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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Something Borrowed by Yolande Kleinn (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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BLOG TOUR: Ex-Daredevil by Zoe Lee (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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BLOG TOUR: Promise Me by A.G. Meiers (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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COVER REVEAL: Ex-Daredevil by Zoe Lee (Giveaway)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Lockset by Brenda Murphy (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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COVER REVEAL: Too Close To The Flame by Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood
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REVIEW: Murder Aforethought by Parker St. John
Cabrini Law: Murder Aforethought – Parker St. John
A ticking clock. A deadly enemy. Can they keep their heads in the game when their hearts are already on the line?
Valentine Rivetti made a horrible mistake when he became a Marine Sniper at the age of twenty. Returning home with PTSD and a guilty conscience, he’s blackmailed into working for the mafia to save his family.
Maksim Kovalenko has everything he ever dreamed of growing up in a Ukrainian slum. As a notorious corporate attorney, he has the world at his feet. But wealth and power can’t protect him from the emptiness he feels every time he shuts his eyes.
When Val is arrested for a murder he didn’t commit, his redemption is a silver fox in a three-piece suit. But Val’s lucky day becomes Maksim’s nightmare when the mafia begins to cut loose ends… starting with them.
The passion between them is overwhelming, but can two solitary men learn to trust each other before it’s too late?
It’s only the second book, but I’m declaring Murder Aforethought as the best book of the Cabrini Law series.
This is of course a completely biased judgement because I love Maks!
I first met Maksim Kovalenko in the first book, Risk Assessment. He got on everybody’s nerves and dazzled people with his perfect veneers.
Maks is a fascinating character. As the best corporate lawyer in town, he is a consummate workaholic. The type who dreads going on vacation. He was frequently described as an asshole and is only too happy to confirm the fact. The only person he cares about is his young friend, Emma, a teenage girl with neglectful parents. The rest of the world he holds at arms length.
Despite the cold, distant facade, Maksim dedicates a major chunk of his time applying his lawyerly genius doing pro bono work for Cabrini Law‘s underpriviledged clients. One of his cases involved a young ex-military held in question for suspected murder.
Valentine Rivetti was a troubled young man who has PTSD. He works as a hitman for the mob. He used to be a sniper in the military until he realized the job was not for him. His father was a petty criminal. His mother died of suicide.
Val believed the only thing he knows how to do is shoot. But he insisted he did not kill the man his father used to work for, both of whom were related to the mob. Still, somebody tried to kill him the minute he got out of the police station.
Bias or not, this was definitely a much better book than its predecessor. For one, this was a fast-paced running-from-the-mob story. We see a lot of action and flying bullets. The excitement and suspense was palpable as we hightailed it across the city alongside Maks, Val and Emma, who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
I totally loved how Maks and Val’s romance blossomed over the course of the week of them on the run. It didn’t feel rushed. The progression was paced to perfection and developed organically with the rest of the plot.
Val was just the right combination of strong and vulnerable that appealed to Maks at some core level. He recognized the young man’s intelligence and potential to do great things. Val saw through Maks’ walls, right to the golden heart that lay beneath. Maks felt it in his guts, he had to give the ex-soldier a home where he could find peace. Then he realized, he had one more person he cared about.
All the other characters stood out too. I enjoyed how each character played off with the others.
Emma was spunky and brave. I liked that the author didn’t go overboard with that. Emma acted like a real teenager. She cried. She got scared. But she was quick to help Val when he was hit by a bullet.
There were welcome appearances from Miguel, another lawyer from Cabrini. He’s an easy going guy who claims to be Maks’ friend whether Maks admits to it or not. There was also Val’s friend and former captain, Reese. This man sure has a lot of baggage. His book is next.
Murder Aforethought was a book I couldn’t put down. The writing flowed smoothly. The characterization was on point. The plot wasn’t new and I wished we had more of Maks and Val but overall the execution was done well. I was swept away by the adrenaline, the sweet hurt/comfort story and the delicious slow-burn-but- not-really romance.
Let yourself be swept away too and be charmed by heroic men ready to jump in front of bullets and silver-haired lawyers quoting The Princess Bride.
P.S.
Witness Maks being an asshole and meet Elliot Smith a.k.a. Beyonce in Book 1, Risk Assessment, review here.
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Darkness Has A Voice
Artist: Amber Run
Album: Philophobia -
REVIEW: Risk Assessment by Parker St. John
Cabrini Law: Risk Assessment – Parker St. John
All they have left is their pride.
Elliot Smith was once a hotshot attorney, but those days are long gone. A midlife crisis of conscience has left him with shattered confidence, abandoned by his former friends and scraping by at a legal aid clinic. When a smoking hot bad boy rescues him from the side of the road, Elliot is sure he doesn’t stand a chance.
After a misspent youth boosting cars, Lucas Kelly runs his own garage and is finally getting his life back on track. He isn’t about to risk everything by daring to hope for something more, especially not with a man so far above his pay-grade.
The heat between them is enough to have them questioning everything they thought they knew about themselves. But is explosive chemistry enough to keep them together when Elliot’s career threatens to drive them apart?
Risk Assessment is the first book of Cabrini Law, a lawyer romance series featuring a justice league of attorneys out to defend the little guys. And fall in love.
First of all, the MC’s name is Elliot Smith!!! It’s missing a T but still, Elliot Smith!
So I wanted to like him immediately. And I did like him. He was that interesting mix of smarts, ruthlessness and naivety. As a lawyer, he was damn good at his job. He cares about his clients and goes the extra mile for them. He genuinely believes in people. Outside his professional life, whatever silver tongue he has at the courtroom gets all tied up in front of a hot guy. Which happens every time he talks to Lucas.
All of the above would have been cute. What I didn’t like was how Elliot was made to look desperate and needy. I get being submissive but why is he the one always grovelling in front of Lucas. Especially when it was Lucas who said all those horrible things. Yes, this book has one big ugly fight. I wish it didn’t.
Lucas Kelly was harder to like. I wanted to like him too. He’s an ex-con trying to make a better life for himself. He just bought the garage he used to work in. He’s on his last few probation meetings and is well on his way to becoming a free man. He’s charming and dominant but he also has an insecure side which reared its ugly head at the latter part of the story. Hence, the big fight.
Majority of these two men’s issues revolved around the ‘I’m not good enough for him’ woes. This could have been resolved by talking. Instead, Lucas lashed out, hitting Elliot on spots where it hurt the most. He called his 40-year old boyfriend old. Meanwhile, Elliot received advice about self-worth from an unlikely source, his ex. Then went out of his way to grovel. I know this is the ‘going after what he wants’ side of Elliot but I really, really wanted Lucas to do the grovelling.
These gripes aside, Risk Assessment is a good debut and worked really well as a series opener. It is, first and foremost, romance but I liked how the other aspects, such as Elliot’s professional life and his case on Julio, and Lucas’ strive for a normal life, was integrated into the main thread. I also liked how things came together at the end. And for a first book, the writing is great. It’s easy to read and held my attention from start to finish.
The book also succeeded in introducing characters I would love to see more of. I’m excited to read about the other lawyers, like Miguel and especially Maksim. Maks is an arrogant bastard and he knows he’s brilliant enough to earn the right to be one. He’s a silver fox with a silver tongue. I know his story will be aaawe-some!
If you like stories where lawyers are rescued by underwear models and mechanics are wooed by Beyonce, take a chance on Risk Assessment.
Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: Longshot
Artist: Catfish and the Bottlemen
Album: The Balance -
REVIEW: Freckles by Amy Lane
Freckles – Amy Lane
Carter Embree has always hoped to be rescued from his productive, tragically boring, and (slightly) ethically compromised life. But when an urchin at a grocery store shoves a bundle of fluff into his hands, Carter goes from rescuee to rescuer—and he needs a little help.
Sandy Corrigan, the vet tech who helps ease Carter into the world of dog ownership, first assumes that Carter is a crazy-pants client who just needs to relax. But as Sandy gets a glimpse into the funny, kind, sexy man under Carter’s mild-mannered exterior, he sees that with a little care and feeding, Carter might be Super-Pet Owner—and decent boyfriend material to boot.
But Carter needs to see himself as a hero first. As he says good-bye to his pristine house and hello to carpet treatments and dog walkers, he finds that there really is more to himself than a researching drudge without a backbone. A Carter Embree can rate a Sandy Corrigan. He can be supportive, he can be a hero, he can be a man who stands up for his principles!
He can be the owner of a small dog.
Freckles was a tiny fluff of a pup when she was thrust into the hands of Carter Embree who fell in love at first sight and became her human. Carter was a nervous wreck of a dog owner. She was his first dog and he immediately sought the aid of professionals like Sandy Corrigan.
Thus begins this adorkable tale written by a dog lover for dog lovers. Freckles is undoubtedly the star of the show and everybody loved her, poop bombs and all. The humans were not so far behind.
Carter is an introverted, average-looking in a good way lawyer whose do-gooding, right-the-wrong ways were too good for his asshat boss. His superpowers were drawing airtight contracts and fighting for oppressed pet owners. It’s just, he hasn’t fully grown into them yet. He was unlucky in love but he lucked out on Freckles. She rescued him from the soul-sucking corporate life and gave him something to look forward to at the end of the day.
Sandy was a vet tech who went back to college in his late 20s to earn his degree as a veterinarian. When he first met Carter, he thought he was well-dressed. And crazy. But he could tell right away that the man loved the little puppy and decided to help him through the process of dog ownership. Along the way, he discovered the brilliant, passionate person hiding behind the unassuming lawyer. Wisely, he grabbed on and didn’t let go.
The blurb delivered everything it promised. The story is about how these two humans came together because of a tiny dog. It had a nice warm, laid-back feel with humor-laced writing that makes reading a breeze. It is a short book, around 170 pages, and I liked how everything was paced just right. A major part of the story happened in the span of a few days, most of it involving Carter’s struggles and triumphs as a dog owner while struggling with his job and his boss from hell.
The romance was insta-attraction but its development didn’t feel rushed to me. The two men started with friendship. They discovered they liked hanging out with each other. I loved how Sandy smoothly turned a simple dog walk into a real date. Which turned into study dates, movies dates and cuddling. It was an easy, comfortable companionship that blossomed into something more deep and permanent.
What I’m really trying to say in a such a roundabout way is that, they were so cute together!
Freckles was beyond cute!
The entire thing was fluff and cute!!!
But in no way shallow or superficial because Amy Lane was able to give the story substance. There were some interesting points that I would love to see on more books. I totally loved the idea of a lawyer with a pure heart or one dedicated to animal advocacy.
While not exactly exactly the blow-me-away away variety, Freckles the story won me over same way Freckles the dog won everyone else, including Carter’s very intelligent, very organized, no-nonsense mother. Even if this is a holiday read, it’s a good book to pick up anytime your soul needs a dose of cute.
P.S.
Amy Lane books here
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: The World is Watching
Artist: Two Door Cinema Club
Album: Beacon -
AUDIO REVIEW: Promises Part 1 by A.E. Via
The Bounty Hunters: Promises Part 1 – A.E. Via
Duke Morgan owns and operates one of the largest bail bond companies in Atlanta. Not only does he bond criminals out of jail, he and his notorious group of bounty hunters will also track them down and ensure they show up for court.
Roman ‘Quick’ Webb is Duke’s business partner and best friend. Both men are in their forties and have given up on the happily ever after with the ranch-style home, and white picket fence. They’d both tried it and failed miserably. But they have their friendship and they have the business.
When Quick’s son, Vaughan Webb returns – after seven years – from studying abroad with his law degree in hand, he’s back to claim what he’s always wanted…his fathers’ best friend… Duke Morgan. Vaughan has always claimed to be a classic gentleman with an old soul. He didn’t party and screw up in school like his buddies. He was focused and dedicated to becoming the man worthy of Duke’s love.
It’s a complex and messy situation as Duke and Quick figure out how to still be best friends when one of them is sleeping with his friend’s one and only son. But when Duke is hurt on the job, all the unimportant trivialities fall to the wayside and Vaughan and Quick put their heads together to save Duke.
Part I of the Promises story is about Duke and Vaughan. Part II will be about Quick and his realization that it’s not too late for any of them to find love.
You got to hand it to Vaughan. He really knew how to woo a man.
The lawyer fell in love with his father’s bestfriend, Duke when he was 16 and since then, he embarked on a single-minded pursuit of the bounty hunter. But before he can make his move, he had to grow up and make Duke see him as a man.
I love Vaughan’s determination and devotion! He literally gave a piece of himself to the one he loves just so they could be together. He’s my favorite character here.
Duke was this big bad bounty hunting boss. Is really a big, needy softie. Nothing against him. He’s alright, I suppose.
Quick is Duke’s bestfriend and Vaughan’s father. He has long since accepted his son’s crush and is very supportive of his son and his bestfriend’s romance. He has some potential romance of his own with a handsome doctor if only he admits the attraction to himself before it’s too late.
I loved the first parts. It was more dramatic especially when Duke was injured and he only had weeks or months to live unless he undergoes an operation. This is where Vaughan went above and beyond the usual love declarations and made a sacrifice without telling Duke. He swore the doctor and his father to secrecy knowing Duke would refuse if he knew.
There is little conflict between the characters, apart from initial reactions. I wouldn’t mind it if the story revolved around Duke’s job and his recovery. However, as with most of A.E. Via‘s works, it is very romance-centric. Which means a lot of cheesy lines and couple downtime that I usually skip to make the story go faster. The plot is thin and the latter part where Duke and his friends went after the man who injured him seemed like rushed attempt to wrap up a loose thread.
Aiden Snow, who narrated Via‘s Nothing Special series, also did the reading for The Bounty Hunters. He is one of the reasons I stuck with the author’s works. He voices alpha males to perfection. Nothing Special has a big cast and I had no problems distinguishing the voices of the characters. Same with The Bounty Hunters. The voices were very apt for each character and emoted well. I recommend getting The Bounty Hunters in audio because Snow is eargasm!
All in all, this is a book you go for if you want steamy, entertaining stories about alpha males getting in touch with their emotions. Suspension of disbelief may be necessary but the author certainly knew how to hook her readers because I’m eagerly awaiting Quick and Doc’s story.
P.S.
A.E. Via books here.
Thank you to Signal Boost Promotions and Audible for providing the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: For Your Love
Artist: Josh Record
Album: Pillars
