"She's about to walk on the wild side . . .

While filling the display case in her bakery, the bell over the door sounds and Tessa O'Hara looks up to see the man of her dreams. Within thirty seconds he asks her out for a beer. But after four months of dating, she discovers he's an undercover DEA agent-and he's investigating her possible role in her ex-husband's drug business. For Tess, this means their relationship is over.

Brock disagrees. He's committed to his anti-drug mission, but he's fallen in love with the beautiful woman who's as sweet as her cupcakes-and he'll do anything to win her back. Standing between Tess and Brock are their own exes, one of them a drug lord who's determined to get what he wants. Now as danger threatens, can Brock break the rules he's lived by and let loose his wild side to protect the woman he loves?"

❖ ❖ ❖

Kristen Ashley’s work is always hit or miss for me. I adored her contemporary romances Law Man and Sweet Dreams. I’m ashamed to admit how often I’ve re-read those two books. Yet Motorcycle Man made me want to stab myself in the eye with a pencil. Guess which category Wild Man falls under?

Everything that was great about Tate from Sweet Dreams -- I’m using him as an example since he and Brock are comparable in terms of their alphadom -- is missing from Brock. Even at his most alpha, Tate still comes across as likable, manly, sexy, and tender. Brock is none of that. He’s basically just obnoxious. He would say things like this: 

“I see this. You’ve shifted ten pounds that looked better when it was on your ass and tits. You’re in a tee and jeans and not your fancy-ass clothes and heels. You lost the glasses and got contacts. The only thing I like, babe, is the hair. Looks good longer and lighter.”

Tess would respond with this:

“He liked my hair.”

And then I'd be like this:

Seriously, what is that?

As to the romance, it fizzled quickly. Aside from the fact that Brock is a jerk and I wanted to shoot him in the groin with a nail gun, there was very little romantic tension between he and Tess. They were together from the outset so there was nothing to root for.

In terms of plot, there wasn't much of one. Not very much happens. 

I keep hoping that one day I’ll encounter the same magic I did with Law Man and Sweet Dreams, but so far that's been a fruitless venture. I think Wild Man sounded the death knell. Looks like Ashley’s work and I will have to part ways. 

Final Rating: 1 star

Breaking The Silence in the second book in Hard Drive series by Tricia Andersen. I've not yet read book 1, however, the books don't need to be read in order.

I must admit, the hero, Rico, was hard to handle at the beginning of the book. He was very arrogant and full of himself. Meeting Avery changed that about him. He began to mellow out and come back down to earth. Avery was important to him from the moment he saw her. He needed to connect with her, some way.

This was where the challenge comes in. Avery is deaf. So getting her to like him is harder, especially when she confesses she doesn't like celebrities...and he's a sport MMA celebrity. He decided to keep this to himself.

I had a few issues in the book with the amount of people who knew how to sign and how quickly Rico was able to learn. It felt like overnight he could not only sign, but understand completely everything Avery was ever able to say. Avery also didn't read lips. I have a dear friend who is deaf. She doesn't sign, she reads lips. She says people expect her to accommodate them, and in this book, the world seemed to accommodate Avery. Though, wouldn't it be nice if we did try to accommodate others better. Maybe the author is on to something. It just seemed like Avery would have been more independent if she read lips. I didn't fully understand how she did certain parts of her life without knowing how to do this.

I found the writing to be good. The author did a good job creating the story and keeping it interesting from start to finish. This is a sweet romance, so no steamy scenes. Just a good, clean romance.

I will be going back and reading the first book in the series.

 I am so tired of everyone saying Hale needs "help". Hale needs to be arrested, tried, convicted and thrown in jail, no community service.

All of her life Hale has skated and people have let her. Her equally obsessive mommy and her (by my understanding) somewhat absent daddy never thought she needed "help". Evidently her well cushioned boyfriend and his over achieving parents don't either.

I'll let them be my guide- she doesn't need help. She needs to be recognized for what she is- a charismatic (for a great many), cold, manipulative con artist with a bent towards blood and violence.

May her family and soon-to-be family reap what they have sown and let grow and let the rest of us only read about it in some other paper than the Guardian.    

#HALENO

No one show this to Rebecca Hale.