Book Review: The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins

 

 

ISBN-13: 9780373778195

Publisher: Harlequin

Publication date: 10/29/2013

 

Synopsis:

What if the perfect match is a perfect surprise? Honor Holland has just been unceremoniously rejected by her lifelong crush. And now—a mere three weeks later—Mr. Perfect is engaged to her best friend. But resilient, reliable Honor is going to pick herself up, dust herself off and get back out there…or she would if dating in Manningsport, New York, population 715, wasn't easier said than done. Charming, handsome British professor Tom Barlow just wants to do right by his unofficial stepson, Charlie, but his visa is about to expire. Now Tom must either get a green card or leave the States—and leave Charlie behind. In a moment of impulsiveness, Honor agrees to help Tom with a marriage of convenience—and make her ex jealous in the process. But juggling a fiancé, hiding out from her former best friend and managing her job at the family vineyard isn't easy. And as sparks start to fly between Honor and Tom, they might discover that their pretend relationship is far too perfect to be anything but true love….

The Perfect Match was a very cute story. It took me a minute to get reacquainted with some of the family members, but when it all came flooding back, I was happy to be in Manningsport.

Higgins does a great job of developing her characters. Honor was a fun character to watch, without her going over to the cheesy side, which I think this author can sometimes do.

The other strength of this author is her ability to show you through physical motion, the way her characters are feeling. Too many times in romance novels, authors tend to have go-to phrases for emotions such as, she bit her bottom lip, or he tilted his head to the side. Yes we get that she's nervous or that he's confused. (For more of my romance pet peeves, see this post.) But Higgins offers real life examples such as:

"So." He reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. It was all the encouragement she needed.
"You know what I thought the other day?" she asked. Her toes curled, but she kept her voice casual.
"What?"
"I was thinking we should get married."

I can totally picture her toes curling in her shoes as she struggles to stay calm. In fact my toes curled when I read it. (I tend to mimic some of the movements I read. It's weird, but I KNOW for a fact I'm not the only one who does it!) But my point is, she keeps her descriptions fresh.

I really liked both main characters in this book. I liked that I read the male lead with an accent the whole time even though she didn't force it down my throat with crazy spellings. He was a really great character. And even though Droog had some funky words, they were just enough to get me totally into his character and his accent.

Higgins signature behind-closed-doors love scenes where well written and there was definitely sexual tension.

Overall this was a really fun book to read. I read a lot of suspense, some historical and some young adult. It's a really nice change of pace to through in some contemporary (and humorous) lighter reading.

Lucky for Him ARC Give-a-way!

Today is my anniversary and I thought the best way to celebrate is to do a give-a-way! I'm in a lovey-dovey mood and what better way to spread the love, than to raffle off a romance novel.

You can get up to 14 entries, so check out the form below! Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: The Cheesemaker's House by Jane Cable {Guest Review}

Synopsis:

“Just think, Alice, right now Owen could be putting a hex on you!”

When Alice Hart’s husband runs off with his secretary, she runs off with his dog to lick her wounds in a North Yorkshire village. Funny, feisty and just a little bit lonely, she soon meets her neighbours including the drop dead gorgeous builder, Richard Wainwright and the kindly yet reticent café owner, Owen Maltby.

As Alice employs Richard to start renovating the barn next to her house, all is not what it seems. Why does she start seeing Owen when he clearly isn’t there? Is it the amount of gin she’s drinking or some other reason? Where – or when – does the strange crying come from? And if Owen is the village charmer, what exactly does that mean?

Guest Reviewer: Kathy W.

This book is written by a Brittish author (her first) and I
can say I enjoyed the book overall,  although usually I do not like to read
in first person tense.  The story line was a tad slow in the beginning and
not being familiar with Brittish terminology (except for the movie
NottingHill), there were some words and description of places I tripped over
trying to figure out their meaning. Such as a "snug" being a "hearth room".

That being said, the overall story was
mysterious and tragic enough to keep me reading. The sexy portion of the
book was definitely G rated (which is ok with me). The romance wasn't boring, but I'm not a huge fan of wishy-washy romance plots. The back and forth of the romance was a little tedious.

The ghost portion of this book is really what held my interest. If you like the paranormal, you will enjoy this
book.

The Tracer Series by Laura Griffin

Tracer Series by Laura Griffin

Synopsis of Exposed (Book 7)

Every picture tells a story. But not all of them have happy endings.

As a forensic photographer at the Delphi Center crime lab, Maddie Callahan is used to seeing violence up close, but she’s never before been the target of it. When a freelance photo shoot goes awry, she realizes she may have seen, and perhaps photographed, the kidnapping of a key witness in a federal probe. And although her camera was stolen, Maddie knows she has something that could be even more valuable to investigators.

FBI agent Brian Beckman has spent months investigating a vicious criminal known as the Doctor, only to have a key witness abducted on his watch. Worse, he’s falling for the woman who may be the Doctor’s next target. Maddie’s aloof facade hides a world of hurt that he wants to heal, no matter how much she keeps him at bay. But first he has to protect her from the danger that’s just out of focus, drawing close enough to shoot . . . and kill.

Guest Review by: Kathy W.

These books were to me a perfect mix of plot-suspense-and romance.  The in depth forensic science details and intricate technology were woven into the books so smoothly that I didn't realize how much I actually was learning about each field without even wanting to! I felt like I could actually see through the lens of the microscope or see the tiny markings on a bone and was actually looking over the characters' shoulder seeing what he or she saw. Likewise the chase scenes! Laura Griffin made it easy to picture everything in my head and not be confused with places or timing. And the romance was so  artfully and tastefully done in just the right moments!

 

The best part of the series for me, though, was the comfort I felt as I progressed through the series to find the main characters from the previous books still  having an important part in solving the current crime. A lot of series give honorable mention to past characters, but don't pull them in to help catch the bad guy. Their areas of expertise were used in each book and by the end of book seven, I felt I was actually a part of the whole forensic/task force family. Great read!! Sad the journey is over.

Review: Crash and Burn by Allison Brennan and Laura Griffin

Publisher: Socal Press LLC

Publication date: 9/2/2013

Series: Moreno & Hart , #1

Synopsis:

TRIAL BY FIRE
Three years ago LAPD Detective Scarlet Moreno and rookie cop Krista Hart were nearly killed during a botched sting operation. Now, they’re best friends and partners in the Orange County private investigation firm of Moreno & Hart. But their routine assignments are anything but safe …

CRASH
Scarlet Moreno has her hands full with a cheating spouse case when the bartender at her favorite pub becomes a murder suspect. Worse, the detective in charge of the investigation threatens to arrest Scarlet for obstruction—even when she tries to give him valuable information. Scarlet risks her PI license and her life to find out the truth, absolve her friend, and track down a killer—with or without the help of the arrogant, mysterious Detective Alex Bishop.

AND BURN
Krista Hart is burned out on catching deadbeat dads and philandering husbands when a big-time criminal defense attorney hires her for a choice assignment: find the sole witness to murder the day before the trial. The case could be a boon for Moreno & Hart, but the witness is in hiding, someone is following Krista, and her own client is withholding information. The last person she wants help from is sexy investigator R.J. Flynn, but he claims he’s willing to share intel—for a price. If she can solve this case, it’ll elevate Moreno & Hart above being divorce voyeurs, but first she has to survive, with her life and heart intact.

If you like romantic suspense, you will like this short story combo from Allison Brennan and Laura Griffin.
In this book, they introduce a new private investigative team Moreno and Hart. Both characters have strong interesting personalities that I think will be fun to watch in this new series.

The romance came in a distant second to the suspense plots in both books. But that didn't bother me since this in an introduction to these characters.

I'm not usually a huge fan of series that concentrate on one character over several books. I like to have a romantic happy ending in each book I read. But, I pretty much like anything that Laura Griffin writes and I am happy I've been introduced to Allison Brennan as well. In fact, since reading this, I've downloaded three of Brennan's earlier releases and have really enjoyed them!

I would have given this book 5 out of 5 stories if they had been full length as I'm not a novella fan. But these are definitely worth reading!