literally. She's stuck with an abusive husband (this is putting it mildly, really), in a life she hates, with people all around her that she cannot trust. A single event years earlier took away someone she loved, and since then, the vibrant red of rage has been her constant. The need for revenge is so strong, she's willing to jump into bed with the FBI to take down her husband, her parents, and their illegal activities.
Rylan Wolfe, FBI agent, gorgeous piece of man, and a major connection to a piece of Tate's history that she doesn't even realize, is here to help. In more ways than one. Heh.
Red is fast-paced, sexy, and also, heartbreaking. It's beautiful and ugly. It's secrets, holding back, and letting go all the while holding on tight.
If you like it when the good guys win, this is for you. If you like it when a crappy husband gets his dues, this is for you. If you like it when a strong woman wins, this book is most definitely for you.
For a debut, SM knocked the basics out of the park. Great storyline, interesting characters, and dangers that keep you turning the pages to get to that HEA you ~hope is at the end.
A couple things to note:
~There are some editing issues. I mention this because for some, it matters, and they like a warning. It isn't so high that it drew me out of the story, but they are there. ~Some may consider the heroine to be like a ping-pong ball with her emotions--wishy washy, even, because she is high emotions almost all the time whenever she is with Rylan. I think, it's understandable. Given the past few years of her life have been dedicated to simply existing, never pushing to far, keeping out of trouble, and dodging fists and body parts that continue to force themselves into her, she can never be herself. She can never show emotions. When she is finally put face-to-face with a man she not only finds attractive and romantically involves her self with who ALSO allows her to show her hand, colors, and emotions, it makes sense to me that bottled up things come spilling out on those closest, whom you can trust. But again, some may consider her outbursts/emotions as something else. Perhaps read between the lines?
So, congrats, Suz, on your debut novel! Sorry it took me this long to read it. *shameshameshame* ...more
Krista Jacobs has had one heck of a bad year. After a nasty, public divorce with her Russian ex-husband hockey player, a man who was as nasty off the Krista Jacobs has had one heck of a bad year. After a nasty, public divorce with her Russian ex-husband hockey player, a man who was as nasty off the ice as he was on it, she could really use some uplifting. She's running out of cash after quitting her job on the NHL team, and when she gets a call from Seven Oaks, an Albertan ranch she never thought she would return to, the promise of an inheritance sends her back hoping she'll get out better this time than she did the last. What she didn't count on, however, were the lies that forced her out of Seven Oaks ... and Ethan.
I really enjoyed this tale from Susanne, like I do with all her works. It's short, it's very sweet, and it's about redemption and second chances set in a Canadian town at Christmas time. There wasn't a great deal of conflict, but the story didn't really need it with all the past history that kept the heroine and hero separated for so long. That was, in my opinion, enough for them to have to work through without adding more to it.
If you enjoy romances set at Christmastime, a little sweetness mixed in with your cold, then Come Home for Christmas is a great tale. ...more
Laurie Wilson is a widow and the mother to four children. The only good thing her deceased husband ever did for her was finall****Five "Lee" Stars****
Laurie Wilson is a widow and the mother to four children. The only good thing her deceased husband ever did for her was finally die. But that also left her to struggle to support her four children alone. She struggles and budgets, but more often than not, things come up that leave her strapped for cash and trying to find another way out. When Christmas rolls around and her previous landlord steals a check from her, leaving Laurie without money to buy groceries or presents for her children, her boss and unknowing on her part, her Christmas hero steps in to save the day.
Laurie is the kind of heroine that your heart aches for. She's a victim of domestic abuse, but she's doing absolutely everything she can to give her children a better, happier, and healthier life. Sometimes it often feels like the world is just conspiring against her in every way, and each time she turns around, something new is jumping in to knock her back down.
Ms. Matthews does an amazing job at not only making you feel for this heroine, but making you cheer her on so that she can finally get her feet on solid ground.
Leland, Laurie's boss and the brother to her friend from high school, is the kind of hero I want to see more of. He did something to help Laurie just to simply do it. He didn't do it to get her closer, and he didn't even tell her that he had been the one to do it. Not for attention, but rather, simply to be a good guy.
More heroes need to be like Leland.
This is a very short tale, about 7500 words in total, but it's well worth the read. It ends off at a sort of cliffhanger point, but I didn't mind. In fact, I look forward to getting my hands on the second part to this sweet Christmas tale.
Huyana has had a difficult life. Being mixed race and brougReview to come.
So far, my favorite out of the series.
Updated Nov. 6th:
****Five Stars****
Huyana has had a difficult life. Being mixed race and brought into the world through a violent act that would stain the rest of her life, she has always been made to feel like a stain of shame, an outsider, and unwanted. She has grown up distrustful of others, but when Matthew Duggan stirs up quiet desires in her that she hasn't felt for a long time, can she possibly trust him enough with all of her secrets and let love win?
I've been reading the Duggan series since the first book was published. I adore this family and their world. With that being said, I have to say that Huyana and Matthew are my favorite out of the three books that have been published in this series so far. There is at least one more book to come ... I know that for sure ... but right now, these two get all my love. Haha.
From the start of this book, you feel for Huyana. You know she's had a rough go of it, incredibly so. She's had to make tough choices in life just to survive, but that's exactly what she is, a survivor. At the same time, she is compassionate and sweet and you root for her to find her own special happy ever after with someone who can let her be safe and loved.
Matthew Duggan is that someone. Or rather, man. He's strong, determined, and forgiving. My God, is the man forgiving. He's also sympathetic. He understands. And he's definitely hot. Cowboys aren't my go-to for reads, but these Duggans really work for me on that end.
Miss Wishlade has written a great series full of family, love, and forgiveness on a Montana homestead. I'm so looking forward to Emmett's story. ...more
Lilith "Lily" Munroe, FBI Cult Specialist and survivor, has just been brought in on the Harvester case because of her knowledge and ****Five Stars****
Lilith "Lily" Munroe, FBI Cult Specialist and survivor, has just been brought in on the Harvester case because of her knowledge and experience with cults of this type. She doesn't want the job--she liked her desk work and hiding from field work to search for missing children. Ever since her kidnapping and torture years ago when she had gone undercover in a different cult case, she's made her life mission to never be put in that situation again. But she's good at her job and once she finds out babies are being taken from their homes, she can't refuse. Enter former New Horizon cult member turned reformed man and Australian millionaire Jacob Andrews. While looking for his sister who was still a member of New Horizon, he comes face to face with the FBI who mistakes him for his dead fraternal twin brother. Lily and Jacob are forced to work together to save not only the missing babies, but also themselves, too. But a growing attraction and the Harvester on the loose might makes things a little more difficult than either of them realized.
It's no secret that I adore Susanne Matthew's romantic suspenses. She's pretty amazing at writing a tale that keeps you engaged and turning the pages, needing to know what's coming next and how this could possibly end. I have to say, she did it again with The White Lily.
Lily is an amazing female character. She's strong in a quiet way because she's had to be. She's got a love for nice shoes, even if it is a way to manage her stress an anxiety. Suffering from PTSD and trying to move forward in life from the horrible experience she suffered at the hands of a sadistic member of a cult she had infiltrated when she was just a young, new agent. Jacob, on the other hand, is determined, fascinating, and relentless. He knows what he wants and he's not afraid to admit the mistakes of his past to help correct the wrongs being done and help the people who need it.
Like I said, amazing.
This cult keeps getting crazier and crazier. I love Matthews' mind. I want to climb inside just to know what's going to happen in the next book, The White Iris. I would say The White Lily had a touch more suspense than romance, but it worked really well.
Everything but the end I liked. Because when I get an end like that, it doesn't make me want to continue on to the neI am so on the fence about this.
Everything but the end I liked. Because when I get an end like that, it doesn't make me want to continue on to the next books at all. I adore Domme's. If I'm going to pick up BDSM and enjoy it, I need a Domme. Sorry, but men just don't do it for me in that kind of situation. Not really. The sex scenes were plentiful and well-done. Very hot. I thought the emotion, hesitance, and back and forth for the male lead Nathaniel was exceptional. Especially for a "vanilla" man being thrust into a BSDM-type relationship. The story line was great, and holy hell, it didn't even have to rely on the sex to keep it standing. So rare. So appreciated.
I know, I'm being super vague about it all, but whatever. That's my choice, I don't want to ruin the ending for someone else looking through Consensual's reviews.
I just can't do an ending like that, though. Three it is. Five for everything else but that ending. The ending gets a three. ...more
I think starting this out, I was cringing to the high heavens. The first few pages spells it out clearly enough. Well done to the author, because evenI think starting this out, I was cringing to the high heavens. The first few pages spells it out clearly enough. Well done to the author, because even with the grittier moments, I didn't put the book down for the 2 and a half hours it took me to read. The hotness didn't do a whole hell of a lot for me, but that was more the fact I'm not into a heroine with daddy issues, I suppose. That's not to say the sex scenes weren't well written, because they were. It's just not my thing. I didn't read it for the sex, anyway. The plot held the story all on its own.
Seriously ... great job. I knocked it down a star because formatting issues. No breaks between chapters. Some messes here and there with punctuation. It was a bit distracting, but easily fixed.
I'm officially calling this one of my top five mind fuck reads of this year. ...more
Selina Moss keeps a firm grip on the things she can control, including what the people around her can see of her. That's about to change and in a big Selina Moss keeps a firm grip on the things she can control, including what the people around her can see of her. That's about to change and in a big way, considering her husband Ben is all about dominating when it comes to control, and more than anything, wants his wife to bare all. With the scars Selina hides revealed, will he still find her as beautiful as before?
I think it's important to note before anything else, this is a short story that begins a series. There are questions the reader has about these two people that remain unanswered until the reader gets further along into the second and third book. Don't open up this shortie with the idea you're going to come out with all the t's crossed and i's dotted, because that isn't the case.
I also went into the series knowing this, so it was okay for me.
Scars opens up to Ben and Selina's wedding celebration--or after, at the dinner and dance. It revolves entirely around that one night and Ben seducing his wife into baring her entire body to him, scars and all, which is something she's never done. Selina fully believes her flaws can't make her truly desirable to her husband, which I think, frankly, many women can relate to. I appreciate that. We get a hint of a back story about Selina's brother Kaya and the reason why she's marrying Ben, which isn't entirely for love. These are some of the things followed in the second book.
For Scars, we get a great deal of heat and chemistry between the couple. It's more BDSM than it is vanilla. It's a good building block for what's to come. It showed they had potential to grow into something more than just the face value of what we were given, and I trusted Ms. Taye to follow through on that.
Re-read for me. Let's see if it hits me as strongly the second time as the first.
Updated: The first time I read this, it was a solid four. I think thRe-read for me. Let's see if it hits me as strongly the second time as the first.
Updated: The first time I read this, it was a solid four. I think that stemmed from the fact I was entirely freaked out by the book itself. It's a dark topic, but without a doubt, So Much Pretty is entirely amazing. What would you do? What if this was your child? Those are the kinds of questions it makes a reader ask. From multiple spectrum it makes you ask this. From the killer's side, from the side of the girl who retaliates, and of course, from the victim.
It's written from the POV of many, which can make it confusing if you're not paying attention. You can't skim with this book. Don't skim with this book.
This isn't for the faint of heart. This isn't the kind of book for someone looking for rainbows, sunshine, and the ignorance that comes with life. It just isn't. Read at your own risk. ...more