Too Hot to Ride – Andrews & Austin

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Rating: 3 out of 5.
I have to say even after reading the book I’m not sure how I feel about it. It was my first by this pair of authors and whilst I enjoyed the storyline, and this kept me sticking with the book to the end, I’m not sure how I feel about the first person viewpoint, the lack of warning about a triggering event mid book or the fact I just wanted people to talk each other more in the book.

The book had a lot of potential, setting the book in Oklahoma and discussing the past and potential issues an out lesbian might have in trying to run a small business in the State was a great move. I also really liked the addition of the side story regarding the veterans and the impact working with horses had on them.

I know some people had issues with the large number of characters, but I actually didn’t mind this as I could find a valid reason for each of them being there.

Trust issues plague the book and I personally would have preferred this to be dealt with in a different way – but nevertheless as characters both Rae and Jane are interesting, the storyline was appealing and I learnt a lot about ranching that I wasn’t aware of.

I would recommend the book as the characters and storyline have many reasons to give it a go but it won’t be for everyone.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Night Life – S.J. Hartsfield

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
A solid book from a debut author. I had forgotten the blurb for this when I finally had the opportunity to sit down and read, so it was a nice surprise to find this storyline. It turns out I’m actually quite fond of books with escorts in.

I really liked Ronnie, but I wanted to know more about her. The book doesn’t provide many opportunities to see Ronnie in any other situations besides work and the supermarket, so I would really have liked her character to be developed further. Diana feels more developed as a character and I liked that Ronnie seemed to bring her into her own and encourage some of the confidence she needed.

There’s some mirroring of narrative in the first and second halves of the book which I found enjoyable and the resolution of the inevitable angst was done well.
I really welcomed the way the sex scenes were done in this book. Nothing felt overplayed or read numerous times before. You could feel the connection between the two MCs, both in and out of bed, so the ending felt natural.

I’d definitely be interested in a book continuing the series based on the epilogue – there are a couple of characters that could be cultivated and we could still hear about Ronnie & Diana.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Last Resort – Angie Williams

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
You can’t always get what you think you want – sometimes you get what you need (paraphrasing The Rolling Stones here), pretty much sums up the storyline here for me. The story is mainly set at a singles resort designed to find people their perfect partner. It’s lesbian week and both Katie and Rhys have been convinced to attend by their families. Rhys can’t find the person she’s looking for, whilst Katie believes she isn’t looking for anyone, but agrees to go to the resort so her family will leave her alone.

I don’t want to give away any major particulars of the storyline, but I will say I was surprised as to how they met. However I’m really glad it was done this way as I enjoyed them getting to know each other. I was worried this kind of narrative would have an instant love kind of vibe, but it actually almost feels like a slow burn even though the main part of the book only covers approximately 10 days or so.

I really enjoyed the way the dates were used to illustrate the wider groups of people that may find themselves at this type of event and I really appreciated the way Williams used the dates to have discussions on asexuality, family reactions to coming out and moving on from past loved ones (either from loss or breakups). I would have appreciated more diversity though. The dates also serve as a quick introduction to north California geography.

The ending is just right and I would happily recommend this to anyone who enjoys wlw romance books.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Money Creek – Anne Laughlin

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
It seems odd to say I enjoyed a book that is full of unhappy, tense topics and situations but I found myself drawn in and unable to put the book down, despite my continuing apprehension about how things would turn out. Clare is a lawyer in a big city firm struggling with a drug addiction, who decides to take up a job in the small town of Money Creek.

I haven’t read Laughlin before so I can’t comment as to whether this fits into the usual tone of her books, but I’ll be picking up some more to find out, as whilst the topic of drugs and addiction is at times difficult to read about, I enjoyed the narrative. There are many different characters, but I was impressed that they weren’t difficult to keep track of and I appreciated the descriptions of small town life and how everyone hears about everything. Laughlin writes in a style I really like and I welcomed her writing on addiction, Clare’s feelings, motives and decisions and how the trade operates.

The book is written from many different points of view, which was done well enough that it didn’t become confusing. I found it slightly odd at times that one of the points of view was from a male, but I got used to it. There is some romance in the book, but the thriller aspect is the larger part. I enjoyed Clare and Freya getting to know each other and would be interested in hearing more about them in a future book. I really appreciated the ending – I don’t want to give anything away – but it felt like an appropriate, real life ending.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a well written thriller with some romance on the outskirts of the story.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Presidential – Lola Keeley

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Rating: 3 out of 5.
I found this easy to read and somewhat charming, but it didn’t quite hit the spot for me. There were some aspects I really enjoyed and things I was missing. It’s about a three and a half stars for me.

After spotting Lex’s updated review of this I decided to watch The American President for the first time (before reading the book). I’m a big Sorkin fan (the scripts anyway) so whilst I was reading I just couldn’t help drawing the direct comparisons. I’ll be honest, I’ve never read much fan fiction, so in general I found the similarities amusing. Despite this though it limited any major connection I could have with the narrative.

I really enjoyed the only other Keeley I’ve had a chance to read and much like Slammed I found Presidential to be well written, it was just missing some things for me. I wanted and needed more politics in the book. I’m a big fan of a series by another author with a female president and an age gap romance, so I think this probably coloured my impressions of this book too.

About three quarters of the way through the book I realised I didn’t really connect with Emily, I sympathised with some of her experiences but was missing the thing the necessary connection with an MC that for me makes books five stars. Connie on the other hand I really enjoyed spending time with, despite that lack of in depth politics. I also appreciated the family connections in the book – both MCs relationships with Connie’s son Zack and Emily’s relationship with her sister Sutton.

The epilogue did leave me smiling.

All in all I would recommend this and I’m sure there are many people out there that will love this book. I’m glad I read it, it’s just not an auto add to the reread pile, which I had great hopes it would be.

I received an e-ARC directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.