Book Review: Her Hometown Hero by Melody Anne

Book Description:

     Dr. Spence is searching for the perfect woman... but how will he know when he's found her?  From New York Times bestselling author Melody Anne, the second steamy in a new breakout series based on her beloved and bestselling Billionaire novels.

     In the bestselling books Billionaire Wins the Game, Hidden Treasure, and The Billionaire's Marriage Proposal, among others, we met the Andersons.  Matchmaking patriarchs Joseph and George took matters into their own hands to get their sons to marry and settle down.  But now that Dr. Spence Whitman sees how happy his Anderson friends are in married life, he's itching to get hitched too!  But how will he find The One?

     After this wealthy dad adopted him and his two brothers at a young age, Spence grew up learning there are more important things in life than money.  He wants to find a girl who shares that philosophy, and wouldn't hurt to have some similar interests too.  Now if he could just stop getting distracted by his gorgeous surgical resident, he could start looking for the perfect wife...

Her Unexpected Hero (Book 1)

AVAILABLE: June 30, 2015

** I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

     For me, the description of this book DID NOT match anything that actually happened in this book.  It doesn't feel as though the author of the book communicated with whomever wrote the book description.  I feel really bad about leaving such a bad review about this book, but I have to be honest and there was NOTHING that I liked about the characters and their "romance".  

     The book starts off with Sage Bank's grandma "faking" a illness to get her to take her surgical residency at her hometown teaching hospital with the hopes for matching her with Dr. Spence Whitman (who spends a majority of his time working in a Seattle hospital).  Spence and Sage "first" meet again when she is driving home and loses control of her car and has an accident.  Spence is there to provide medical assistance and gets her to the hospital.  While there, Sage is nothing but rude and nasty to Spence (who doesn't even recognize Sage) because she professed her teenage love (She was 16, Spence was 22. HELLO JAILBAIT) to him and he turned her down (umm.... Duh).  

     About a week after the Sage's car accident, she drives her grandma and grandma's friends to a party at Spence's dads house.  Spence is there are finally recognizes Sage (and bets his friends $50 that he can "reignite some old flames") as the teenager who had a crush on him and seems to think he can schmooze his way into her pants.  Sage doesn't fall for his rather stupid lines and walks way.

     Jump 5 months later, and now Spence is the head of the ER and Sage's boss.  Blah, blah blah... Now Spence can't think of anything or anyone other than Sage...  They sleep together, she was a virgin and Spence freaked out... Boom IN LOVE!  Yet, throughout the book Sage can't seem to make a decision for herself.  She is whiny, and for such a smart person, sounds really dumb.  Spence is a doctor with a serious God-complex.  I didn't like either of them and most definitely did not root for their romance at any point.  In fact I rolled my eyes throughout most of the book.

Rating: 1 out of 5

Book Review: Fatal Pursuit by Elisabeth Naughton

Book Description:

     Five years ago, Aegis Security op manager Marley Addison's lover died in an  South American raid gone horribly wrong... or so she thought.  When she receives a phone call telling her that he is still very much alive and in danger, she vows to bring him home safely, even if Aegis CEO and former Navy Seal Jake Ryder has kept her out of the field for the last few years.  Then Jake shows up in Columbia to help her, leaving her Marley annoyed... and more than a little distracted by her alarmingly handsome boss.

     As things between Marley and Jake heat up in the wilderness, they discover their rescue mission is filled with treachery.  Now the domineering Jake has to rely on Marley for survival.  But can she depend on him when their mission takes a shocking and deadly turn?

     Fatal Pursuit is the pulse-pounding third book in Elisabeth Naughton's scorching Aegis series.

AVAILABLE: July 28, 2015

Extreme Measures (Book 1)

Lethal Consequences (Book 2)

**To start this review I did receive an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

     The book starts off with the Aegis team testing the security for Pulaski Gallery and Jewelry Exchange in Washington D.C., with Marley in the command center in Kentucky.  Jake Ryder, her domineering boss, unbeknownst to Marley who helped planned the op, changed the plans by "breaking in" earlier in the day before going in at the "planned" time.  Marley is not happy with being kept in the dark.  She argues with Jake and hangs up on him while storming out of the office.  

     Thinking that Jake was calling her from a strange number, she answers a call from Grayson McKnight. Gray was her boyfriend five years ago before he disappeared in South America while on a job for Omega Intel, Marley's dads company.  Next thing Marley knows, Gray is begging her to come in help him in Columbia, and after "borrowing" Jake's private jet, she is on her way.  

     Jake returns back to his office to find Marley gone (along with his plane) and tracks her down to Columbia to bring her back to the States where she will be safe.  However, stubborn Marley won't leave until she saves her friend AND if she is able to prove to Jake that she is fully capable of taking care of herself along the way, so be it.  Their mission takes some twists and turns while in the Colombian jungle.  As they return home trouble seems to have followed.

     I really enjoyed "watching" both of these characters grow and learn to trust in each other and what they are capable of apart and working together.  Both had... interesting childhoods that left them scarred in their own ways.  

Reading this will make me look out for more Elisabeth Naughton books.

Rating 5 out of 5   

     

Book Review: Minutes to Kill by Melinda Leigh

     I finished Minutes to Kill several days ago, and it has taken me this long to gather my thoughts on this book by Melinda Leigh.

Book Description:

     After corporate attorney Hannah Barrett tries - and fails - to stop a kidnapping in Vegas, she can't shake the haunting image of the terrified young girl she couldn't save.  She tells herself that a visit to her hometown in Scarlet Falls could be a welcome distraction.  But soon, Hannah realizes the kidnappers have all the info they need to track her every move.  And when chilling e-mails about the victim appear in her inbox, it's frighteningly clear what happened in Vegas has followed her home.

     Eight months after a terrible family tragedy, Hannah turns to Detective Brody McNamara once again.  Brody is eager to help, though he's embroiled in the investigation of a brutal murder.  But the closer they work together, the stronger their feelings grow... and the more they stand to lose when two seemingly unrelated, but equally deadly, cases collide.

     Minutes to Kill is the pulse-racing second novel in bestselling author Melinda Leigh's Scarlet Falls series.

**To start this review, I did receive an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  

     I have read several of Melinda's books before this one; however, I didn't know that this was the second in a series.  I think these are meant to be able to be read as stand alone books, but I must say I wish I read Hour of Need first.  

     For me, the beginning of the book held a lot of promise.  However, shortly after Hannah failed to save the young teenage girl from her kidnappers, the story sort of flat-lined for me.  The kidnappers got a hold of Hannah's purse (with her wallet and credit cards) and the only thing Hannah seemed to be worried about was just canceling her cards.  I mean they got her ADDRESS (which was where her brother and young niece and nephew lived) and she didn't seem to care.  No one, especially the cops in both Vegas and Scarlet Falls, seemed concerned that the bad guys had her address.  The suspense picked up somewhat towards the end, but by that point I had lost interest in these characters (especially Hannah) and their story.

     I didn't like Hannah all that much.  The whole book she kept beating herself up "for not doing enough" to save the girl.  I felt she did more than 99% of the world would do and her constant questioning and berating herself got old pretty quick.       

End rating: 3 out of 5