Beauty and the Billionaire Beast (Destin...

I enjoyed this romantic mystery. I received this for free and I voluntarily chose to review it. I've given it a 4.5* rating. This had a touch of Romeo and Juliette because of 2 close families through the generations set in New Orleans, Louisiana featuring the old plantations. Add a funny little twist to the everyday workings of one of the smaller plantations, giving tours, renovations and general fixing up of things, and you find yourself pulled into the mystery.

They tell you that a parent’s love is all consuming. I never put much thought into it. Not until the minute I heard her take her first breath. That little girl is my world. I’d do anything to protect her. 

My ex signed over her rights and her family vowed that my daughter didn’t exist. Now that she’s gone, they want my little girl. They’re trying to say I can’t give her what she needs.

I’ve known Evan all my life. Our families farms run parallel with each other. He and my brother Aaron have been best friends for as long as I can remember. 

What they’re trying to do is wrong. He needs my help, someone he can trust and I’m more than happy to do it. I volunteered without hesitation.

I should have thought about what it would be like to have our lives intertwined. I should have thought about what would happen when our time together ended and how my heart would feel when I had to walk away.

This was cute, it was a bit angsty, and a whole lot cheesy, but I enjoyed it.  I needed a bit of a break from real life and it was a perfect distraction. Nate and Eva May were cute together even if a bit over the top.  I also liked their crew.  I was put off by Eva's brother's reaction when he had been absent the entire book but oh well.

3 1/2 Stars

Emphatic is a sweet romance about a rock star and a beautiful girl next door type who fall madly deeply, emphatically in love but don’t truly get together until the book is almost finished. Their romance starts out hot and heavy but then turns into one of the slowest of slow burns I think I’ve ever read in this genre.



Logan has just graduated college and has wisely dumped her cheating loser of a boyfriend and is ready to start a new life and a brand new job. But first she heads to Hawaii with her best friend to celebrate and maybe have a well-deserved fling. There she meets a gorgeous hunk of friendly tatted up man who calls himself Michael (but is really named Kacen). A hot and heavy sexy time ensues. She leaves sated and ready to begin life as an adult but you’ll never, ever in a zillion years guess who her new boss turns out to be . . . Yep, that dusty old-school romance trope is shined up and put to use here. Things like this make me feel like I’ve read entirely too many books. If you can’t guess, you probably haven’t read enough romances yet so get going on that!

What follows is a very sweetly developed romance between Logan and the rock star who loves her to pieces from the first moment he meets her. Even though he can have anyone he chooses he thinks she is the most beautiful girl in the world and loves that she isn’t after him for the fame. He falls hard and fast and he never sways. She, however, has been emotionally wounded by her ex and fears the pain of getting entangled with anyone, never mind a gorgeous rock star so he must wait ‘til she comes around.



Do you think there is such a thing as a hero who is too emphatically in love? I didn’t think so until I read about this guy. He lavishes Logan with sweet (and often sappy) words, stolen butterfly kisses and he always seems to be hovering around with his undying devotion. Some girls love this kind of thing but I’m not that kind of girl and to me it was almost smothering. Maybe I’m just too old to appreciate that kind of touchy feely kind of loving especially when it’s one-sided for so long.



Narration Notes: The story is told in first person, alternating between Logan and Kacen’s POV and each have their own narrator. Logan’s narrator has a lovely voice which gets sultry when it needs to. She does justice to the male characters too. Kacen’s narrator has a soft southern accent which, at first, didn’t seem to fit and then I remembered/realized they were in Nashville so I went with it. Honestly though, I preferred the female narrator but I can see why they went with one for each POV because it would’ve been very confusing otherwise.

I liked the writing despite all of my complaints about the story. The author has an easy, down to earth style and though nothing truly exciting happens despite the fact that this book features rock stars (no drugs, no debauchery!), it was never boring – if that makes any sense. The characters were all decent people just falling in love and hanging around. If you want a sweet, slow-burn and like this kind of hero give it a go!

I received a copy of this unabridged audiobook from Tantor Media. Thank you Tantor, I hope you don't regret it!

Levitate - Kaylee Ryan 

*3.5 STARS*

This was a pretty good read.  It was very angsty with both Max and Kensington's backgrounds but it lent importance to the story.  I thought it unrealistic with Max going off with some chick after getting rejected by Kensi that Kensi would fall for his charms so easily, but it is fiction.

I also had a hard time believing the scene between Max, Kensi and Justin (JT) at the bar at the end of the book.  Too simple.

I was glad to see that Max's mom never made an actual appearance in the book.  There were a few scenes in the book that made me roll my eyes, but it certainly didn't take away from the story. 

I listened to this one on audio and I find that audio really highlights the fact that some authors write dialogue in a way that people don't actually speak.  Like when authors don't use contractions in their dialogue. It sounds odd.  There weren't (see I used a contraction there) a ton of parts where that happened but when it did, I really is highlighted with the audio.

This is my first book by this author and I'd definitely try another one of her books.  I liked the characters and the story.  So, I look forward to trying more of her work soon.