Review: The Lucky Ones by Tiffany Reisz

This book wasn't what I thought it was going to be. Based on the cover, I thought this would be scary, or spooky, with a touch of the supernatural. But it wasn't anything like that. Creepy, but in an icky, not haunting, sort of way.

The story is about a very dysfunctional family. A single man takes in a a bunch of foster children and they live in a big house and consider themselves very lucky, hence the title, but really, there's something strange going on.

The main character had been one of the foster children, then something bad happened and she was sent away. Years later, she hears from her foster brother and returns because their foster dad is dying. This is when the secrets begin to emerge.

This story didn't really work for me. There's a big buildup to the secret, and then it's all revealed and I felt the people involved accepted what happened a bit too easily. Also, the romance in it felt very off and awkward and inappropriate.

While the story held my interest, for the most part, in the end I felt a bit disappointed with it.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: Mine to Protect by Cynthia Eden

I really love Cynthia Eden's Mine series. She writes romantic suspense very well. This book was no exception. Very enjoyable, action packed, sexy, steamy read. Sometimes these books are exactly what you need.

My only issue with this book was that it has been awhile since I read the last book in this series and while reading this, when ever another character was mentioned I was struggling to remember the details of their situation. I've read another similar series by this same author since then, and was afraid I was getting the stories confused. Not a huge deal, and makes me think I may want to re-read those books - but so many other books that I want to read. Maybe a timeline with some brief descriptions would be helpful.  

Anyway, really liked this book. These are my go-tos when I need a quick escape. I know I'll be sucked into the story right away and it won't let up until the book is over. 

Review: Beware of Me by Cynthia Eden

I liked this book a lot. This is the fourth book in Cynthia Eden's Dark Obsession series and it was as entertaining as the other books in the series. As expected from this series, lots of action and danger, plenty of surprise twists in the story that keep you guessing and a very steamy romance.

Ethan Barclay has had a fairly significant role in all the books in this series. He's something of a crime boss - maybe - sort of a shadowy character, involved with a lot of bad people. But there's always been something about him - in each book we got to see a little more of him, always realizing he wasn't quite as bad as he seems.

I was so glad that he got a story of his own in Beware of Me. Ethan's the first to point out that he's a bad guy. But this bad guy would do anything for the woman he loves, the woman he feels he owes his life to. Carly was just a teenager when she saved Ethan's life. Afterwards, he thought the best thing he could do for her was keep her far away from him. But in Carly's eyes, he abandoned her when she needed him the most. Now, years later, he wants back in her life and knowing what he's become, she wants nothing to do with him.

Someone is after Carly though, and it's connected to what happened in their past, and Ethan isn't going to let Carly get hurt.

I like that Eden's heroines are always tough and independent. Even when her life is in danger, Carly's determined to not depend entirely on Ethan. She's not stupid, she figures out fairly quickly that she does need his help, but that doesn't mean she's going to let him control her. No matter what, she needs to be in control of her own life. And I loved how Ethan was so careful with Carly, taking into account what she'd been through in the past and making sure she never felt threatened by him, even if it meant having to exhibit some serious willpower. That's my favorite kind of hero - the guy who has all the potential to be bad but he refuses to give into his dark tendencies because that's how much he cares about the woman he's with.  That describes a lot of the guys Eden writes about and that's why I really love reading her books.

The story is very fast paced, which I usually like because I do tend to read these while traveling and like to finish the book before the plane lands - but maybe because I read this one at home, I found myself kind of wishing there was more to the story. That's not a complaint about the story, I just really liked these characters and didn't want their story to end so quickly.

This book is considered a stand alone, but I highly recommend you read the entire series, especially for this book because the other books add so much to who Ethan is. Also the books are good and worth reading.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.