Love Letters Cowboy Command
Volume 6
By: Maggie Wells, Ginny Glass, Emily Cale and Christina Thacher
Book Blurb:
These men know how to ride! Meet red-hot ranchers and captivating cowboys in five new short stories in Love Letters Volume 6: Cowboy's Command.
V Is for Vindicated by Maggie Wells
W Is for Wanted by Ginny Glass
X Is for XXX Ranch by Maggie Wells and Emily Cale
Y Is for Yearning by Christina Thacher
Z Is for Zeal by Emily Cale
Cowboy Command came into my TBR pile at a perfect time. I was so pinning for some cowboy loving stories. Love Letters: Volume 6 Cowboy Command did not disappoint.
Broken up into different cowboy stories, this anthology started off with:
V Is for Vindicated by Maggie Wells
Barrel-racing queen Michelle Kelly likes to ride wild—but her old flame Cole Powell might have what it takes to rope the woman he loves once and for all.
Well vindication is exactly what Michelle got!
I could totally feel how attracted Michelle was to Cole while she battled her emotions and maintained her cool around him. Very realistic and her feelings were captured perfectly.
As it turned out Cole needed to tame his own emotions.
I loved reading how these two reconnected and patched up their former fallout with some hot loving in the straw.
I also completely loved that the author understood that the readers would know that the straw is not comfortable for laying around in naked and included that description in her story. For me, that just increased my love of the story. I appreciate when authors make fantasy stories as real as possible.
W is for Wanted by Ginny Glass
When Samuel Thrasher is forced to return to his family's ranch, he doesn't want to revisit his past…except when it comes to Merrit Hightower, who's definitely not the innocent girl he left behind!
I didn't really care for Samuel at first. Although he was a young man at the time, I thought he took advantage of Merrit when he took her virginity and then left town. He knew he had done wrong by Merrit when is was taking every precaution to not run into her when he returned to town 15 years later.
It was nice to read Samuel explain himself and finally have him figure out that Merrit was his soul mate. He was lucky that she was still available all these years later. I probably would not have been as understanding and would have required a lot more grovelling.
X is XXX Ranch by Maggie Wells and Emily Cale
Jane Richardson is stunned to discover that the property she's inherited isn't the working ranch she imagined. Handsome neighbor Clive Boland offers to buy the XXX Ranch—and proposes more than just a business deal.
XXX Ranch would be a great full length novel. Even though it was a short story I felt that a lot of the back story was delivered and Jane and Clive's personalities clearly resonated off the pages. I loved XXX Ranch.
Y is for Yearning by Christina Thatcher
Cowboy Ben Hastings is everything Diana wants in a man. He may be quiet, but their passion between the sheets is anything but. Yet making a place for her in his bed and life may be a challenge…
Yearning was great because it is very close to what I imagine a one night stand would be like. Girl likes boy, boy likes girl, they are attracted to each other and then they mutually create a hot memory. I actually would have been totally fine if that was how the story ended but being a romance, the author opted for the happily ever after.
Z is for Zeal by Emily Cale
Rancher Aaron Lyons hates when tourists take over his local bar during rodeo week—until he meets Nathan Howell, and their encounter turns into a one-night stand neither of them will forget.
Zeal is a M/M story. I have read some really great M/M and I am a fan of the genre. I liked how the Aaron and Nathan became acquainted with each other because it was very realistic. They were two guys that were attracted to each other. It was very normal. I liked it.
Tegen and Cage
Ellie and Dirty
Unattainable (Undeniable book 3)
By Madeline Sheehan
Book Blurb:
Warning: This is not a virtuous and tender love story. It’s chaotic, ruthless, and tragic. This story takes love and kills its innocence, steals away the pure moments, and crushes the hearts of the broken. A story born in childhood, tying one girl to one boy, leads to a destructive path—that hurts more than it doesn’t, that shatters more than it heals—testing the love that binds the two through a lifetime.
Tegen Matthews is the daughter of Dorothy Kelley, a club whore in the Hell’s Horsemen. A plain little girl, Tegen falls into the gritty world of the motorcycle club. When she meets a sweet, caring boy, she embraces the warmth and affection he shows her. Cage West is the son of the president of the Hell’s Horsemen. Tall and blond with deep brown eyes, as he grows up Cage realizes the power of his dimpled smile and smooth drawl. With one chance encounter, Tegen becomes forever tied to Cage. Following is a wayward journey that is filled with regrets, mistakes, and heartache, pulling at the threads that hold them together. Cage and Tegen fight hard but love harder, and in the end, what matters is where the journey takes one girl and one boy, who have been twined with one another since the beginning.
This is Tegen and Cage’s story.
Love doesn’t erase a broken heart, and it sure doesn’t change people. But no matter how old, how flimsy, how frayed the rope of love is, it keeps you tethered to the people you love.
Let me start out by saying that the first two books in this series were out of this world amazing. I rated them with a rare 5+ rating. Unfortunately, Unattainable didn't do it for me the way that Undeniable and Unbeautifully did it for me. I dreamed about those books and had major book hangovers. So having said that, was Unattainable still really good but since I was so over the top blown away with the first two that I'm rating lower than I should? I'm totally not sure.
Cage and Tegen deserve each other. I was not into them at all. All their yelling and drama was too much. I mean I love drama in stories but not their kind of relationship drama. Sometimes Cage and Tegen's sexcapades bordered on rape and that just isn't my thing. I found that when I was reading their interactions, I was trying really hard not to skim through because I felt the urge to do it constantly. I did not allow myself to be absorbed into their story very much. They gave me a headache. I think the author must have known that the characteristics of Cage and Tegen would not grasp and take hold of readers because she treated us to another couple's story in Unattainable; Dirty and Ellie.
I will say my feelings about Dirty and Ellie were quite different from Cage and Tegen. I wished the entire book was more Dirty and Ellie and less Cage and Tegen. I was much more interested in their interactions and wanted more of them. Although Dirty's background was over the top disturbed, I still would have liked more about how the pair were healing each other.
As always it is a treat to read anything with Deuce and Eva (my favourite couple in the series). Anytime the author includes something with Deuce and Eva, I will naturally gravitate towards them and hunger for more. They are the most addicting couple I've ever read.
I am still addicted to the series and I will keep on reading the series for sure!
Teasers: the most bizarre family dinners ever, bye bye Blue, disturbed violence to death, heart attack
Simon Hawkins, Duke of Trent and Sarah Osborne's book
The Duchess Hunt (House of Trent book 1)
By: Jennifer Haymore
Book Blurb:
Simon Hawkins, duke of Trent, is no stranger to scandal. Rumors and innuendo have darkened the House of Trent for decades, and it has fallen to Simon to restore his tattered family name. He lives by a strict code of honor, but when he is called home to investigate his mother's disappearance, the distinguished duke will tangle with temptation. For there waits the only woman he has ever loved--and the last woman he should desire...
Sarah Osborne has spent her life dreaming of Simon's touch. But dukes do not long for lady's maids--or so Sarah believes, until a stolen kiss sparks a passion that could be her ultimate undoing. As the couple begins a forbidden romance, a cunning enemy plots to destroy the duke and everything he loves. Now, caught in a blackmailer's web, Simon faces an agonizing choice: sacrifice his family's future or break Sarah's heart.
I'm so upset! I simply LOVED The Duchess Hunt BUT I just realized AFTER I read it that it is part of a series and this story is only book 1...which was just recently published. That means I now have to wait and wait for the entire series to be finished. I'd rather read a series all in order because I hate to wait for books one at a time. I am far too impatient.
I loved the story. I love looooved the story. There is an awesome romance combined with a mystery.
Sarah was a child when she first encountered the ducal family but she was not a priviledged member of society. In fact, she was the family gardiner's daughter. She was rescued from a prickly prediciment when she was just a child by the duke himself. Simon was just a teen at the time; a mere child in his own right. As Sarah became familiar with the entire family, the eccentric Duchess welcomed Sarah into their home with open arms and she was even educated right along Simon and his siblings.
The reason for my love of The Duchess Hunt is because Simon and Sarah are just so romantic. Their love is forbidden due to the levels of their stations and yet it is evident how deeply they love each other. Even with years apart as they grew older, their hearts still seem to belong to each other. It is all very romantic. I found as the reader I was getting very swept up in their emotions and when Simon tries to move forward with a "proper" wife, I felt as though he was cheating on Sarah. It was maddening and it just felt so wrong when he'd kiss another lady. My heart was breaking.
I loved the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Simon's mother the duchess. I had a few idea swirling around in my mind of what happened but as the story progressed further along, all my ideas were trashed. I honestly have no idea what happened and I will keep reading the series because I need to know what happened to the duchess.
Teasers: illegitimate brothers, idiots, blackmail, Gretna Green rescue
Charley Davidson
Fifth Grave Past the Light (Charley Davidson book 5)
By Darynda Jones
Book Blurb:
Charley Davidson may not look like your everyday, run-of-the-mill grim reaper, but she has vowed to reap grimness wherever she goes despite this unfortunate fact. Sadly, she gets sidetracked when the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, moves in next door. As he is the main suspect in her arson case, she is determined to stay away from him until she can find out the truth. According to her therapist, however, she lacks conviction.
When dead women start appearing in her apartment - lost, confused and terrified beyond reason - Charley has no choice but to ask for Reyes's help, especially when it becomes apparent that her own sister Gemma is the serial killer's next target. With his ability to observe incorporeally, surely he can find out who's responsible. And even if he can't, he is the one man alive who could protect Gemma no matter who or what came at her. But he wants something in return: Charley. All of her - body and soul. And to keep her sister safe, it is a price she is willing to pay…
It is pretty safe to say that Darynda Jones' Charley Davidson series are among my most favourite. I just adore Charley, her bestie Cookie, her uncle Ubie and well just about every other character along the way...dead or alive.
I was so excited that when book 5 came out. I waited for the perfect time to read it. I read it so quick, devoured it and then went into a bit of a withdrawal knowing I'd have a long wait for book 6 so I just ended up doing a re-read of the entire series...again.
I went back to book 1 and read straight through the series including another re-read of Fifth Grave Past the Light. Well I'm still pinning for book 6 but I am happy I got a good fill to hold me until then.
As each book progresses along, we learn right along with Charley what she is capable of and we all fall more in love with Reyes with each book too. Reyes is so in love with Charley that it makes me smile every time there is an interaction between them. We also learn more and more about the Son of Satan too. Still lots of mystery there to under cover.
Each of the books had a great mystery to solve. I have to admit that when her apartment was full of all the ghost women, it was very creepy and disturbed. Those poor women!
In Fifth Grave Past the Light we are given a lot more foresight of what is to come courtesy of the newly informed P.I. Garrett Swopes. Her investigator friend, Swopes, sure provided a lot of background too. I actually highlighted this piece because I think it is a great indication.
"According to his prophecies, you will recruit a warrior, a scholar, a prophet, gatekeeper, a warden, and a couple of other figures"
Well we know that her precious ghost rottweiler, Artemis will more than likely be her warrior since she can kick demon ass and perhaps the newest character, Nic could turn out to be the prophet but as you can see, lots of Charley Davidson goodness to come. Can't wait!
Teasers: Ozzy GPS, Sticky note messages, Royal Daughter of Light, one million dollar bet for double or nothing
