Review: Hooked by Brenda Rothert

Hooked
Author: Brenda Rothert
Publisher: Loveswept
Published: December 6, 2016
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult

From the author of the On the Line and Fire on Ice hockey romance series comes a sultry novel featuring a brooding NHL player who’s hell on skates—and the no-nonsense woman who forces him to clean up his act.

Miranda: Even though I’m broke, putting myself through college, and working two jobs, I’m trying to make the best of it. Meanwhile, Jake Birch, hockey’s hottest bad boy, lives in a luxury hotel in downtown Chicago—and still complains about every little thing in his penthouse. But after I tell him off, instead of getting me fired, Jake requests me as his personal housekeeper. Then he starts flirting with me. Only I’m not flirting back . . . at least, I’m trying not to. Did I mention that he’s hockey’s hottest bad boy?

Jake: I’ve met the best woman at the worst possible time. Miranda is the fire to my ice—a sexy, charmingly candid spark who breaks down my walls and reminds me what it’s like to feel again. But I’m being forced to date my team owner’s daughter to keep my job, so I can’t be caught with Miranda. Still, we’re getting closer—until Miranda finds out about my “girlfriend.” And that’s not the only secret I’ve been keeping. But Miranda’s the one I want . . . even if she doesn’t believe me.

> Includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s just say Hooked really hooked me. It was cute, sexy, and angsty in equal measure.

Miranda Carr and Jake Birch‘s story is one that you can categorize as a fairytale kind of love story. Miranda is unlike any other girl. She’s hardworking and goal-driven. Working in housekeeping at Dupont Tower as well as at Lucky’s nightclub while studying at the same time to pursue a business degree is such a tough thing to do. For her, her dreams and ambitions are more important than relationships. Until she met the super hot but grumpy ice hockey player Jake Birch. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love with him, but their connection was too strong to deny so it wasn’t easy for her to resist him.

I totally loved the chemistry between these two. It was too apparent and strong. There was no moment in this book where I didn’t find myself swooning over how cute they are as a couple. Both Jake and Miranda were likable characters and despite some of their flaws, it wasn’t difficult for me to connect with them. Jake had issues and personal baggage but he was easily redeemable which I really loved. I also loved the way Miranda cared about Jake and supported him all the way until he was emotionally healed.

The story was well-balanced in a way and the sports aspect was also on-point. Although the romantic development between the characters moved a little faster than I anticipated, it was understandable since the story’s pacing was also fast. I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves New Adult sports romance!

(An ARC was provided by Loveswept publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

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Review: The Bridesmaid and The Bachelor by Kris Fletcher

The Bridesmaid and The Bachelor
(Calypso Falls #0.5)
Author: Kris Fletcher
Publisher: Intermix
Published: November 25, 2016
Genre: Romance, Contemporary

In this all-new contemporary romance series, the five Elias sisters of Calypso Falls, New York, discover that love sometimes arrives in surprising ways…

The bride may be the one to wear a veil, but this time it’s the bridesmaid who has something to hide. Kyrie Elias has agreed to pretend to be her twin sister in a friend’s big fat Vegas wedding. Pulling off this deception could mean a chance at love for her sister and the forgiving of a loan Kyrie needs to save her struggling coffee shop back in Calypso Falls. But she didn’t count on the wedding party including gorgeous groomsman Ben Sitka, the sexy scientist who came close to stealing her heart two years ago.

Ben would know Kyrie anywhere. The electric connection between them is something she can’t disguise, and something he’s never forgotten—not since she ran out on him after a week of bliss. Now he vows to give this bridesmaid a reason to blush. He’s willing to keep the secret of her true identity, but he’s also determined to expose her true feelings for him, hoping that Kyrie will come to see that the person she’s most deceiving is herself.

Includes an exclusive preview of the debut novel in the Calypso Falls series, Life of the Party.

The Bridesmaid And The Bachelor has a lot of potentials. The writing was good, however, it wasn’t good enough to be engaging. Most of the scenes were dull and boring which failed to hold my attention all throughout the book.

I loved that the book has a second chance romance trope but I found the characters, the plot, and the whole story rather difficult to connect with. The only thing I’m happy about was its length which was short. I would have struggled to finish it if it weren’t for its fast pacing.

(An ARC was provided by InterMix and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

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ARC Review: Blow by Heidi McLaughlin

Blow
(Virtuous Paradox #1)
Author: Heidi McLauglin
Publisher: Loveswept
Date of Publication: November 8, 2016
Genre: Romance, New Adult, Contemporary

Meet the complicated men behind the sexiest boy band in America! In Blow, the start of an emotionally charged series from bestselling author Heidi McLaughlin, an insatiable heartthrob gets blinded by the spotlight—and learns to fight for love.

Bodhi McKnight has always had everything handed to him on a silver platter: fame, success, money, girls. The raven-haired, blue-eyed hottie is the son of Hollywood A-listers, and when he’s asked to join the boy band Virtuous Paradox, his star shoots even higher. But so do expectations, leading Bodhi down a destructive path of addiction—until a drop-dead gorgeous guardian angel shows him her sizzling brand of tough love.

When Bodhi ends up in rehab, he doesn’t expect to meet someone as cool and down-to-earth as Kimberly Gordon. Although he’s enjoyed the company of beautiful, charming women before, none of them have tried to get to know the “real” Bodhi. But Kimberly isn’t fazed by his stardom. She’d rather go horseback riding, teach Bodhi to play guitar, or ask him about his feelings. Soon Bodhi realizes he’s fallen head over heels for her. He just hopes that he’s strong enough to protect what they have from all the pressures and temptations of the outside world.

Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

So I’ve heard a lot of great things about Heidi McLaughlin and her previous rock star series and I admit that I really wanted to delve into those books prior to reading this. This is my first Heidi McLaughlin read. Sad to say, I was disappointed.

While Blow has an interesting premise about a rock star falling for an ordinary woman who helps him get over his drug addiction, this book was ruined by a lot of things. For once, both the male lead and the heroine were not likable enough for me to feel fascinated with their story.

There was an absolute insta-love insta-lust. All throughout the book all Bodhi McKnight and Kimberly Gordon ever did was lust after each other. I didn’t really think that what they felt for each other was love at all. There were also scenes that kind of made me cringe. Tell you what, I am not against over-the-top sensual scenes but when (view spoiler).

I also wasn’t sold on how Bodhi’s drug addiction quickly faded. Drug addiction has never been an easy condition to be dealt with and to be easily treated. It may take more than 30 days for a person to completely be sober without thinking about going back to it and without experiencing some undesired symptoms all throughout the recovery process. So no, I wasn’t convinced.

And oh, did I tell you that there was cheating involved here? Not that it was done willingly, but still, it was cheating. Ugh.

As a whole, I did not like this book. Things were just too unbelievable and unrealistic for me that I found myself having a hard time resisting the urge to groan in frustration.

(An ARC was provided to me by Loveswept Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

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ARC Review: Crazy Pucking Love by Cindi Madsen

Crazy Pucking Love
(Taking Shots #3)
Author: Cindi Madsen
Publisher: Entangled: Embrace
Date of Publication: November 7, 2016
Genre: Romance, New Adult, Contemporary

I just met the girl of my dreams.

Megan Davenport is funny and smart, and she’s as much of an insomniac as I am. She’s also my team captain’s little sister, which I only found out after our passionate kiss.

Megan is completely off-limits—her brother makes that very clear—and I know better than to think I can keep a relationship going during hockey season anyway. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be late-night friends, right?

The only problem is, love makes you do crazy things, like breaking all the rules.

“I saw you, I wanted you, and I ignored everything else. I knew I was crossing a line I shouldn’t, but crossing it felt so damn good.”

Another potentially lovable NA sports romance that was well-written but unfortunately suffered a number of flaws.

We met Megan Davenport in Getting Lucky Number Seven as Beck’s little sister who was quite a rebel that time. Now she is already a freshman at Boston College and is about to have an exciting college life with the help of her “Fresh Start Checklist” that contains all her goals. In a college drunken party, she meets a gorgeous guy named Dane Kowalski and sort of forms an instant friendship with him. She doesn’t know that Dane is actually an ice hockey star and a co-player of her brother, which is quite a conflict since Beck is such a protective brother and she’s already attracted with Dane. Plus, Dane seems to feel the same way, too.

You know what’s the obvious similarity of this book to the previous books of this series? The characters, the storyline, the dramas.. same old same old. It’s the repetitive idea by which the male lead carries heavier baggage, thus he cannot give his “all” to the heroine because he’s not capable enough to give it. Ugh.

What’s with these hockey men and their never ending issues?

Now onto the good side.

I still found this book swoon-worthy despite my complaints. I felt the strong connection shared by the characters as well as the angst. Both characters were okay. I thought Dane was such a hot mess but he was a sweet person with a soft heart nonetheless. The sexy scenes, on the other hand, were burning hawt. There was certainly a chemistry between Dane and Megan and for that, I was at least happy. You just have to prepare for that cheesy ending though.

All in all, it was an okay read. Just another typical college sports romance with cliché tropes such as friends-to-lovers and friends-with-benefits. I wasn’t completely drawn but I think other readers may find this book enjoyable and may love it more than I did.

(An ARC was provided to me by Entangled: Embrace and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

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