Friday, April 29, 2016

Book Review: Hidden Threat by Sherri Hayes


I liked this story a lot. It's told in a dual POV changing between Calis and Matthews. I enjoyed reading both perspectives but felt a little frustrated because both wanted each other but were afraid of taking the first step.

The first half of the book was more or less about Cali and Matthew's sexual attraction though I hoped it would be more suspenseful and full of action because of the threat against the company.
I needed more time to get into the story in the beginning but it was well written and I loved Cali and Matthew, Jason and Lisa.

The Story:
Cali Stanton spent the last two years working in Africa as a doctor for Doctors without Borders. When her father calls and asks her to fill in for him at his company for as long as he needs for recovering from his accident, Cali soon finds herself at her fathers desk at Stanton Enterprises and staring into Matthew Andersen's blue eyes. Getting filled in on the company's and her fathers situation that there is a threat against her dad and shipments being hijacked, Cali finds herself in the middle of a bad dream come true. Luckily the brothers Matthew and Jason are managing security at Stanton Enterprises and work hard on finding the person who's responsible for all the trouble.

While working together, Cali and Matthew can't ignore the strong attraction they feel for each other but they can't allow this to happen since Cali is Matthews boss. And with the threats being redirected against Cali, Matthew is forced to stay close to her for protection. There goes his plan of avoiding her. Soon they learn that they have to stand up for what they want and desire and that it doesn't matter what other people might think of them. Life is too short to worry. Just be happy.

Thoughts:
It took a long time for the two main characters to finally give in to their desires which was a bit frustrating. As a reader when you know it's going to happy sooner or later, I tend to be on the impatient side because I love a good couple but when there is a constant repeat of thoughts just like “Oh I have to have her but I can't” or “He is so hot but what if he doesn't want me?” … And when this gets on and on over more than a quarter of the book I tend to get frustrated... I know there are people who just can't stand insta love and I also might have some troubles with it, but when it's the other extreme I am furious *g*
The ending made up for it though. I loved it and Matthew is the perfect guy.

-- I received an ARC of this book from the author through the Fifty Shades Support Group on Goodreads in exchange for an honest review. -- 
 
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Monday, April 25, 2016

Book Review: A Mess of a Man by A.M. Hargrove and Terri E. Laine

This book makes you laugh, cry and angry at how unfair life can be. It's all about love and loss in all different kind of shades.


The story is really good and even though there were no surprises because it was all a bit predictable I really LOVED IT . You know, it's like watching a horror movie when the girl is alone at home and it's the middle of the night and you just know when the right kinda music starts to play that something is going to happen. Ok, that was the worst comparison ever but you get what I mean?! It's like having that feeling in your gut that tells you where this is going and what will happen. But it didn't lessen my enjoyment of reading this book even for a bit.
Ben did catch me by surprise closer to the end though.

The Story/main character:
Ben is like a hard shell with a soft core. He lost his best friend, his brother, and struggles to move on with his life. How can anyone move on from such a thing? When you have to watch your best friend die slowly away during days, weeks, months, it eats away on you. How can you cope with such a loss and being so helpless. Ben doesn't want to experience anything like that ever again and keeps his heart locked up. He is a womanizer and keeps his heart out of the game out of fear of loosing another loved person in his life. People around him don't notice how broken he is inside and he also wants to be strong for Cate, Dew's wife and his best friend.
Ben was never one who believed in the one true love though when he saw Sam, he wishes so much to talk to Drew about her and ask him for help to not screw this up.



Thoughts:
Contrary to my first impression I wouldn't exactly say that this is a sad story but with Ben's sorrow it really pulled at my hear. (I had to cry every time Drew was mentioned.)
I should not compare this book to Cruel and Beautiful because that wouldn't be fair but to be honest I always had to think about Drew.
I wonder if this would be as sad to read as it was for me without having read Cruel and Beautiful before. Because of knowing the whole story and knowing what happened to Drew, I took a trip down memory lane and the images of Drew kept filling my head. It made this so much harder to read with watery eyes.

The middle part of the book could have been a tiny bit shorter for my liking but on the other hand I still enjoyed reading all of it. It wasn't boring or anything but I was always glancing at the percentage of how much I've read already because I knew that closer to the end there must be some turn of events coming. And I was right.

Feelings:
Oh god, Drew's letters made me cry. Ben made me cry. Reading about Cate and Mercer made me cry. This was really hard, let me tell ya. And the Epilogue really got me.

I really liked Ben in Cruel and Beautiful and I am so happy for him to have his own story. During this read I really felt for him. I love him for caring so much and putting his own feelings and needs aside to be there for his friends.

I wish I had a Jeannie to grant me a wish, I would make Drew come back.

And now I'm going to go and listen to SinĂ©ad O’Connor.

-- I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for a honest review. --
 
My rating: 5 of 5 stars