Tag Archive | 3 Stars

Parting Shot (Matter of Time #7) by Mary Calmes (3 Stars)

Aug26

How many changes are you willing to make in your life in order to make a relationship work?

Duncan Stiel is an undercover cop who was seriously abused as a child, including witnessing a murder. Aaron Sutter is the billionaire who is fighting his own father to maintain ownership of the family empire. While Duncan struggles to stay alive, after facing one attack after another, he is also struggling to determine how he and Aaron fit together.

The entire story is told from Duncan’s point of view, and nothing really seems to bother him. He is almost killed several times, including being tortured for days on end, but it doesn’t deter him from jumping right back into the thick of things. I found the activity surrounding the drug trafficking and proxy fight very confusing. There were a lot of different characters involved which also perplexed me.

I really struggled with Duncan’s relationship with Aaron toward the beginning. At first, it seemed to be entirely based on sex. They then spent quite a bit of time apart for a reason that I didn’t really comprehend. Once they get back into their relationship, the story moved along much better. It also stepped out of the realm of reality when Duncan and Aaron work a case together.

I was really hoping to get to know Aaron better. He had a major attitude in the previous books, and I really wanted to see that fully developed. These two guys had a lot going against them, but they were both willing to make adjustments to their lives in order to make it successful.

Both of these characters were in the previous stories, but it’s not necessary to read them to follow the plot. However, it will make more sense if you do. You also get to see some of the previous characters in this book, which was a treat. I loved this series, and highly recommend the first 6 books, but this particular story didn’t work as well as the others for me.

If you enjoy complicated plots with plenty of activity, cops and danger, this steamy romance could work for you.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
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Improves with Age by Lavinia Lewis (3 Stars)

Aug22

A widower’s second chance with a new love.

Reece Watkins lost the love of his life to a heart attack. He moves back to his old home to try to reduce his stress, and he runs into an old schoolmate, Nick Kenison. The sparks fly, and Reece must decide if he’s ready to take a second shot at love.

The two meet when Reece’s roof develops a leak, and he hires Nick to fix it. After having sex within minutes of seeing each other again, the two of them spend quite a bit of time together while Nick very slowly takes care of the house. I liked how they spent some time together, and that they were both really nice characters. I also enjoyed seeing two older characters get another chance at love. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough of an emotional connection to either of the characters.

This was a sweet romance between two mature men with very little angst.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
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Born this Way by Poppy Dennison (3 Stars)

Aug20

Nice shifter story with a focus on Hart, a liger, trying to claim Dayton, his human mate. Hart’s character needed more development to give the story a stronger emotional connection. There were a few unanswered questions that left me wondering why certain things happened. I liked how Dayton made it clear that just because Hart knew Dayton was his mate, it didn’t mean that Dayton felt the same way. I thought this was going to lead to a strong development of the relationship between the two characters, and we would see them spend a lot of time together. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and the story focused on everything but their relationship.

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Rush Around the Clock by Silvia Violet (3 Stars)

Aug13

Sometimes we just don’t realize how lonely we are until the right person comes along and changes everything.

Finn McMurphy teaches school, takes care of his dogs, and makes sure every remaining moment is filled to the point of exhaustion. Crawford Bixby just moved in and can’t help but find Finn adorable. Now Crawford just has to convince Finn that there is more to life than running from one event to the next.

Finn was such a nice guy. Still living in his family home, he’s trying to pay off the debts incurred while taking care of his ill mother. Unfortunately, he was too nice for his own good, and he let too many people push him around. This included Crawford to a certain degree. Crawford was bossy and controlling, but it appeared Finn needed this. Finn never would have dated Crawford if Crawford didn’t force the issue.

The story focused on the two of them trying to connect while dealing with Finn’s school events. My biggest struggle with the story was that it focused on the middle school issues, which weren’t that exciting, instead of developing the relationship more.

Sweet romance about making time for the more important things in life.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
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