booksbyec's reviews
317 reviews

Protecting Mr Fine by Lucy Lennox

The Billionaire Brotherhood Book 4

As always it is a pleasure to listen to Michael Dean narrate Lucy's books.

We are back with the Brotherhood and this time we get Zane's story. Zane or Zee Barlo, is a rock superstar that is living his best life. But with his stardom comes the downfalls of people harassing and threatening him. And when the threats come closer than ever he needs to trust that the people closest to him will keep him safe. Que Ryan, his personal bodyguard and the man that has been in love with him since they first met. Not that Zane is aware of this fact…

Together we go on a journey that takes us to the fjords of Norway, sold out arenas and Zanes hometown Barlo. During this journey we meet two people struggling with trusting that the heart knows what it wants. But when that trust is fully there something wonderful can bloom. 

This book has that suspension that draws you in and you just want to know who did what and why. It also will make your heart flutter. Zane and Ryan are hot together and I enjoyed that they push each other and in the end don't settle with just being fine.

I thoroughly enjoy this book series and I can't wait for Landry and Kenji’s story. I love that we get cameos from other people in Lucy's writing universe. It makes for a fun read/listen when you realize “hey don't I know you?”.

 

Estranged Heart by Ashlynn Mills

There is a fine balance you have to master when writing about heavy subjects like death of a spouse, a life threatening illness, cheating and violence and in this book Ashlynn Mills does so. 

The book is gut wrenching, suspenseful and sad but at the same time you feel hope and love. You equally love and dislike the characters and the choices they make. This is where the balance kicks in. 

You as a reader are invited to an emotional roller coaster and along the way you understand why the characters make the decisions that they make. And you have to question yourself what would you have done in the same situation!?

The book's essence is grounded in the questions; Can your heart love someone you have never met? And if you meet said person, what should you do?

Silas and Elijah have to work for their HEA, and the journey is long and lined with many obstacles. I don't want to spoil the book, so you have to bear with me when I am being vague. I am including the blurb in my post, so that you know something before you pick the book up. 

Overall I was stressing and fretting, which seems to be my constant mode when reading these days. But I also couldn't put the book down, I needed to know what would happen next.

The book is an absolute must read but I want to caution you to read warnings in the beginning of the book, because of the subjects handled in this book. 

Ever since Will came out, I have been waiting for Calvin and Micah's story. And it is finally here. 

Calvin is a bulldozer but also a caretaker. He may go all in fast, but he is the kind of man that if he sees something he wants he will do everything in his power to get it. At the same time he is well aware that the speed he is using can be irrational and scary but also exhilarating. 

I fell in love with Micah when we first met him in Will. He had an innocence about him paired with steel, that makes you sit up and notice. In this book, when we meet him he is at his wits end and he just wants to be taken care of for once in his life. Meeting Calvin soothes his soul in a way that is hard to explain for those who haven't read the book yet.

They fall so naturally into the daddy/boy part of the relationship that you forget that they just met. And the instant pull and attraction between them is something that feels a little bit too good to be true, like it was magic that these two met and everything just fell into place. 

But what makes it more “real” is the fact that Kerry makes her characters doubt themselves and what they are doing. And also make them cautious in proceeding with getting what they really want. I think that is so clever!

Because it gives the reader both “love at first sight” and the agony of a slow burn. The story also gives you all the growing pains of a new relationship and the fact that not everything is perfect and that trust has to be earned and not just given. It centers itself in being magical but also realistic. 

I enjoyed the instant connection and then the “wait, stop, what are we doing” aspect of Calvin and Micah’s story. It makes you root for them. 

This may be a slow burn but the heat is hot and Calvin and Micah together, insert smirk!

 

Loving Leo by Cora Rose and Nicole Dykes
Behind the Camera book 4

This was a fun quick read about Leo and Heath. Leo is an up and coming camboy that wants the shot at becoming one of the stars on Carter's exclusive site. But in his quest to stardom he needs to take some risks, risks like filming content in an office that belongs to the man, Heath, he technically works for. But boy is it worth the risk when he is interrupted and the fans go bananas over him getting caught. This begins a cat and mouse game where they tease and taunt each other. But the taunting turns into getting to know each other and the connection they felt when the first meet turns into something more. 

This was a shorter read but oh so funny and steamy. Leo is a darling and Heath is a grump with heart and they mesh well. Even with the age gap and monetary off balance they find things incomen and that makes them work. Heath is a jealous bean but also very supportive of Leo and I can get behind that. Leo is cheeky but also vulnerable and he lets Heath see this and it strengthens their connection. 

This book is a part of a series but I also think you can read it as a stand alone without missing anything vital. I adore the way Cora och Nicole writes together and this book was a piece of delicious cake.  

 Fake Out by Eden Finley

Fake Boyfriend Book 1

Narrators Iggy Toma & Alexander Cendese

After having read Can’t Say Goodbye and The Backup Plan, I got curious about the origin stories. So I decided to start off with the Fake Boyfriend series and Damon and Maddox story in Fake Out.

This book is hilarious and the way I walked around at work laughing out loud constantly, jesus. Luckily my sister now is immune to my antics.  

Maddox has a problem, he has lied for years and it is now coming back to bite him in the ass. So when he needs a fake boyfriend, who better to help than his best friend's brother Damon. Damon who he has never met in real life and now has to spend a weekend at home with. What could go wrong?

Damon, who is in his last year of Law school before he can start his job as an sports agent, doesn’t have time to do favors for his sister's best friend. But being bribed with getting the chance to meet a potential client he concedes and goes to this adventurous weekend with Maddox. What he didn’t expect though was the easiness of “relationship” and the attraction they both felt. What will they do when they get back to New York and “real” life happens?  

I won’t spoil the book but OMG it was so fun and light hearted and I can see why this universe has become so popular. Since I have read books in the same universe that time-line wise comes later on, I do know some of the stories on how people end up together. But reading the full stories is amazing and so much fun. You get the nuances to why they work together and how they come to be.  

So if you want to read something with low-ish angst, smüt and so many funny moments this is the book for you. 

 

Cute best friend's to lovers story. I was stressing when they weren't truthful with eachother...

 We are back in the Murder Daddy Universe and now it’s time for the Ben’s to find their HEA with a perfect Daddy and if they get to decide Nate is the one. 

When we meet Benji and Bennet again, they are staying with Tatum's dad Nate and they are trying to find their way back from the h*ll they've been through. It is hard but they power through, they have each other but there is something missing. 

In all their previous relationships they have had at least a 3rd person with them, because they don’t do the smexy stuff with each other. So when Benji feels that maybe Nate is the perfect Daddy for them, he and Bennet come up with a plan. A slightly unhinged one, but what the hearts want the hearts tries to get. The plan is to get Nate, who is a sexologist, to help them get comfortable with smexy time together and also show him that maybe he needs two precious boys to take care of and help him find his groove again. And let me just tell you the plan may be unhinged but it is also the sweetest thing ever. They all just wants to thrive and feel love. 

Benji is sensitive and shy and Bennet is more stoic and doesn't trust as easily. They complement each other so well and together with the guiding hand from Nate they go from great to earth shatteringly amazing.

Lance delivers as always, and this is my favorite book of his. This book is so much more than the “Murder Daddy” patent unhingedness. I don’t know how to explain it! It is somehow so sweet and so innocent and at the same time kinda endearingly weird and you do question yourself when reading it. He has captured the delicate balance of spicy, sweet and salty. You read the book and can’t help but root for all of the characters, even the evil ones *cough, cough* Benito. 

I am just in awe of Lance’s writing and his ability to create characters that resonate on a deeper level at the same time as they are funny AF.