When August Ends by Penelope Ward

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Be still my heart! A new book from one of my favorite authors?! Of course, I downloaded this bad boy post-haste, cleared my schedule, and dove in!

Whom did I meet once I cracked open this book?

First up was Heather. A stunning 20 year old with an old soul, too many responsibilities, and really bad taste in music. Heather takes care of her family home (which also consists of a rental cottage in the back) and her mentally ill mother. She juggles her job, landlord responsibilities, and her caretaker role with maturity and grace.

Insert incredibly, unbelievably gorgeous Noah. He’s 34, a prominent photographer, and the new tenant that has rented Heather’s cottage for the summer. After an awkward first meeting and an even more awkward second meeting their friendship finally takes off.

Noah proves to be exactly the supportive friend that Heather has needed in her life. Heather returns the favor by encouraging and proving a voice of wisdom for Noah. The story makes for an enjoyable, stress-free read.

Minor complain- possible spoiler…. READ AHEAD AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!








SPOILER AHEAD- You’ve been warned!

So it turns out that Noah had previously met Heather’s sister. She ended up showing her crazy side (mental illness) after a photo shoot and sends him sexually explicit/aggressive messages which were NOT welcome or appreciated by Noah. Why then, when Heather shows some sexual courage and aggression is that not a cause of concern for Noah? Instead, he admires it. I would have appreciated Heather be a bit more demure with her attraction towards Noah OR have changed her sister’s actions to exhibit mental illness in a different way.





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Beard Mode by Lani Lynn Vale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me a day after finishing this book to compile my thoughts and be able to submit a fair review. I still have mixed feelings but here’s my thoughts as they’ve come to me…

First and foremost the sex scenes were hot which I greatly appreciate. Muchas gracias Lani!

However- there aren’t enough awesome sex scenes in the world to overcome a choppy plot- something this book suffers from. For example several times throughout the story Aaron’s ex-wife and her murder attempt is mentioned. Heck- that’s a cornerstone of the story and explains the main character’s motives. Therefore I thought the fact that it never mentioned where the ex-wife was or if she’s was lawfully punished seemed very odd to me. Was he forever going to look over his shoulder wondering if she was going to make another attempt on his life? Would she pose a threat to his new love interest?

Also, when Aaron is in the hospital after the bicycle accident it mentions that his burns/scarring was able to be significantly reduced via facial surgery. But then there’s no follow up. How does Aaron react when he sees his face after the surgery? The significance of this cannot be understated. Prior to the surgery Aaron feared that he looked like a monster. People couldn’t even look him in the eye prior to the surgery for fucks sake! How in the heck was there not more discussion about the repercussions of the surgery?!? Why was this avenue of reconstruction never pursued previously? The author mentions Aaron having difficulty fully smiling due to the burns. Was this improved? There’s certainly a time and a place to cut corners and skim over certain subject matter in order to not make the book drag. However this was not one of them.

Similar timing in the book when Imogene was kidnapped the other MC members inform Aaron that she was found nude and with a cut on her face. I wondered where the author was going with the mark on her face. Now that Aaron’s facial scarring have been improved from the surgery would Imogene now have facial scars to accept and overcome? An interesting twist yet the author never addresses it. I felt like I was left hanging.

I hate leaving bad reviews but I felt obligated to leave my honest reaction. Because of the choppiness I actually checked my kindle to make sure I downloaded the most up-to-date version of the book.

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Sway by Adriana Locke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well shucks. This book had all the ingredients to a fantastic book but the execution was off.
The ingredients-
*Sexy, successful politician with a heart of gold.
*Cute, honest single mom down on her luck.
*Adorable 10-year-old boy.
*Great supporting cast including some handsome brothers of the politician that could carry the series forward.

Unfortunately all the ingredients just didn’t come together in the right way.
Example- Barrett is the town mayor and is the eldest son of a very prominent family. The first turn off was his public promiscuity. I think the author wanted to emphasize how desirable Barrett was by mentioning his prolific former conquests. For me it didn’t jive with his character. People in the public eye usually have to be discreet with their dalliances. Especially since several of them run in the same social circles and he sees them at different business meetings. He also showed weakness and was naive when it came to who allowed in his inner circle. Barrett also buckled to his parents’ (mostly his father’s) business suggestions. Ummmm, he supposed to be a very successful and intelligent man. Why is he so subservient to his father’s demands?!? No bueno!

Spoiler alert-
I don’t want to ruin it for those of you who still intend to read the book so READ NO FURTHER because I have a spoiler coming up! There is a certain sex scene between Barrett and Alison that involves grapes. Let me be very clear that experimenting in different positions and with different toys can be fun (super duper fun in fact!) BUT I think it’s something that should be discussed amongst the consenting adults prior to them being used. I found it rather odd that Barrett just started popping the grapes in Alison’s vagina without a second thought. That scene just didn’t do it for me. In my OCD mind I was thinking ‘God I hope he counted those grapes to make sure all of them came out afterwards’. Otherwise being a poor single parent will be the least of her problems! She’ll start leaking some sort of weird vagina wine in a few weeks.

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Swerve by Sherilee Gray
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stow your pitchforks and riot gear. I have an unpopular review and am hoping everyone will respect my opinion. To be completely forthright I’ve been on a DNF kick and Swerve is not my first and most likely won’t be my last victim.

The book starts with Shay leaving a party in a skimpy Poison Ivy costume. She’s followed by a drunk idiot wearing a Batman costume. You’re led to believe she’s so attract she not only inadvertently lures the Batman guy but also inspires Hugh (super hot, mountain-sized man) to risk his entire illegal car operation to give her a ride home. Alright- at this point in the book I’ve agreed to “play along” with the set up and keep reading. Shay is described as curvy with red hair. I’m imagining a classic hour-glass figure. You know… T&A with a small waist. Further into the story you discover Shay recently quit her job because her boss (another man who was attracted to her) was over-sharing their sex life and discussing her with colleagues around the company water cooler. In yet another scene she’s approached by a customer at the bar she waitresses at asking her out. So now (as the reader) I have a pretty solid impression of Shay and have determined she’s a knock out. Basically, she’s got more men than she can shake a stick at. Lest ye forget- most of these men haven’t spoken with her so their attraction is purely physical.

Imagine my surprise when her figure is described in her work uniform (tiny t-shirt and skinny jeans) and it mentions her belly jiggles. Hmmmm- weird. That didn’t sync with my mental image of her. Just how “curvy” is this gal who’s attracting so many men? But, what do I know…maybe her skinny jeans were way, way too tight and causing tummy overflow. Still an odd thing to mention/describe. TRUTH-I could have lived the rest of my life without imagining her belly jiggling.

The first intimate scene was enjoyable. The only mention of her body is that her breasts are fuller than a handful. I have zero problems with this description and it once again supports the femme fatale image I’ve developed for Shay. Gotcha. We’re back in business.

Prepare yourselves…plot twist. What in the whaaaaaaaaaaat??? Guess what? When Shay and her friend are shopping for clothes they mention she’s self concious about her arms because they’ve been described as stuffed sausages. What in heck? This description threw me for a loop. I put down my kindle and literally tried to picture even a single person I know who has “stuffed sausage arms” but came up blank. To me- that description is far more fitting for someone who is morbidly obese. But if that was the case, how is she driving so many men wild? BEFORE YOU GO CRAZY- Let me say I think plus size women can be very attractive and have enjoyed reading several romances where the heroine was a “larger” lady. At this point I have ZERO clue what this chick looks like and am finding it increasingly hard to immerse myself in the story.

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