Book Review-Say-You-Still-Love-Me

Say You Still Love Me

by

K. A. Tucker

Say You Still Love Me is romance written in a then and now format.  Then being a school summer camp where characters meet and now is thirteen years later or present day, if you will.

Piper Calloway is a seventeen-year-old daughter whose family is not at all short of money.   She would rather be in Paris with her friends instead of spending the summer as a counsellor at the school camp her mother attended.

Kyle Miller is definitely from the other side of the tracks.  Far from being wealthy most of Kyle’s family are in prison for various reasons.

After a wonderful time at camp they promise each other to stay in touch and that is the last time they see each other, for thirteen years.  By this time Piper is VP of her father’s company when she sees Kyle in a security guard uniform in her building.

As with all romances there are several complications before life becomes uncomplicated for them. Piper learns the reason why she never heard from Kyle after Summer Camp all those years ago.  The biggest question is can she forgive, forget and move forward?  And will Kyle be by her side?

                                                                                             

As with all of Ms Tucker’s books

that I have so far read,

I thoroughly enjoyed

 Say You Still Love Me,

and

I rated

 Say You Still Love Me,

as an enjoyable

four-star read.

***

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers have rated

 Say You Still Love Me,

At the time of writing my review,

other Goodreads readers have rated

 Say You Still Love Me,

an average of 3.84 stars

from 18,010 ratings

and 2,210 reviews.

***

Say You Still Love Me,

can be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 ***

 

 

Book Review-The-Player-Next-Door

The Player Next Door

by

K. A. Tucker

 

I first read The Player Next Door in 2020, however, for some unknown reason I did not review it.  In a nutshell, The Player Next Door is about Scarlet returning to her hometown only to discover that her high school heart-throb is now her next-door neighbour.

 

Scarlet Reed returns to Polson Falls, her hometown where, thanks to her mother’s sexual proclivities, she was known as the harlot’s daughter during her youth.   She has secured a teaching position at the local school and purchased a fixer-upper to call home.  Life looks good until she meets her next-door neighbour, Shane Beckett, the high school star quarterback who broke her heart over a decade ago.

Scarlet makes it abundantly clear that she has not forgotten the pain caused by their teenage breakup.

Shane claims to be a better person now than he was then. Neighbours they may be, but Scarlet wants nothing more than to be Shane’s neighbour.  Scarlett vows not to fall for Shane again.  However, as she gets to know this version of Shane, she begins to fear that she’s wrong.  Perhaps Shane has changed:  maybe she should give him a chance.  As she allows herself to think these thoughts, Scarlet comes to the conclusion that she should give Shane a second chance; after all, they were good in high school and the only thing he did wrong was to dump her unexpectedly.   Perhaps Scarlet is the one playing herself out of a chance at true happiness. And ever so slowly Scarlett and Shane’s friendship grows into something more than a platonic relationship.

This is my second read of The Player Next Door and I have enjoyed it as much as the first time.

I rated

The Player Next Door

as a

Three Star

  read.

Other Goodreads readers have rated

The Player Next Door

an average of 3.80 stars

from 12,858 ratings

and 1,372 reviews.

***

 

The Player Next Door

can be purchased online at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

 

Book Review-Fallen-Empire-#4

Fallen Empire

Dirty Empire Book #4

by

Nina West/K. A. Tucker

************

 

Following hot on the heels of book three, Fallen Empire continues the story of the Easton Family and Gabriel and Caleb’s efforts to free themselves from their father’s (Vlad Easton) world of drugs.

Gabriel and Caleb want to free themselves from Vlad’s world so they can focus on their club and perhaps buy a Casino.  Although in jail Vlad gets wind of this and has Mercy Wheeler (Gabriel’s girlfriend) kidnapped by Bane, a rather unsavoury character, to say the least, in order to force Gabriel into doing as Vlad orders.  Vlad still has a long reach even from behind bars.

As the body counts mount it becomes clear that being related to, or working for the Easton Family is a dangerous pastime.  Particularly when Father Vlad is ordering the hits from his prison cell.

How and will Gabriel and Caleb be able to safely escape their father’s control? Or will one or both become part of the body count?  What will become of Mercy?

A rather gory but enjoyable finale to the Dirty Empire series.  I noticed in my book 3 review I had mentioned that the bedroom (Books 1 & 2) was not overshadowing the storyline.  A similar comment is applicable to Fallen Empire (Book 4).   Whilst the bedroom is mentioned not infrequently, that’s as far as it goes.  Fallen Empire is all about business.

I found Fallen Empire to be another page-turner

from the pen of Nina West and rated Fallen Empire as a three-star read

 

I rated

Fallen Empire

as a

read.

***

At the time of completing my review

other Goodreads readers

have awarded

Fallen Empire

an average of 4.00 stars

from 2,294 ratings

and 146 reviews.

*****

Fallen Empire

can be purchased online at

Fishpond, and Amazon

Unavailable at Booktopia,

 

Book Review-Surrender-to-Me-Wolf-#4

Surrender to Me

(The Wolf Hotel #4)

by 

Nina West

AKA – K. A. Tucker

 

 

I have just finished Surrender to Me for the third time.  Not because the book was a ripper to read, no it seemed my memory was failing me because the morning after I had completed my read I had forgotten the plot. 

This time around, however, I realised why I kept forgetting the plot.  It was simply a case of there wasn’t one!   That is unless explicit sex/bedroom scenes are considered part of the plot.

The only saving grace is that Surrender to Me, like the rest of the series, is an easy read.   There is a funeral, a game of golf and Henry had a gold mine collapse on him during an earthquake.  Even the gold mine collapse was told from Abbi’s viewpoint and from the safety of Wolf Alaska.

The ending to Surrender to Me was abrupt; however, it has left the door open for book 6, which I would happily read as I believe the scope is there for an ending to, or continuation of, the series.  And it should also be a quick read.

 

I have rated

Surrender to Me

as a three-star read.

At the time of completing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Surrender to Me

an average of 4.31 stars

from 7,440 ratings

and 540 reviews.

Surrender to Me

can be purchased online at

Amazon‎, 

Booktopia, and Fishpond

 

 

 

Book Review-Teach-Me-Wolf-#3

Teach Me

(The Wolf Hotel #3)

by

Nina West

aka – K. A. Tucker

        
Teach Me (Wolf Hotels #3), by Nina West, continues after Abbi’s father has had a farming accident.   Leaving her job at Wolf Cove to fly home to Pennsylvania, she has resigned herself to spending the next twenty hours on planes or in airports.  Arriving in Homer she steps off the ferry and immediately finds she is being offered a ride to the airport.  Not the airport she was destined for, but a private airport.  The Wolf Airport.

Once home Abbi again has to face her mother’s wrath, conveniently overlooking all the good Henri had done for the Mitchell family in their time of need.   Mother Mitchell (Bernadette) only had eyes for Jed as a life partner for Abbi, not caring that Abbi and Jed had split because Jed cheated on Abbi.

By this stage, the editing was beginning to annoy me.  Simple words were being left out of the text left right and centre.

For example; straight from the text this sentence reads;

“I smile as reach up to unfasten the top button of my dress.”

Whereas I think either of these alternatives reads much better and makes more sense:

“I smile as (I) reach up to unfasten the top button of my dress.”

“I smile (and) reach up to unfasten the top button of my dress.”

I have one final question to put to the panel;

‘How did Henri acquire rough, calloused, hands?’

There are several references to his calloused hands, however, the only times I have ever seen callous hands was after heavy manual labour and I have chopped enough wood in my life to know that he did not get callouses from the bit he chopped up in book one.

Teach Me moves along at a good pace, however, there were many times when I felt that there could have been a bit more to the plot other than lengthy descriptions of Abbi’s and Henri’s ‘bedroom’ antics.

I have rated

Teach Me

as a three-star read.

At the time of completing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Teach Me

an average of 4.13 stars

from 6,352 ratings

and 399 reviews.

Teach Me

can be purchased online at

Amazon‎,

Booktopia, and Fishpond

 

 

 

Book Review-Break-Me-Wolfe-#2

Break Me

(The Wolf Hotel #2)

by 

 

Nina West

Break Me (Wolf Hotels #2) virtually commences the day after Nina West’s Tempt Me ends.  Abbi continues with her duties as Henry Wolf’s personal assistant leading up to the opening of the Wolf Cove Hotel, a new addition to the Wolf Chain of Hotels.  An opening where many of the guests are gorgeous and drooling after Henry.  This coupled with Henry’s brother Scott and his lies all create a perfect storm to fuel Abbi’s insecurities and she becomes insanely jealous.  Particularly, after Abbi, sees Henry escorting not one, but two lovely ladies back to their accommodation.  

After the opening and after a predictable argument, Henry cuts his summer short and leaves Alaska, but not before he has transferred Abbi to her first preference; the outdoor crew.  There she reconnects with Ronan and Connor, her workmates for the rest of the summer.

 

It appears all is over between Abbi and Henry until Abbi receives a phone call from home that turns her world upside down.  And that is where Henry, and his resources, step in to ease her pain.

 

Break Me moves along at a good pace, however, there were many times when I felt that there could have been a bit more to the plot than the characters portrayed.

 

******

Other Goodreads readers

have rated

Break Me

an average of 4.12 stars

from 5,057 ratings

and 398 reviews.

***

I think

Break Me

is a

read.

Break Me

can be purchased online at

Amazon

 

Not Available: Booktopia, Fishpond 

 

Book-Review-Running-Wild

Running Wild

(Wild,#3)

by

K. A. Tucker

***

In K. A. Tucker’s Running Wild Calla and Jonah, stars of previous books in the Wild series, only play supporting roles, to veterinarian Marie.   Marie was keen on Jonah Before Calla arrived in Alaska; however, her feelings were never reciprocated.  Jonah simply looked upon Marie as a good friend and upon Calla’s arrival, Jonah looked no further.

When a new musher arrives in town Marie is adamant that she will never find anyone like Jonah.   Tyler is handsome, arrogant and spiteful.  In fact, his only redeeming feature according to Marie is his love of is dogs.

The Iditarod Sled Dog Race provides an ideal backdrop for veterinarian Marie and musher Tyler to overcome that initial first impression.   With first impressions behind them, you would think that the road to true love was a smooth transition.  This could not be further from the truth.  And with her biological time clock working overtime, Marie has to decide if Tyler is the man of her dreams and, therefore, worth the wait?  Will Tyler be able to overcome his past and love Marie the way she loves him?

As with previous wild books Running Wild moves along at a cracking page-turner pace.

I rated

Running Wild

as an enjoyable

five star read.

***

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers have rated

Running Wild

At the time of writing my review,

other Goodreads readers have rated

Running Wild

an average of 4.28 stars

from 4,968 ratings

and 887 reviews.

***

Forever  Wild

can be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 ***

Book Review-Tempt-Me-Wolfe-1

Tempt Me

(The Wolf Hotel #1)

by 

Nina West

 

Nina West’s Tempt Me commences in a small town in Pennsylvania where 21 year old, Abbigail (Abbi) Mitchell has been dating or friendly with the Minister’s son, Jed, forever and both sets of parents are expecting to hear the sounds of wedding bells sometime in the future.

It would be fair to say that Abbi and Jed think along those lines also as they have decided to save themselves for their wedding night.  Although, discovering Jed in bed with another girl does change that for Abbi.

Both sets of parents justify Jed’s actions as sowing his wild oats.  Even Abbi’s overbearing and pious mother tells Abbi she should stick around until Jed finishes sowing his wild oats.

Abbi, however, has other ideas and applies for a summer job with the outdoor crew at Wolf Hotels’ new hotel in Alaska.   Abbi sets of for the Alaskan wilderness not knowing what to expect and finds herself working and living with an extremely active group of people her own age, and working for Henry Wolf the Wolf Hotels C.E.O., as his personal assistant with no experience whatsoever.

 

Circulating rumours about Henry’s sexual appetite are soon proven to be true.   However, is everything different this time?  As Abbi hopes it will.  The amount of time spent describing (in detail) Henry and Abbi’s romps, is a bit over the top, in my opinion.  However, I guess the publishers wanted some padding without which Tempt Me would be a simple romance of the short-story variety.  Or….am I getting older and showing my age?

I have rated Tempt Me as a three-star read.

 

*****

Other Goodreads readers

have rated

Tempt Me

an average of 4.07 stars

from 6,675 ratings

and 576 reviews.

*****

I think

Tempt Me

is a

read.

Tempt Me

can be purchased online at

 

Booktopia, and Amazon

*****

 

Book-Review-Five-Ways-To-Fall

Five Ways To Fall

(Ten Tiny Breaths #5)

by

K. A. Tucker

***

Five Ways To Fall is K. A. Tucker’s fifth novel in the Ten Tiny Breaths series.  Again Ms Tucker has focussed on one of the original characters.

However, unlike previous offerings in the Ten Tiny Breaths series, Five Ways To Fall has but a tenuous connection to the prior books.  Five Ways To Fall reduces original characters to cameo mentions and appearances at parties and social occasions.  The only exception to this is Ben the good looking (and womanising) bouncer at Penny’s as he begins his career as a lawyer.

Reese, and Ben, meet in Cancun on Ben’s last night.  A night that could only be described as an unmitigated disaster that Reese wanted to forget and Ben wanted to remember.

Several months later they bump into each other…at work.   Reese now works as a paralegal, a brilliant one at that, at her stepfather’s law firm, where Ben has also secured a position at the firm.

Five Ways To Fall is a nice romance with an inevitable happy ending which most K. A. Tucker fans will enjoy.

I found

Five Ways To Fall

an enjoyable read and rated

Five Ways To Fall

as a solid

four star read.

***

At the time of writing my review,

other Goodreads readers have rated

Five Ways To Fall

an average of 4.30 stars

from 14,581 ratings

and 1,223 reviews.

***

Five Ways To Fall

can be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon 

***

Book-Review-Four-Seconds-to-Lose

Four Seconds to Lose

(Ten Tiny Breaths #3)

by

K. A. Tucker

***

Four Seconds To Lose is K. A. Tucker’s third novel in the Ten Tiny Breaths series.  Again Ms Tucker has focussed on one of the original characters.  This time it is strip club owner, Cain with guest appearances by all of the original Ten Tiny Breaths cast of characters  

 

Cain has a strict no fraternizing with the dancers policy which works well until Charlie Rourke casts her shadow over his doorway, seeking a job.   Being around Charlie sees all types of emotions stirred in Cain; basic, animal emotions which have lain dormant for many years.  In fact, Charlie is the only dancer which Cain comes out of his office to watch, each and every night.  

But Charlie is involved in shady dealings.  Her step-dad is using her as a drug mule and drugs are one thing which Cain wants nothing to do with.  As romance begins to blossom, Cain decides to air his dirty laundry for Charlie’s benefit.   He feels his hitherto unknown past may be holding Charlie back…what he doesn’t know is that it is her past, present and future which is stopping Charlie from committing to Cain.

Another easy read from K. A. Tucker which I enjoyed immensely.

 At the time of writing my review,

other Goodreads readers have rated

Four Seconds to Lose

an average of 4.20 stars

from 18,380 ratings

and 1,445 reviews.

***

I rated

Four Seconds to Lose

as an enjoyable

four star read.

***

Four Seconds to Lose

can be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon 

***