Providence – Leigh Hays

Oct 1, 2020Oct 14, 2020 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

This book surprised me. I picked it up in readiness for Too Good to be True – the second part of the series as I don’t like to pick up a series in the middle. I remembered it receiving pretty decent reviews when it first came out so I didn’t read the blurb – just went for it and somehow it wasn’t what I was expecting.

Lindsey is a workaholic, working in wealth management as a partner in her own firm as a method of life avoidance. I really enjoyed the discussions of her work and the characters she encounters through her job. Rebekiah is a boudoir photographer – capturing the most vulnerable of moments through her lens. They are thrown together when Rebekiah needs someone to manage some newfound wealth.

Both MCs have reasons not to fall in love – which essentially makes them the perfect characters for me to get maximum enjoyment. There are some aspects that could have been dealt with slightly better but I enjoyed the honesty between the two and the slow burn of how they get together. There’s some family angst that adds to the character depth.

The sex scenes are steamy. They have BDSM components (we experience this with other characters as well as the MCs) and the scenes are written really well – emphasising the trust and respect between the characters.

There was one part of the narrative that I found disappointing that I’m going to discuss behind a spoiler tag so as to not give away one of the big reveals.

***Spoiler Started***

Lindsey gets screwed over at work – she’s arrested and bailed out by Rebekiah’s lawyer friend. There’s lots of discussion about her partner trying to blame her and how Lindsey needs to ensure she stays out of jail – but we never actually find out what happens to ensure she doesn’t go to jail. She was obviously innocent – but after the big angst arrest it just kind of gets swept under the carpet. I needed more detail, especially as I’d enjoyed the prior discussions of her work so much but that could just be a personal feeling and might not bother others.

***Spoiler Finished***

The ending came about too quickly for me. I wanted more – an epilogue, an extra chapter or two – anything, just to give me a little bit more about them as a couple in their new life. Perhaps we’ll get a little bit of a taste of this in the second book even though it’s going to be about different MCs.

I enjoyed this and I’m glad I finally got round to making time.

I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys a romance with angst, some deep characters and some steamy sex scenes.

The Holiday Detour – Jane Kolven

Sep 16, 2020Oct 14, 2020 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

This was what I’d describe as a quick read page turner. The main part of the story took place over less than 24 hours giving it a road trip caper movie kind of vibe and making me want to know what would happen next. In the moment I quite enjoyed the craziness of the storyline and the genderqueer representation, but after dwelling for a little while before writing this review I feel somewhat differently, so it’s possible that there are many people out there who will feel differently to me.

Dana is heading home to Chicago for Christmas to visit her Nana when her car breaks down. Charlie takes pity on her and offers her a ride.

Dana’s constant stream of conscious was tiring at times and her seemingly obsessive thoughts at times about a boy from her past became kind of odd after a while.

The discussions on more serious topics such as pronouns, misgendering and the dangers of public bathrooms for people like Charlie were handled well – both informative and fitting for the storyline. From my experience Dana’s reaction to these things fell in the pretty normal spectrum, so whilst frustrating and disappointing to read, I’d say they were also done quite well.

***Spoiler Start***

I can understand falling for someone in such a short span of time – but moving in together just seemed a bit much. Sure, they’d be entering into a relationship with some distance, but they weren’t going to be living on opposite sides of the world. I can see why this narrative was used, but my personal preference would have been an epilogue with them moving in together after some time.

***Spoiler Finished***

Some of the other reviews have mentioned that the premise of this book would work as a movie and I tend to agree. As a debut book I found the writing style to be ok and I’d certainly give their next book a read, I just wish this book was a little bit different.

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

Too Hot to Ride – Andrews & Austin

Sep 13, 2020Oct 14, 2020 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

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.

Last Resort – Angie Williams

Sep 13, 2020Oct 14, 2020 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

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

Sep 9, 2020Oct 14, 2020 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

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.