The Cowboy SEAL's Jingle Bell Baby - Lau... 3.5 stars

This one is tough for me to grade. I found Tiffany too snarky, and I didn't have much sympathy for her. Rowdy also ran hot or cold for me. When he learns that a random bar hookup left Tiffany pregnant, he's determined to do the "right" thing. He wants to marry her and provide for his son. Tiffany, who hasn't heard from Rowdy for eight months, is not in a good place. Due to her father's criminal activity, she and her mother have lost everything, and Tiffany is trying to provide for her grandmother, her mother, and herself. There is no way a baby will fit in the budget. So she did the right thing and arranged for the adoption of her baby. When Rowdy finds out, he blows a gasket.

It's hard to feel bad for either character, because they are both responsible for their current predicament. Rowdy has a lot of growing up to do. Tiffany, understandable, doesn't trust anyone, after being let down by the two men in her life who were supposed to be there for her. After her father's legal troubles are known, her successful husband promptly serves her with divorce papers to keep his name from being tainted. Now, instead of shopping, gossiping, and working on charitable endeavors, Tiffany has to earn a living for the first time in her life. Part of my disconnect with the characters was the lack of my ability to relate to either of them. I wanted them to do the right thing, but I honestly wasn't what the right thing was.

I liked the writing style, with its snarky dialog and quirky supporting cast. I'm not sure that Rowdy and Tiffany will have a HEA, though, because they both had so much growing up to do.

The SEAL's Second Chance Baby - Laura Ma... 2 - 2.5 stars

This didn't work for me. The cutesy dialog drove me nuts, and I couldn't stand Colt. He's suffering because of his father's rejection, but his behavior - just no. You can't, in this day and age, even when you are in first grade, whip plastic guns out of your backpack and rob a bank. Really? Even in a small town, the consequences would have much more dire than he received. This was so divorced from reality that it ruined the book for me. And the pony accident - again - really? Who lets a beginning rider in the saddle without a helmet? Especially when trying something new for pony and rider? Ugh! Marsh's tendency to run instead of facing his demons also bugged me. Not my cup of tea.

This book didn't really work for me. I think when it comes to stepbrother romance books, there's a fine line on how it's written. You either love this genre or you don't. For me, I'm not a huge fan & it can go either way. Now, I will say I liked the characters Garrett & Savannah as individuals. Together, not so much & here's why.
The way they grew up. They grew up like brother & sister. They called their respective step-parents mom & dad (or daddy). They were best friends as brother & sister. Their dynamic just wasn't there for me. I also wasn't to crazy about the plot. One of my pet peeves in books is a surprise pregnancy or child. Is that the new thing now with books? I wish those books came with a warning about that. Once I find out there's a surprise pregnancy or kid while I'm reading a book, that book looses ratings & I automatically start not liking that book. I have read books (very few & far between) where that does work for the story being told. It did not work here. When Savannah found out she was pregnant with Garret's baby (and then also told her 'fiancé' it was his) that's when I rolled my eyes & started skimming the book.
So, you're either going to love this book or not. As you can see it wasn't for me but, it could be for you.

Series: Boones of Texas (Book 1)

A HAPPY REUNION?

 

Way back when, Hunter Boone thought he and Josie Stephens had something that would last forever. Then she got her ticket out of town and took off -- alone. The hurt nearly tore him apart. By the time Josie realized she'd made a mistake, Hunter had already married.

 

Now Josie's back in Stonewall Crossing, and while instant fire flares between them, she can't come between the now single dad and his son. As the whole town gets ready for Christmas, Josie finds it hard to avoid Hunter. No matter how much he tempts her with the promise of a future together, she has to tell herself -- for her own survival -- that relationships just aren't her thing…

 

Good reunion and second chance story. Josie has come back to Stonewall Crossing to help her father in the bakery while he recovers from hip surgery. She had left the town and the boy she loved behind in order to follow her dream of becoming an artist. By the time she admitted to herself that she missed Hunter and had made a mistake, he had married someone else.

 

Hunter had been devastated when Josie left, and had married someone else on the rebound. That marriage didn't work out, but he has an eleven year old son who means the world to him. Now that she's back, he realizes that his feelings for her never died, and he would do anything for another chance with her.

 

I loved Hunter's determination to show her that they can be happy together. There are a couple of big obstacles to his plans. First is the fact that Josie doesn't seem to believe that they have any chance of that future that he wants. The second is that his son appears to hate Josie with a passion. I loved seeing Hunter do everything he could to show Josie how much he still loved her, including some very romantic moments. I also liked that he wasn't going to let his kid dictate his love life. He wasn't mean about it, but he was firm that although his son was important to him, so was Josie.

 

Josie has some baggage that she came home with. Her career as a children's author and illustrator has stalled somewhat, and her last relationship fell apart because she couldn't commit. She believes that she is bad at relationships, and is using that to try to keep Hunter at arm's length. She also doesn't want to come between Hunter and his son, as that would make her feel even worse.

 

I really liked the way that Hunter's persistence seemed to be showing progress. After a rough beginning, when Josie didn't know about his divorce, things began to look better. Josie was actually considering moving back to Stonewall Crossing and seeing what might happen between them. But when Hunter's ex comes back to town, she stirs up some trouble that creates a wedge that may separate them forever.

 

I can safely say that I really didn't like Hunter's ex. She was selfish and careless and I hated the way that she treated and used their son. I also thought there were several places that his son needed his attitude adjusted in a big way. What he did at the end, at the instigation of his mother, was really wrong. I was glad to see that he came clean before it was too late.

 

I mostly liked Josie, but she had her moments when she really needed to have more faith in what she and Hunter had together. I did like that she didn't want to ruin the relationship that he and his son had, but wished that she had stood up for herself a little better.

 

I enjoyed the setting of Stonewall Crossing and I am looking forward to seeing more of it in future books. I also like the secondary romance between Josie's dad and Lola, It's always fun to see a "senior" romance develop.

Had a lot of bad dates lately? These romances should give you hope.

 

The Frog Prince Retellings in Romance. HEA guarenteed. 

 

My lists are never in any particular order. Enjoy! 

 

1. Her Frog Prince by Shirley Jump

 

Bring together an uppity society princess with a scruffy marine biologist, then throw in a desperate matchmaker with faulty magic, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for disaster…or love. Magic and mayhem rock the boat 

 

2. The Frog Prince by Elle Lothlorien

 

It was his pheromones that did it. With one sniff, sex researcher Leigh Fromm recognizes that any offspring she might have with the mysterious stranger would have a better-than-average chance of surviving any number of impending pandemics. But when Leigh finds out that the handsome "someone" at her great aunt's wake is Prince Roman Habsburg von Lorraine of Austria, she suddenly doubts her instincts--not that she was intending to sleep with the guy. The royal house of Habsburg was once completely inbred, insanity and impotency among the highlights of their genetic pedigree. (The extreme "bulldog underbite" that plagued them wasn't called the Habsburg Jaw for nothing.) It doesn't matter that his family hasn't sat on a throne (other than the ones in their Toilette) since 1918, or that Austria is now a parliamentary democracy. Their lives couldn't be more different: Roman is routinely mobbed by paparazzi in Europe. Leigh is regularly mocked for having the social skills of a potted plant. Even if she suddenly developed grace, charm and a pedigree that would withstand the scrutiny of the press and his family, what exactly is she supposed to do with this would-have-been king of Austria who is in self-imposed exile in Denver, Colorado?

 

3. Water Song by Suzanne Weyn

 

Young, beautiful, and wealthy, Emma Pennington is accustomed to a very comfortable life. Although war rages abroad, she hardly feels its effect. She and her mother travel from their home in Britain to the family estate in Belgium, never imagining that the war could reach them there. But it does. 

Soon Emma finds herself stranded in a war-torn country, utterly alone. Enemy troops fight to take over her estate, leaving her with no way to reach her family, and no way out. 

With all of her attention focused on survival and escape, Emma hardly expects to find love. But the war will teach her that life is unpredictable, people aren't always what they seem, and magic is lurking everywhere.

 

4. Kiss the Frog by Alice Gaines

 

Pity sex with the shyest student in the lab? 

That’s what Felice Larson’s friends have blackmailed her into. Dev VonRamsberg seems nice enough, if you can see past the hair that hangs in his face, the glasses, and the corduroy slacks. It’ll be embarrassing for her and possibly humiliating for him, but if Felice doesn’t follow through, the others will let their professor know she ditched on a critical research trip. So she borrows a key and lets herself into Dev’s apartment in the middle of the night and promptly gets the surprise of her life. 

Christian Devlin Philippe Pascal VonRamsberg, Crown Prince, and Heir Apparent to the Throne of Danislova, has lusted after his co-student, Felice Larson, for months but hasn’t followed through because of his obligations back home. But now that she’s literally snuck into his bed, he takes full advantage, much to their mutual delight. Dev’s been hiding out in plain sight in the United States so he can get his graduate degree and enjoy a more or less normal life before he has to return to Danislova to fulfill his duties to his country. He never expected to fall for an American woman, but now that he has, how can he give her a happy ending? 

Felice discovers that she’s kissed a frog and won a prince, complete with a whirlwind tour of his lovely homeland in Eastern Europe. She falls in love with Danislova and the current Prince Royal, Dev’s father—a man closer to a father figure for her than her own parents. Unfortunately, Dev’s duties to his country require that he marry the right sort of woman…the wife his father has already selected for him. Will Felice and Dev face heartbreak, or can love triumph over tradition? 

 

5. The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker

 

Princess Emeralda isn't exactly an ideal princess. Her laugh is like a donkey's bray rather than tinkling bells, she trips over her own feet and she does NOT like Prince Jorge, whom her mother hopes she will marry. But if Emma ever thought to escape her life, she never expected it to happen by turning into a frog! When convinced to kiss a frog so he might return to being a Prince, somehow the spell is reversed and Emma turns into a frog herself! Thus begins the adventure - a quest to return to human form.

Fascinating and hilarious characters ranging from a self-conscious but friendly bat to a surprisingly loyal snake and a wise old green witch confirm that readers won't soon forget this madcap story! A fantastic debut from the talented E.D. Baker.

 

6. Kiss That Frog by Cate Rowan

 

A cynical Los Angeles artist reluctantly pet-sits for her young niece's frog and discovers magic in the terrarium--in the form of a sexy enchanted prince.

 

7. Kissing Frogs by Laura Marie Altom

 

Shunned by the scientific world because of her erroneous reporting of the discovery of a new breed of frogs, biologist Lucy Gordon is reduced to teaching science in a British boarding school, but the worst of her downfall is the damage done to her esteemed biologist father. Then one day a frog the likes of which she's never seen appears. Excited because this time she's really found a new amphibian, Lucy kisses it and immediately finds herself with a naked man claiming to be a medieval prince. If only Prince Wolfe Graye had married the sorceress' daughter! Now that he's been kissed, Wolfe must convince this modern woman to declare her love for him before the next full moon in order to break the spell. Otherwise, it's back to frogdom. Lucy is in a real quandary. If the prince stays human, she'll lose her chance at fame and her father's forgiveness. If not, Lucy may lose the man of her dreams.

 

8. Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

 

It isn’t easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

     When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

     The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past—and hers?

 

9. Frogs & Toads by Stacy Lynn Carroll

 

One kiss can change the future, for better or for worse. Belle and her cousins have conquered their fears. Now as they navigate their way through the dating world, they start to see a "happily ever after" on the horizon. But when an unexpected school assignment forces them to examine their past, the Princess sisters realize they have a lot of questions about the fathers they've never met. Secrets are revealed, long lost family members are discovered, and now the girls must decide who belongs in their future and who should be kept in the past.

 

10. Prince of Kisses by Colleen Shannon

 

Daughter of wealth and privilege, lovely Charlaine Kimball was known to Victorian society as the Ice Princess. But when a brash intruder dared take a king's ransom in jewels from her private safe, indignation burned away her usual cool reserve. And when the handsome rogue presumed to steal a kiss from her untouched lips, forbidden longing set her soul ablaze.

Illegitimate son of a penniless Frenchwoman, Devlin Rhodes was nothing but a lowly bounder to the British aristocrats who snubbed him. But his leapfrogging ambition engaged him in a dangerous game. Now he would have to win Charlaine's hand in marriage- and have her begging for the kiss that would awaken his heart and transform him into the man he was always meant to.

 

Vote for your favoite on my Goodreads list: The Frog Prince Romance