Review ~ Knock Out by Michele Mannon

Book: Knock Out

Series: Worth The Fight #1

Author: Michele Mannon

Format: e-book

Page Count: 167

Published: Carina Press, December 2nd, 2013

Source: Publisher

~~

Knock Out is the first book in Michele Mannon’s Worth The Fight series, and it tells the story of Keane, an ex-soldier who ignores his demons by fighting in an arena, and Logan, an ex-ballerina who’s going through a tough time and ends up on his turf.
I do admit, in addition to the plot being an interesting one, the cover itself caught my attention. Now, I’m not one to jump straight to business when seeing an attractive cover, but my eyes do linger. And this book had that ‘pick me up’ vibe and the plot then sealed the deal.

It’s a great idea to put two people who’re battling demons together and see how they do. And these two sure have a great deal going for them. For once, Keane is ex-military which means he has a lot of emotional baggage to carry around. Add to that Logan’s ballerina-turned-ring-girl situation when her whole life has been about ballet, and this story had potential to be a roller coaster of emotions. But, the beginning still felt a bit rushed, with the introduction and the attraction quickly out of the way. I would’ve preferred to spend more time with these characters before they became tangled with each other, that way I could’ve had the chance to click with them more. That doesn’t mean, of course, that I can’t read through who they are, but we don’t get many chances to delve into the depths of their personalities once they’re introduced to us, and that meant I was at an arm’s length away from them the whole time.

Review ~ Always On My Mind by Jill Shalvis

Book: Always On My Mind

Series: Lucky Harbor #8

Author: Jill Shalvis

Format: e-book

Page Count: 368

Published: Grand Central Publishing, 2013

Source: Own Library

~~

I’ve always been a fan of friends-to-lovers stories. They’re my favorite along with bickering couples. Which is why I soaked up the story of Leah and Jack.
The teasing sexy firefighter of Lucky Harbor finally gets his happy ever after with the cute pastry chef of this small town.

We already met with the both of them from the previous book, as Jack being Luke’s best friend, and Leah being one of the girl power trio. Anyone who read that book knew that the two had chemistry off the pages somewhere, and when I found out they also used to be neighbors and best friends since they were young, I was so excited. There’s nothing sweeter when the young girl next door crawls into the window of the young boy and they spend hours sharing their pain, their joy and lots in between. So it was no surprise that some of my favorite parts of the book belonged to their childhood memories.

Review ~ It Had To Be You by Jill Shalvis

Book: It Had To Be You

Series: Lucky Harbor #7

Author: Jill Shalvis

Format: e-book

Page Count: 368

Published: Grand Central Publishing, 2013

Source: Own Library

~~

Oh boy. Welcome to this year’s first challenge. Writing a review for a series you love so much that you’ve already exhausted the appropriate words for it. It’s been a while since I was in Lucky Harbor, and boy, have I missed it. The small town atmosphere, gangs of oldies but goodies-Hi, Lucille!- and men who sure don’t grow on trees except for Lucky Harbor. I mean, seriously! What I wanna know is, do they put something in the water? Because I’d like some of that magic rubbing off in the small town I’m currently living in. Yes, I do.

Luke Hanover is a man off a mission. He’s one hundred percent from the well of gorgeous men of Lucky Harbor, and after a job goes bad in San Francisco where he works as a cop, he comes back to his hometown for a little bit of peace and quiet. It’s a tough thing though, because what he finds in his home is far from quiet. The sweet trouble is Ali Winters, an all around good girl with her own version of a series of unfortunate events. She’s currently dumped by her cheating boyfriend, with a text no less, homeless and accused of stealing. Did I say Luke was looking for some peace and quiet? Tough luck, Luke.

Review ~ Beg Me to Slay by Lisa Kessler

Book: Beg Me to Slay

Series: –

Author: Lisa Kessler

Format: e-book

Page Count: 200

Published: Entangled: Covet, December 30th, 2013

Source: Publisher

~~

We’re dealing with demons, and this is a paranormal romance story, but I found the scales tipped more towards the romance than paranormal.
Tegan is attacked four years ago and trying to get back on her feet, working her way out of being a victim, and so far she’s been pretty good at it. She’s worked on her self defense skills and now even has her own place where she passes her knowledge on to her students. One night she sees her attacker burying the body of another woman and it all comes rushing back to her, her attack four years ago, her very unusual tormentor with glowing eyes and a tendency to take a bite. Enter, Gabe, a private investigator/paranormal detective who accepts to help Tegan get rid of her assailant once and for all.

The demon plot was interesting but I felt like it was not complete. We deal more about Gabe’s and Tegan’s internal dilemmas about moving on with their lives after the traumas they’ve been through, rather than the immediate and more pressing demon vanquishing duties. To be fair, they do deal with the demon problem, but it’s more like a secondary plot in this paranormal story. I like my emotional and sexy, I like the story of how the hero and the heroine fall in love, but when there’s a plot, and one that interests me, I don’t want all that to push it into the background.

~Happy 2014~