By Her Touch by Adriana Anders
I very much enjoyed this book, and it may have been my favorite out of the three in the series. It begins with Clay Navarro, an undercover cop, being discovered by the motorcycle gang he’s infiltrated. After barely escaping with his life, he finds Dr. George Hadley, a dermatologist that specializes in tattoo removal, particularly in the tattoo was not consented to (as we saw in the first book, Under Her Skin). Clay doesn’t want to be involved with her as he is still in danger, but obviously, love wins. The climax of the book was edge-of-your-seat fantastic.
Readers Advisory: Obviously, I highly recommend all the other books in this series. Dr. George plays a significant role in the first book, and Sheriff Clay Navarro turns up in the third.
Play by Kylie Scott
The circumstances leading up to the hero and heroine getting together did stretch my suspension of disbelief a little, but otherwise, the story was interesting and fun. There was a little drama to keep the plot moving, and part of it seemed a little melodramatic. Is that common with New Adult? It was definitely a lighter read than what I typically enjoy, but the characters were vibrant and the chemistry was hot.
Readers Advisory: There’s a smidgen of fake-relationship for publicity in this one, so if that’s a trope you love, check out Act Like It by Lucy Parker. You won’t regret it.
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
This was our book club book for August. It took me a really long time to get invested into it, mostly because the story uses an unreliable narrator plot device, and I’m starting to get burned out on those. There were also a lot of characters to keep straight. One thing that I did really like about this book was how it handled the main character’s anxiety, and her reliance on medication to treat it. Many of the other characters are dismissive of that, and it really helps shine a light on how that feels, and how people who are anxious are sometimes unfairly dismissed as crazy.
Reader’s Advisory: This book was eerily reminiscent of The Girl On The Train, but in different ways. I have a feeling that many people who liked one will like the other.
Perv by Dakota Gray
I love a good erotic romance, but there was something about this book that just seemed a little bit off to me. The character motivations and abrupt turn around for both on how they felt and reacted to things seemed a little strange. It was a huge girl-wants-revenge plot, that got kind of crumpled up and tossed aside quickly. And the hero just completely changed his entire outlook on relationships because of one girl that got under his skin. Playboys that meet their kryptonite, and all it takes is for the girl to play hard to get, don’t really work for me.
Readers Advisory: For a really amazing girl revenge book, I highly recommend Sugar Daddy by Sawyer Bennett. Holy moly that was a great trilogy. The hero also loves giving head, if that’s one of your catnips.
Crazy Pucking Love by Cindi Madsen
Now, a forbidden love story with two people who are in sync both romantically and as people, and the reason they can’t be together is an overbearing older brother? That I’m into. I enjoyed this story very much because there’s a lot of backstory for both characters (that I believe may be addressed in previous books, I’m definitely planning on checking them out) that completely made sense for the plot and why the two main characters were resistant to be together. Also, I’m a sucker for a hockey romance.
Readers Advisory: I just finished reading the first three books in Sarina Bowen’s Brooklyn Bruisers series, so if you like hockey romance, I highly recommend you check those out.
Misbehaving by Tiffany Reisz
This was a short novella that was funny and cute, about a woman who writes a column about sex toys and needs a partner for a weekend to ‘try out’ a book all about sex positions. Who better to help her out than the one that got away? There’s not a lot of substance to this one, but it was short and cute and I always love all the funny jokes and asides that Reisz injects into her writings.
Readers Advisory: Tiffany has many of her short stories available for free on her website, so you should definitely check those out.
More full length reviews to come! Keep an eye out for a new Tessa Bailey and a DNF (sad).