ARC REVIEW Love You by Stacy Finz

Garner Brothers #3, YAY Win and Darcy finally get together! Win is typical youngest child syndrome, he's a bit spoiled and self centered, reckless with money and willing to take risks but he's so charismatic and very social and confident and he's truly a nice person you can't help but like him and he plays on that. He knows he's good looking and he's not shy about it. But because of this none of his older brothers take him seriously and after the near father encounter he had he's realized he needs to take the family business seriously. Darcy is a people pleaser and until recently she was in a loveless marriage. Realizing she needed more she left him and moved to Glory Junction to be with her Grandmother and started working at Garner Adventure. Finally starting to live life for herself who better to end her dry spell than free-with-his-favors Win, only he turns her down. Win has grown up a lot in the last six months and he's stopped sleeping around and when shy Darcy offers herself to him he's dumbfounded and kind of hurt that she thinks he would be that easy after what happened but he also starts to see Darcy as something more than just the receptionist at his family's business.

Darcy has been wanting more responsibility at GA and when the opportunity to host the employees of a big social media company's corporate retreat and team building weekend Darcy and Win are paired together for securing the job. If they succeed then Darcy gets her promotion and Win gets his raise. When Darcy's Mom shows up out of the blue and Win starts telling her than Darcy can't get back together with her ex because Darcy and Win are already married, it was a joke all ment in fun but Darcy having to deal with her mother's harsh criticism doesn't think it's funny. Win sees how her mother treats her and becomes very protective of her but that's just the start of Darcy's familial problems.

Darcy and Win's relationship is hot and heavy but because of Darcy's insecurity she is constantly doubting herself in the relationship and is just waiting for him to end it to be with someone better. Win on the other hand has fallen head over heels for Darcy and there is no one better for him. Reading the other two books and this one you can really see the change in Win and how much he has grown up, not to much because that devil may care attitude really helps with securing new clientele. Overall, this was a delightful opposites attract romance, they balance each other out once they learn how and they are good for each other. As always Stacy Finz writes a heartwarming and entertaining romance. Don't miss the next novella in the anthology Santa's on His Way where Stacy Finz writes Snowed In about Glory Junction's own Rachel Johnson, owner of Tart Me Up bakery, and the yummy bar owner, Boden Farmer. (out in September)    

ARC REVIEW Want You by Stacy Finz

Garner Brothers #2,  As much as I love Nugget I am loving Glory Junction just as much. The Garner Brother's are all risk takers they love adventure so it really is a good thing that the family owns an outdoor adventure company where they specialize in extreme tours.  Stacy Finz always does a fantastic job building up the small town to where all the towns people are quirky and entertaining. The dialogue is smooth and the pace of the story is carries you straight through you won't want to put it down. I loved TJ because he asks like he has everything together but really he's just flying by the seat of his pants and he's a little more insecure than he lets on. Deb is great I really enjoyed her character she is so hard working and sweet and even when it seems like everything is against her she still remains strong and goes forward because she knows she can't give up. 

TJ is the one brother who seemed interested in the business side of things, he has a great head for business as well as for skiing. TJ has been longing for more time out of the office but with the new apparel line coming and a new website he can't get away. His only hope is that when the person he hires for the  retail division comes on he can take some time off, only the person he wanted didn't take the job. 

Deb has known the Garners just about all her life, her parents use to work for them and at one time she worked as a guide, she even dated Win. She and Win have had an on and off relationship since high school, she convinced herself that he was "The One" and so far she has just been waiting for him, until recently. Deb realized that there is no use waiting for Win and her mountain of debt is sinking her fast and she needs to concentrate on getting herself out of that. Out of desperation she asks the one person she usually tries to avoid, not because he's a bad guy but because she has always liked him and never thought she was in his league so she settled for Win, TJ for advise on her options. TJ helps because he's always liked her but she chose Win. When he sees just how bad her finances are he offers her a job to head the new retail division while she has no experience she is part of the target demographic and he trust her with the job. 

But things aren't going smoothly as he hoped they would one of their major competitors also launched an apparel line and had it featured in a magazine. Everything is riding on the line now and unless it picks up Deb is once again to be out of a job. Deb has to deal with a web designer who did a horrible job with the retail site and TJ doesn't want to admit that she's right, finding the best and cheapest way to promote their line, prove to herself as well as the rest of the Garner's that she is the right person for this job and keep her job all the while deal with her attraction to TJ, that is until they start sleeping together then they have to tell Win. 

Overall, this was a great book. I loved the side story with Win it helps set up his story and how he had to grow up. The conflict between TJ and Deb wasn't that massive but it was still very emotional and had a very sweet ending.      

ARC REVIEW Need You by Stacy Finz

Need You is the first book of Stacy Finz's new series The Garner Brothers. It's in the same universe a her Nugget California series, where this takes place is Glory Junction and it's the tourist town that is just a stone's throw away from Nugget. I love this series already. The Garner brother's are all just... man, I am looking forward to each of their books.

Colt Garner is the Sheriff of Glory Junction, his parents helped put glory Junction on the map with their Outdoors Adventure company. They offer group trips that go hiking, white water rafting, skiing, and a multitude of things that you could do outdoors. Colt fills in when needed but he wants to concentrate on being Sheriff  especially since the new mayor is not a fan of Colt's and is trying to undermine everything. But aside from the idiot mayor and trying to move past his ex-fiancee everything is fine or it would be if his big city neighbor would stop parking in his spot.

Delaney Scott moved into her Glory Junction home after the bitter divorce to her business manager, who not only got half the company in the divorce but also her name. The Delaney Scott brand was her's and while she admits she didn't pay as much attention to the business side as she should have it's her creative genius that made the brand famous. Now she has to start all over, if only she can create something new. Delaney hit a slump she hasn't been able to design anything since the divorce and if she wants to start over she needs something spectacular. What she finds is the stubborn sheriff who provides a fresh new perspective and a muse.

Delaney and Colt make a cute couple it's a shame it took them so long to figure it out. Once they get past arguing over parking spots and they become friends who finally give into the sexual tension that's been building every time they are together. The build up of their relationship was really nice and really cute. They both have things going on in their lives and they help each other out when and where they can and work to get past the baggage that they carry.

Overall, I really liked it. I love Stacy Finz's writing style and she's has such a way with small town romances.        

ARC REVIEW It Started with a Kiss by Ella Quinn

Book Three of Ella Quinn's The Worthington's series but can easy be read apart from the others. Ella Quinn has a way with words it's a quick read and has all the charm and romance of her other books that makes her so enjoyable to read. I loved the first book. There is a large cast of characters on Louisa's side of the family and it's easy to get lost if you allow yourself to get distracted by them really the only thing you need to focus on is Louisa and Gideon but if you can't then read the first book it is so worth it.

The romance was pretty easy between Gideon and Louisa. It was love at first sight and Louisa knew pretty much from the start that Gideon was going to be the man she wanted to marry. The main conflict has purely to do with male pride and Gideon not feeling worthy of Louisa because the state his father left the estate in, which was a wreck. Gideon flat out refused to pay any of his father's gambling debts, and even gave his father's mistress plenty of time to vacate the townhouse she occupied. He also send out word to all the pawn shops that if any of the items on the list were to show up that they were stolen property and to be confiscated and returned. Gideon had his solicitor earning his wages with all things Gideon was trying to fix. But people don't take the hint, people are threatening Gideon, and his father's mistress isn't going to let go so easily. All the while he was hiding this from Louisa.

Conflict number two, Louisa is pretty much the bell of the ball and even with all the suitor she could choose from she just wants Gideon, unfortunately his cousin called Gideon to London to help him persuade Louisa to marry him, but Gideon had already met and fallen in love with Louisa. Gideon loves his cousin and tries to do things Louisa's way by showing him their is someone better for him. To add to the all the crap Gideon has to deal with with his father's vowels, someone tries to blackmail Gideon into marrying his daughter but when Gideon is faced with the girl Louisa speak up and claims she is already engaged to Louisa which his cousin overhears and throws a tantrum. Gideon needs to learn it's ok to ask for help and that Louisa is much stronger than he thinks.

Overall, I really liked this book. It was fun and I loved the characters, the whole family is great and loveable I can't wait for their books.    

ARC REVIEW Chase by Sidney Bristol

Book three of Sidney Bristol's Hot Rides series has us falling in love with Gabe and Nikki. This is a second  chance love story, Nikki and Gabe originally meet years ago when she was assigned as his handler for his undercover work. They fell in love but when a case went wrong he left the FBI now he is working with the contracted undercover team of racers and gear heads at Classic Rides. Nikki wanted the job as temporary handler for the Classic Rides team she has a case and needs their help with it. The new case is finding a homegrown terrorist, a militant group using disabled veterans, manipulating them, blackmailing them into trying to overthrow the government and the mad man behind the whole thing wants to start by setting off bombs somewhere in a well populated place in the Miami/Dade county area. Nikki needs this case to go right so she can get her own little project green lighted by the higher ups.  

The relationship between Nikki and Gabe almost seemed like it picked up where they left off, as soon as they talked about what went wrong and and where they both made mistakes they were in love again. The sexual tension between them was really good and it lead up to something really hot but it just was lacking in comparison to the suspense and action part of the story. The story starts out kind slow as they are trying to find leads but it all comes to a huge intense climatic conclusion.

Overall another great story and I can not wait for the next one.

ARC REVIEW Shift by Sidney Bristol

YAY! I love Sidney Bristol and her Hot Rides series especially this book feeds my loves romance, fast cars, and computers. (I really can't wait until her Beauty and the Geek comes out) A group of people under contract to the FBI with one purpose to take down Michael Evers. But with him in jail now and no word from the FBI powers that be everyone is just waiting around for the other shoe to drop. It drops, it drops in the form of Russian assassins out to kill the two daughter for former KGB spy. My two favorite parts had to deal with one a Tesla Roadster and the other a '57 Chevy Bel Aire. This book was super good! high speed chases, shoot outs, car sex, fast paced story; I inhaled this book.

Emery Martin the quiet computer expert deep undercover FBI agent for the Classic Rides team finds out that the Russians have put out a hit and the uber assassin is on his way now. Emery's priorities switch and his only goal now is to protect Tori at all costs. Just when they think it couldn't get any worse, the FBI is releasing Evers, the idiot rival street gang The Eleventh are in deep with the people out to get even with Classic Rides and Michael Evers and their is someone even worse than Michael Evers out there pulling the strings.

Tori and Roni were raised by their father, former KGB, he raised them like little soldiers. When he finally died Toni and Roni became contract agents for the FBI; an easy way for the government to keep on eye on them. Tori has had a crush on Emery for years, she's trust him and so when he says the Russian mob sent their best assassin to kill you and Roni we need to leave now, she goes. It's nothing new for her she is use to just picking up and changing herself to someone else, but she likes the life she has here and she likes Emery. Emery always had a thing for Tori but never thought he was good enough for her. With her life on the line and everything going to shit they both finally realize they share the same feelings for each other. Trust is what will keep them alive and together.

Overall, I think I liked it more than the first book, it was definitely more intense and well hot nerd.  

ARC REVIEW Under Your Skin by Shannyn Schroeder

This is a start for a new series for Shannyn Schroeder, it is a spin-off of the O'Leary series. I have mixed feeling about his book. It was just ok, the hesitant brooding guy, and the girl who is seven months pregnant. The chemistry is there between Kai and Norah.
Kai has compartmentalized his life he doesn't mix family with friends or with work so when a gorgeous woman walks into his tattoo parlour he immediately pushes her away especially since she's the sister to one of his employees and very obviously pregnant.
Norah is desperate for attention, the way she was raised she always felt like the outsider and unloved. She knows her brothers love her but she feels the sting of abandonment when she is forced to come home pregnant and her brothers are all mad at her. Norah is dealing with a lot of problems right now, she has had to put of finishing school, she's trying to figure out a way to tell the baby daddy he's going to be a daddy, keep her brothers from going after said baby daddy, and she is having to make a heartbreaking decision of whether or not she should keep her baby.
The first half mainly concentrates on whether or not she go with adoption, and Kai dealing with having his Mom underfoot after knee surgery. Lani, Kai's Mom, was really annoying at the beginning very passive aggressive but as soon as Norah and her were introduced she was less annoying and more amusing. Norah brings Kai's walls crashing down the friendship that they start with really sets the tone for the book. Norah knows that Kai is attracted to her and she enjoys the attention, she single and seven months along with brothers who are guys she hasn't felt attractive in a while and Kai makes her feel that way.

Overall, it was ok. I really wasn't in the mood for so much drama when I read this, but there was somethings I liked about it.    

ARC REVIEW Three Weeks to Wed by Ella Quinn

First impressions on this book, it's a Regency version of Yours, Mine and Ours.(1968 Lucy Ball and Henry Fonda; I love older movies and as much as I love Dennis Quaid I don't count the 2005 remake) If you like cute 'n silly books with a heavy dose of insta-love, this is a good book. I liked it well enough and the family dynamic is great the family members are the comic relief of the story let us not forget the two great danes. The biggest difference between Three Weeks to Wed and Yours, Mine and Ours aside from the fact that one is regency and the other is in the nineteen sixties, is that in the movie is two widowers with 10 and 8 kids the book is the story of the oldest sister,Grace, taking on guardianship of her brothers and sisters all seven of them; and an Earl, Matt, who is taking care of his step mother and his three half sisters. The conflict is mainly internal for Grace for the majority of the book, she has fought hard to maintain guardianship of her siblings and has accepted that she will remain a spinster. She has to come to terms with the fact Matt really does love her and wants to help her with the children. There is some external conflict with one of Grace's relatives and an idiot religious zealot. But those are all solved pretty quickly.

Grace has been in love with Matt the Earl of Worthington since her first season. When Grace meets him again he doesn't recognize her and she seizes the opportunity to have one night of sin with him before she is forever set on the shelf. Stuck at an Inn during a storm Grace and Matt share the private parlor; through tea time and dinner they talk, Grace never revealing who she is. By the end of dinner Matt has decided she would be the perfect wife for him and by morning he was in love. The only problem was that she disappeared before he woke up and he never learned her name. Grace realized the mistake she made as soon as she woke up. She should have never done it because now that she knows what she's missing it worse then it was before. Fate has a funny way of bring together the people that need to be together. Through mutual friends Matt finds Grace again and as soon as it becomes obvious to their family that they love each other but Grace is stubborn the siblings all work together to make sure the transition is a smooth one and that Grace really has nothing to worry about. The bad sheep of Grace's family shows up and misreads the situation and tries to get money by way of blackmail.

Over all this was a cute read. There isn't a lot of conflict just stubbornness and it is a quick and easy read.    

ARC REVIEW Drive by Sidney Bristol

I love Sydney Bristol she always has a well written story and sympathetic characters. I love cars, I know almost nothing about the internal workings of cars but I love cars. This is like Fast and the Furious (really the second one) and Sydney does a fabulous job writing the action both with the cars and with roller derby. Sydney use to do roller derby herself so the action sequence for the bout was worded so well I could easily picture it in my head. Madison is a great character, I loved her she got dealt a bad hand she made a bad decision and now she is trying to fix her life for the better, away from her manipulative ex-husband. Aiden is a heart throb, bad boy with a heart of gold, stuck in a situation he must see through no matter how difficult it winds up being doing things he would rather not do. Aiden didn't think he deserved Madison but she was just what he needed.

Trying to finally nail something on a drug lord an undercover group street racers on contract with the FBI have personal reasons for tying to get this guy busted but after three years they finally have a break it lies with one of his minions, Dustin. Aiden has managed to earn Dustin's trust as much as you can earn a drug dealers trust. Dustin wants Aiden to steal a hard drive his ex-wife has hidden away. It should have been easy but as soon as Aiden sees Madison skating around the drive-in diner he knows this just got way more complicated than ever. Madison left her husband three years ago, but the divorce was finally finalized six months ago. Finally free of him and she still wasn't free of him he kept sending goons over to try and steal something from her, she also has police on her tail trying to get her to turn states evidence against him. Madison has learned her lesson about dating bad boys, so when the bad boy in the hot rod shows up she's hesitant, but then the unexpected he outright admits that he plans to ruin Dustin and needs her help. Madison doesn't like that she is so strongly attracted to Aiden but she can't help it. Slowly he earns her trust enough to give him what he wants.

Overall, with the car races and roller derby bouts this is a hot action packed story; emotional turmoil and steamy love scenes it rounds off the first book of the series and make me anxious for more.