Sutter Creek, Montana, Book 3
Heat Factor: Let’s tryst on this ski lift!
Character Chemistry: My PTSD is incompatible with your hobbies!
Plot: They are planning a holiday party together, but really it’s about Caleb dealing with his PTSD in a place that triggers his PTSD
Overall: Diversity tokenism done wrong
Coltons of Texas, Book 12
Heat Factor: Not even steam
Character Chemistry: It’s fine
Plot: There are a lot of moving parts – they are hiding out and solving crimes and parenting
Overall: Irritating
Harlequin Presents: Conveniently Wed!
Heat Factor: Their relationship is based on hot sex, so…
Character Chemistry: The victim/a**hole dynamic makes for chemistry challenges
Plot: Greek billionaire needs mother for orphaned nephew
Overall: Thought it would be an absurd bit of fun. Was so disappointed.
If Holly were to review this book, she would call it a Recommended Read. If Erin were to review this book, she would write a Rant. Clearly, we needed to review this book together.
Welcome to Dueling Reviews.
Moderated by Ingrid, who stirs the pot.
Erin’s Take:
Heat Factor: No heat in the traditional sense, but Khalid and Ayesha throw sparks
Character Chemistry: There’s a lot of “I shouldn’t but I still want” between these two
Plot: Pride and Prejudice retelling from a Muslim immigrant viewpoint
Overall: My rage at some of the plot points really detracted from the romance
Holly’s Take:
Heat Factor: Very chaste
Character Chemistry: Who knew that a brush of the finger tips could be so sexy?
Plot: Pride and Prejudice, but Muslim, with some extra side plots to make the central relationship more complicated
Overall: Enjoyable
Hermosa Beach, Book #1
Heat Factor: Hot tub sex!
Character Chemistry: Yearning and burning.
Plot: Girl with nothing to lose moves across the country to visit a brother she’s never met, falls for his friend – but things are not quite what they seem.
Overall: I loathed the hero.
If Ingrid were to review this book, she would call it a Recommended Read. If Erin were to review this book, she would write a Rant. Clearly, we needed to review this book together.
Welcome to Dueling Reviews.
Moderated by Holly, who is vastly entertained by Erin and Ingrid duking it out.
Erin’s Take:
Heat Factor: Totally vanilla.
Character Chemistry: They deserve each other.
Plot: I shouldn’t ask you this, it’s none of my business, you don’t have to answer.
Overall: I’d think Aaron was totally hot if I didn’t know I could bowl him over with the force of my personality.
Ingrid’s Take:
Heat Factor: It’s a steamy, fudgy, vanilla ice cream SUNDAE.
Character Chemistry:They’re like sweet, slightly damaged puzzle pieces
Plot: Young, isolated, emotionally inexperienced young woman becomes pen pal to army man stationed overseas. They bond deeply. To make this into a real relationship, they have to mature emotionally and find a way to communicate. Also, very sexy funtimes.
Overall: These guys aren’t perfect, but the way they bungle their way into a match made in heaven is steamy, sexy, and kind of cute.
Heat Factor: The heat comes from the plot…not the romance.
Character Chemistry: They just kind of weirdly click, but if I were their friend I’d be calling red flag after red flag.
Plot: Artist rescues a bride hiding in a tree on what was supposed to be her wedding day. Ex-bride is escaping a forced marriage to a dangerous mafia mobster man. She’s also a stripper and a health nut. Ex-bride-ex-stripper-health nut charms the pants right off of the unhappily married artist and they work together with artist’s friends to outsmart and escape the mafia mobster man and his goons.
Overall: I’ll be honest, the riveting plot did succeed in making me want to read more–but the book had some seriously sexist (and they weren’t subtle) undertones that were a little off-putting.
Continue reading “Review: The Blackmailed Bride by Chris Stevenson (2019)”
