Fighting Fate by JB Salsbury

JB Salsbury has hit it out of the mother #$%@! park once again!

Fighting Fate holds it's own as the sixth installment in the Fighting Series, which introduces us to Axelle and Killian. Now if you've read the other books in this series, these two should be familiar to you, they're both introduced in Fighting to Forgive. The story of Axelle and Killian's friendship turned lovers turned big, confusing hot mess, is heartbreaking. There were times throughout this book that I wanted to straight up throw my Kindle at the wall and other times I wanted to curl up in a ball and just weep. JB knows how to write a story and even better, she knows how to write amazing characters that you'll never forget.

Axelle is your typical college student who likes to party, drink too much and has one really douchey boyfriend! Killian reminds me of poor Dawson in Dawson's Creek, always the friend, never the boyfriend. But when Axelle starts to realize what's right in front of her, she realizes that her feelings go much deeper than friendship when it comes to Killian.

Killian is they guy everyone loves. He's loyal, friendly and would give the shirt off his back to someone in need. He's had feelings for Axelle since he laid eyes on her but has always felt he held the dreaded friends only card. When they both realize their feelings go beyond their friendship, their love blossoms into something wonderful.

But as we all know JB Salsbury is going to sideswipe you with a situation that will leave you saying "whooooaaaaaaa!"

Without giving anything away, Axelle makes a decision to let Killian go because he has the opportunity of a lifetime to train and fight in London and she refuses to hold him back because she needs help. Killian is heartbroken. He's confused and doesn't understand why Axelle would just push him away when she desperately needs him. So the question is, if you really do let love go, will it find its way back if it's meant to be?

Thank you JB for another incredible story!

Fighting for Forver by JB Salsbury - Review

The Fighting series by JB Salsbury never disappoints! She can write a story like a spider can weave a web. Her stories are constructed in a thoughtful, clever, sexy way that can only be described as epic! Every book in this series is amazing and you won’t be disappointed when you pick up the first book but I will warn you…you will become an addict!!

Fighting Forever was an amazing story of betrayal, sacrifice and love, with a whole lot of sexiness mixed in. This installment of the Fighting series is about Trix and Mason. Trix is a dancer at Zeus and we all know Mason as “Baywatch” from the other books in the series.  Trix is one of those characters that you just can’t forget. She’s dancing in a strip club not because she wants to, but because she’s on a mission to avenge her sister’s death. Trix never expects to meet someone who will make her question everything she is doing and possibly make her seek peace instead of revenge.

 

Mason aka Baywatch, never thought he’d need someone as much as he needs Trix. It takes one look at her and he sees right through her stripper façade, instead he sees a woman trying to fight her own demons and conquer the world at the same time. When Trix’s need for revenge and Mason’s family issues collide, they realize just how much they both need each other. 

I love how JB Salsbury gives you all the feels in her books but she also gives you suspense, drama and serious intensity, and boy does she know how to write an ending! The epilogue of Trix and Mason’s story had my heart melting into a pile of mush! 

I’m telling you, if you haven’t read one of JB’s books you need to! Stat with Fighting the Fight and I promise you will get sucked into a black hole of gorgeous, possessive but oh so lovable MMA fighters and their incredible women!

Fall From Grace by Christine Zolendz - Review

Okay I had to mentally prepare myself to write this review because honestly *gag, choke, gag* I absolutely despised this book. I would rather have dental work done by Edward Scissors Hands! Ughhhh this book has 5 star reviews and great ratings and I'm sitting here going "WTF?? Did I miss out on the group koolaide session or what?" Because this book was torture to get through!!

I will keep this review as brief as I can, although I could go on all day about the ridiculousness of how it's written. Don't get me wrong, the storyline could have gone leaps and bounds, instead it face planted, right into a brick wall.

So the book starts off with Grace, our main character, saying goodbye to her dying brother Jacob. Literally within the first pages her brother dies from cancer and you learn she has no other family as they died in a car accident years ago. So she leaves the hospital/hospice place that she's been holed up in since her brother got sick and is headed, like a freakin maniac, back to New York where she was previously living with her best friend Lea.

Okay just so you know, this is a paranormal book, yet you don't know that until halfway through the book. Grace keeps rambling incoherently about things that make no sense yet gives you an inkling that it's "paranormal" related.

 Anyways....so this book just nose dives into oblivion once Grace gets back to New York. She's not back for more than five freakin minutes and she's getting ready to hit the bar and get drunk with her best friend. The amount of alcohol that was consumed in this book made ME feel like I needed to go to an AA meeting! It was soooooo over done. My God, every second someone is downing enough Tequila to make a frat house look like the Catholic church.

Moving forward...so at said bar, we meet Shane. Now I kinda like Shane! He's all hardcore, rocker, bad boy and has taken a liking to Grace. She on the other hand constantly pushes him away like a little bitch because she's looking for some long lost love, yeah I don't know! We also meet Lea's boyfriend, Conner as well as friends Ethan, Bryden. Alex, Tucker and there are a few others I can't recall.

The banter between Grace and Shane was so damn annoying at times, I almost died from perpetual eye rolling. I cannot write this review without giving some quotes from this book so I can share the ridiculousness I had to submit myself to....

Without saying another word to me, he delicately took my arm and sprinkled a small pinch of salt on the soft skin of my inner wrist. He raised my arm to his mouth and I watched him lightly press his tongue against my skin...."God Grace. You do taste like heaven," he whispered breathlessly. I felt a delicious heat rise all over my body. "I think I should go home now. I'm...really...tired." I whirled around and practically ran towards the bathroom.

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!!!!!! WTF?!?!?! A HOT ROCKER/BAD BOY JUST LICKED SALT OFF YOUR WRIST AND YOU "SHOULD GO HOME" BECAUSE YOU'RE TIRED?!?!?!?!?! UGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Okay rant over....at this point my poor Kindle was getting a verbal beating from me.

But it just keeps getting better....

We ordered pizza and we all sat around and colored flyers for the auditions. We looked like a group of five year olds on a play date.When I mentioned that out loud, all hell broke loose.

(All hell broke loose? Really, because I swear we were getting reading to dive into the next chapter of the freakin' Babysitters Club book!!!!!!!Ughh)

Alex's face scrunched up and he shouted, "Bryden picks his nose and eats it!"

Almost choking on a bite of pizza, Bryden shouted, "Alex has got the cooties!"

"So we look like five year olds, huh?" Ethan asked coming up behind me. He grabbed me in a gentle headlock and gave me noogies on my head."

(Are you shitting me right now? Noogies? God Bless America.....)

I screamed and ran for my water bottle, and poured it all over Ethan's head. "Oh no," I teased. "Ethan just wet himself!"

I tried to move again, electricity shooting up through my body. Oh my! I grabbed the only thing I could, my slice of pizza, and smashed it in his face laughing. He rolled off me laughing just as hard.

(Who the hell does that?!?!?!?)

I will say that this book did get pretty good at about the 99% done point, only because it leaves you with one big fat cliffhanger that has you screaming:

If you want to read this book then I say go for it but you've been warned. Again, the storyline with the paranormal, angel, bad angels or whatever, could have been awesome but it just spiraled into eye rolling and WTF moments for me. The paranormal part was just allover the place and too damn confusing to grasp onto.
 And no, I will NOT be reading the second book. Cliffhanger or not, I will not put myself through the torture again. I can't stomach it!

Baiting the Maid of Honor (Wedding Dare #2) by Tessa Bailey - Review

Oh Tessa Bailey...my my woman how I love your books and this one is no exception. I devour anything and everything this author writes. She can write one helluva sexy alpha male.

This is a series but can be read as a stand alone but I'm thinking of reading the others. Just one thing to note, the other books are not written by Tessa Bailey.

The story caters around the wedding of Kady and Colt and the week long festivities leading up to the big day. Baiting the Maid of Honor is the story of Julie and  Reed. She's a southern belle with closet freak status and he's a SWAT Commander who's dark, sexy and all alpha male!

I loved Julie so much because she is from Georgia and a true southern belle or as Reed called her "a hellcat disguised as Tinker Bell." Being from Georgia myself, I loved the things that Julie would say including "sugar" and "bless your heart."

And lets not forget about sexy Reed! I swear that man could talk the panties off a nun! Or as Julie's best friend Regan says "You guys were two seconds away from wild, oh-I-think-I-see-Jesus sex." That made me stop and have a good laugh! Reed was a lot of fun to read and had a sweet side when he tired hard enough. This was just a fun, easy read and I truly enjoyed it. If you're looking for a funny, steamy, simple love story then give this one a go!

Wallbanger by Alice Clayton - Review

OH MY GOD...I don't even know where the hell to begin with this book! I read this on a whim because someone recommended it and said I would love it. From the first page until the last, I laughed out loud so many times I lost count! Hell I even laughed during the steamy sex scenes between Simon and Caroline; they're witty banter was fantastic!!! There came a point that I laughed so hard I had to put my Kindle down because I was doubled over on my couch laughing!

 First you have good old Caroline Reynolds who moves into this awesome apartment, has the best job as an Interior designer and a cat name Clive that needs his own book! Then there’s yummy, melt in your mouth, Simon Parker who lives next door to Caroline. How do they meet…well by Wall-banging of course! Caroline is kept awake at all hours of the night by her neighbor Simon nailing his lady companions into his mattress and his headboard into Carolines wall! I swear the names that Caroline gives Simons “harem" as she calls them, is outrageously hilarious. You have the spanker, the meower (Clive's one and only) and the giggler. I just about died when Caroline described each one of these ladies.

 

There were so many good parts in this book that I can’t even begin to write about all of them! I love how Caroline first calls Simon “Wallbanger” and Simon calls Caroline “Cockblocker”. I mean does it get any more real than that?!?!? The story wasn’t an unrealistic, melt all over, swoon worthy love story. The author kept this story real and VERY relatable. The part of the book where the characters were having “in the head conversations” was so hilarious, I swear I thought I was reading conversations I've had with myself in the past!

Again I can’t go into all of my favorite parts but some were Tata’s, Backbone/Wang vs. Nerves, Clive the cat and his encounter with “Purina”, the Dawson’s Creek comparison, “The Woo to his Goo” and being all Dr. Seusian! When Caroline named her lower half as “LC” or Lower Caroline…wow…and the fact that she gave LC a personality! LC would “kick stuff and throw chairs across the room”! Oh and we can’t forget LC and Wang a possible new rap duo, that had me rolling! But my all time favorite part in this book was:

”If your belly button tastes this good – fuck Caroline. I can’t wait to taste your pussy."

"There are certain things a woman needs to hear at different times in her life: You got the job. Your ass looks great in that skirt. I would love to meet your mother. And when used in just the right context, need to hear the P-word.” 

I should not have drank water at that particular moment but I did and it went everywhere!!! 

Alice Clayton keeps it as real as you can get! There’s no bullshit or fancy dancing around…she shoots straight as an arrow! Read the book…I promise you won’t regret it!!

Unbreak Me by Lexi Ryan - Review

Wow…wow…wow…wow!!!! Asher Logan is now in my top “book boyfriend" list!! Holy smokes! When I first read what this book was about I wasn’t sure I wanted to read it but I am sooooooo glad I did!! First off the author, Lexi Ryan is a phenomenal writer. I was so impressed with how she wrote this book and her characters, that I cannot wait to read more from her. I loved how not only did you get Maggie and Asher’s POV  but you also got Williams “Will" POV. That to me was BRILLIANT! You got to read from three of the most important characters in the book’s perspectives on certain situations and it just worked beautifully.

I loved Maggie for all her faults and heartaches. I truly felt her pain and my heart just hurt for her (that’s how well written this book is). And Asher…OMG Asher!! GET IN MY BED!! I’ve said this before with other characters but Asher is the sweetest, most sincere bad boy ever! He melted my heart in so many ways! I mean when Maggie says “I’m afraid I’ll shatter” and Asher comes back with "If you shatter, I’ll find you.” I MEAN REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?! I stopped reading when I read that and had to have a moment!! My heart literally just melted into a big pile of mush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 This book was awesome, amazing, spectacular, whatever word you want to use! I cannot wait to read more from Lexi Ryan because she can write one helluva story.

Playing Patience by Tabatha Vargo - Review

Okay so I actually really liked this book…to an extent. The writing was good and I honestly loved the characters. Zeke and Patience were so equally different yet so very much the same. I didn’t like how you would read from Patience’s point of view of a situation and then when you read from Zeke’s point of view, you were going back in time and rereading the entire situation hat you literally just read from Patience’s POV. That got old quick so I skimmed those parts a lot. I will tell you that if you don’t like dark situations then don’t read this book. Patience is being sexually abused by her father which is a tough pill to swallow when reading it because you just want to reach through your kindle and beat the living shit out of her father. Then you have Zeke’s dad who beats the living crap out of him because he’s a drunk. 

Overall, I loved the characters and story line. Reading about abuse isn’t always easy but it’s unfortunately a fact of life and happens too often in society. It was a good, easy read and I just fell so in love with Zeke!! If you’ve got nothing else to read and just want a good story then give this book a chance. Oh and there's a second book called Perfecting Patience (review coming soon).

Falling Into Us by Jasinda Wilder - Review

Hmmm so I was really excited to read Falling Into Us, especially after reading Falling Into You but I do have to be honest…I was a bit disappointed. I felt like everything just dragged and dragged and dragged and there was no real “point” to the story.

Maybe it’s just me but I felt like the meat of the story was missing. I did love Becca and Jason’s story I just felt like I was being dragged through the mud page after page!!!! I mean when what happened with Becca’s brother was just kind of dismissed, I felt cheated in a way.

Throughout the whole story certain situations would be dragged out and others just rushed through…kind felt like being 15 again and learning to drive for the for the first time…gas…brake…gas…brake…gas…brake!!!!!!! Oh well…it was a good read and I don’t regret reading it but I just couldn’t help but feel something was just lacking in the book.

For Her Protection by Amber Bardan - Review

I am going to be truthfully honest here...I almost didn't finish this book after getting about 20% into it. Why you ask, well it was just kind of all over the place for me at first. I like the whole cat and mouse chase between two characters. It builds the anticipation and need and it keeps the reader interested. The two characters in this book literally were grinding and groping within the first 20 pages! I mean for the love of God...feel me up, tease me, give me a little fourplay to warm me up!!!!! Geez COME ON!!!!!!

Okay so you have Charlize who is the CEO of her families company and trying to prove herself as a female in the big boy chair of the corporate world. Well that doesn't go well with all the men who work in management at the company because well she has tits, a vagina and she sits to pee! She ends up firing one of the douchbags and well he doesn't take it lightly and tries to kidnap her, rape her, kill her etc etc. Of course he doesn't succeed and gets away, so she hires a bodyguard and a whole new security team to keep a close eye out.

Enter Conner Crowe...former cop turned self defense coach. Can you handle that! He is the owner and founder of Crowe Security and has made it his mission to protect Charlize and catch psycho, disgruntled ex employee.

I will say that the further I got into the book, the more I enjoyed it. I felt the first part of the book was just sex, sex and more sex. I mean don't get me wrong...I love sex! BUT there's got to be some substance to the story instead of just wam-bam-thank-you-ma'am characters. As I said, the story does get better further in and by the end of the book I truly enjoyed it. I just wanted more from Charlize and more from Conner...I feel like we're just kind of left with a taste instead of the full course! So if you're in for a hot, quick read then pick this book up and give it a go!