Nate's father was a rich, nasty bastard. He treated Nate horribly. Nate ended up enlisting in the military to get away from him. This story opens up at Nate's father memorial service. It turns out each of the Bastard's 4 sons inherits his money. Nate's decided he doesn't want it and plans to give it away.
Chloe founded a charity that supports at-risk youth. She is in need of funds to keep the doors open. She crashes the memorial service in hopes of getting at least some of that money Nate is so eager to give away. 
Even though Christmas is mentioned in the title, the holiday doesn't factor into the story in any way. Nate and Chloe fall hard into love lust. What follows has a beginning, middle, and an end. I enjoyed this one!

This was an interesting story. Mason is a good man with a bad family behind him. His dream job is dangled in front of him to help find out who is behind the new syndicate starting up. Meeting Charlie changes his outlook on his future. Charlie is a determined woman trying to prove herself to her father and stay in charge of her team. Situations become more dangerous as the couple go undercover, and they find comfort in each others arms. The journey to understanding their feelings kept me reading this book. I look forward to reading more of this series.

I received a copy of this story through Netgalley.

It Must Be Christmas: Three Holiday Stor...
Hot Toy
I had the best time reading this romantic comedy novella. The laughs started almost immediately and played out like a holiday family movie. All that can go wrong does, but it also goes very right.
While last minute insanity shopping for the most popular toy of the season for her nephew, Trudy gets caught up in a battle between government agents. The dialogue is truly great. The cast is made up of an ex, cougar bait, a drunken sister and other crazies. The one goal in Trudy's mind is to get that toy no matter what.
This is a great light read for getting into the Christmas spirit while tickling your funny bone. It left me with a good feeling.

Christmas at Seashell Cottage
This story is about two people who didn't really know what they were missing until they found each other. Actually, both felt that something was lacking in their lives, but they weren't sure how to find what they needed. It's a serious storyline that deals with everyday difficulties in life and love.
Charlie is a doctor who moved to Jewell Cove to get away from the city. She still doesn't quite feel like a local though. Dave is an ex SEAL who is also new to town. They go through some grown up problems and have a realistic romance.
Christmas at Seashell Cottage is for those looking for a small town Christmas read with some depth, some ups and downs and a happy ending.

Christmas With the Billionaire Rancher
Nate's father hasn't treated him well. Now, after his father's death, Nate inherits most of his father's wealth. He can't think of a worse fate than having to schmooze with the rich or entertain the social climbers.
Chloe isn't one of the usual golddiggers. Yes, she first approaches him for money for her charity, but all intentions are soon thrown out the window. These two go at it hot and heavy right away, sending Christmas with the Billionaire Rancher into the naughty holiday reads category.
Things get turned around and misunderstandings happen, but love and great sex help to mend the hurts. The overall theme of family is quite strong also. And what a family with all those hot brothers! I recommend this to someone looking for some sexy fun.

Locked and Loaded - Mandy Baxter
"An ARC has been provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review"

Deputy U.S. Marshal Nick Brady hasn’t even been on the job three months and he’s already being reprimanded. Although he’s doing his job, on the side he’s been working off the grid, capturing the bad guys - taking work from other Deputies. Because of his inability to follow orders, Nick earned a mandatory one month leave of absence. But instead of using that time to reflect on his mistakes, he decides to pursue a most-wanted case, using a lead no one else tried. He’s going after Joel Meecum, ex-pres/member of the Black Death MC. Nick believes Joel’s ex is living under an assumed name in McCall, Idaho.

 

Livy Gallagher has spent the last four years afraid for her life. Moving as necessary, changing her identity as often, she’s found some normalcy teaching ski lessons in McCall. But her life gets turned upside down when a sexy man moves into the rental unit across from hers. Livy needs to decide if she can trust this sexy stranger and allow herself the human companionship she so sorely misses.

 

At Any Cost is filled with intense action and sultry sex scenes. But unfortunately, I never really got into the story or connected with the characters. Nick is an arrogant jerk who thinks because he is good at catching the bad guys, the rules don't apply to him. Now, I'm all for the self-assured alpha male who does what he pleases. And I love me some vigilante Captain America who goes against authority because he is just and noble. But Nick is none of these. He only cares about winning, with little regard for his fellow Marshals. Granted we find out later his motivation for his obsessive actions, but by then, it has little impact on my feelings toward the character. The biggest problem is he doesn't seem to learn from his behavior, and the book doesn't deal with the outfall from his actions. I just never liked Nick enough to enjoy his story or romance. 

 

Livy, I mostly enjoyed. However her constant repetitive mantra that it is “better to be alone than dead” wore me down. Attracted to Nick from first sight, Livy felt a connection and trust that was borne out of loneliness, at least it seemed that way to me. Regardless, she decides to finally let her guard down and enjoy a human connection with Nick. And when it was just the two of them, enjoy their budding feelings and attraction, I really liked this book.

 

The story picked up speed for me after it shifted from focusing on the couple's hooking up, to Meecum gaining ground on finding Livy. And I was glad that the pair made attempts to be honest and open with one another from the very beginning, even while keeping some secrets. Yet I was still disappointed in Nick for doing his job first when the pair were in bed together. He couldn't just take that leap into love until after sticking his foot in his mouth just one more time. 

 

In hindsight, I probably should have DNF'd this book. It's just that I loved the previous book in the series and had high hopes for this one. But my initial dislike of Nick never really went away, serving only to color the rest of the story and keep my expectations low. I found that I looked for problems with the story after a while, rather than trying to just enjoy the moment. I honestly think most fans of romantic suspense stories will enjoy At Any Cost. Unfortunately, I never got past my initial issues with the book.

 

My Rating: C- Finished It - Liked some, didn't like some

Originally posted at That's What I'm Talking About

Review copy provided by NetGalley