Book

You Had Me at Hola

You Had Me at Hola

By: Alexis Daria

Blurb:

Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers. 

After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids. When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez. 

Leading Ladies don’t need a man to be happy. 

After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worried his career is dead as well. Joining this new cast as a last-minute addition will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences and ping the radar of Hollywood casting agents. To make it work, he’ll need to generate smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine. Easier said than done, especially when a disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had. 

Leading Ladies do not rebound with their new costars. 

With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.

Review:

I loved Jane the Virgin and after reading the blurb I was hoping for something similar. I was not disappointed. I’m really glad I recently picked Duilingo up because there was a fair amount of Spanish in this book and most of it was not explained. I didn’t always understand what was said by Ashton and his family, but I could get the general gist.

Jasmine is a soap opera star that has earned a starring role in a “Netflix” original series. She’s had an Emmy nod for her last role, but on the heels of that her rock star boyfriend dumps her by way of tabloid. Completely reprioritizing her life she makes a list of things she’s going to do so that she stops repeating a cycle of romantic doom.

Ashton has got bucket loads of anxiety and has seriously chosen the wrong career for the level of privacy he wants. He’s got a secret that he’s hiding from the rest of the world and after a traumatic experience with a stalker he’s not ready to share his secret with anyone. All of that and he’s got a goal to win an Oscar which means he’s taking a leading role in the “Netflix” telenovela adaption.

Sparks are instantaneous with the couple but they are able to resist for a while. It helps that Ashton has bad anxiety. Eventually, though, they overcome their struggles and start a relationship. Kind of. They’re physical, and spend some time in Jasmine’s room cuddling, but they keep it secret. Apart from work they don’t seem to spend much time together that isn’t physical. At least, it’s not shown in the book.

Jasmine does a pretty good job controlling her own anxieties but with everything that ends up happening Ashton basically explodes. He says some things that I felt like ended up being glossed over in his apology, but Jasmine forgives him quickly.

There were a lot I liked about You Had Me at Hola, namely the characters, story, and the setting. The few things I didn’t like, how fast Jasmine forgave and Ashton’s levels of anxiety (seriously dude after eight years he should have been talking to someone or medicated or both), were easy enough to set aside. All in all I’m hoping that this is made into a series and we get books about Ava, Michelle, and even some more for Ashton’s father.

4/5

Shadows In Death (In Death #51)

Shadows In Death (In Death #51)

By: J.D. Robb

Blurb:

Lt. Eve Dallas is about to walk into the shadows of her husband’s dangerous past.

As it often did since he’d married a cop, murder interrupted more pleasant activities. Then again, Roarke supposed, the woman lying in a pool of her own blood a few steps inside the arch in Washington Square Park had a heftier complaint.

When a night out at the theatre is interrupted by the murder of a young woman in Washington Square Park, it seems like an ordinary case for Detective Eve Dallas and her team. But when Roarke spots a shadow from his past in the crowd, Eve realises that this case is far from business as usual.

Eve has two complex cases on her hands – the shocking murder of this wealthy young mother and tracking down the shadow before he can strike again, this time much closer to home. Eve is well used to being the hunter, but how will she cope when the tables are turned? As Eve and the team follow leads to Roarke’s hometown in Ireland, the race is on to stop the shadow making his next move . . .

Review:

I’m just going to go ahead and say SPOILERS right off the bat. I’ve got some thoughts on this book, and I don’t want to avoid anything.

Shadows In Death is the fifty-first In Death book. Probably the longest series I read, and it is pretty amazing how consistent it is. However, there are a few stinkers, and for me, this is one of them.

Eve is called to a dead body, and of course, Roarke is with her because, at this point, he’s a police officer. While there, Roarke sees someone from his past. A man that is a professional killer and who happens to hate Roarke with the power of a thousand suns.

The murder that starts the book is not the main story. It’s wrapped up within the first hundred pages. As in Eve is in interrogation and getting a full confession at page one hundred. So nothing much there, though I did find it one of the more enjoyable parts of the story. The book’s main plot is finding Cobbe, the man who wants to kill Roarke and everyone he loves.

Things truck along, and it’s all going good. Lots of excitement, lots of conversation, and stuff with Eve and Roarke, and then we get to the end. Depending upon future books, it’s possible we can point to this moment as the moment the series jumped the shark. At one point, almost all of Eve’s detectives are in a plane flying after the bad guy. In the air, they’re able to hack something and get a lock on Cobbe’s plane. He is, of course, headed to Ireland to kill Roarke’s family. The cops are in a faster plane, so they beat him there and set up a trap.

Just a note, Cobbe is supposed to have over four hundred murders linked to him, and it’s believed to be significantly more. He has alluded capture for over twenty years. Then he loses every brain cell he has when he decides to go after Roarke. He’s supposed to have come unhinged, but you’d think the number of dead bodies would increase dramatically, but they don’t. He just makes a series of really stupid decisions that go against twenty years of history. Once again, the book explains that he just hates Roarke soooo much and that his ego is sooooo big that this is all logical.

Anyway, the cops are all in position, Cobbe has no idea they followed him, walks into the trap, lands a punch on Eve, and is cuffed. Case closed roll credits.

Only no.

All these cops, including New York Police Commander Whitney, are standing around with Roarke’s family when Cobbe starts cursing out Roarke. Nothing new. We all knew he hated him. There have been childhood stories about the hatred and everything. There’s clearly bad blood here, but he’s captured. He’s going to prison. The evidence against him is insurmountable. Every police organization on the globe wants him. After two decades of evading capture, he’s caught in less than a week by New York cops. That should surely be enough.

Nope.

They end up un-cuffing Cobbe, and he and Roarke fight in the middle of a ring of cops. You see, Cobbe had been going after one of their own, so it was only natural that they would want to see a climactic fight. Roarke, a man with regular lessons with world-acclaimed fighters, toys with Cobbe, letting him land a couple of punches, cause the pain feels good. Then easily takes him down. They cuff him, interrogate him in a root cellar, then it’s over.

I have never been a fan of cop shows where the cops abuse their power, and that dislike grows every year. When there’s been a storyline that builds over several stories, and there’s a fight before the criminal is cuffed, I’m all on board, but it just angers me when something like this happens. They had him. He had never been talked about in previous books. Yet, because he reminded Roarke of his horrible past and because they all knew he was coming after Eve and Roarke, it was okay for them to step outside the law for a bit and smack him around. No. Just not.

As far as stinkers go, this was a big one. Robb has built fifty books of goodwill, so I’m not bailing on the series or anything, but I am concerned about the future.

2/5

Side Note: There should be a trigger warning at the beginning of this book for animal cruelty.

The Duke Who Didn’t (Wedgeford Trials #1)

The Duke Who Didn’t (Wedgeford Trials #1)

By: Courtney Milan

Blurb:

Miss Chloe Fong has plans for her life, lists for her days, and absolutely no time for nonsense. Three years ago, she told her childhood sweetheart that he could talk to her once he planned to be serious. He disappeared that very night.

Except now he’s back. Jeremy Wentworth, the Duke of Lansing, has returned to the tiny village he once visited with the hope of wooing Chloe. In his defense, it took him years of attempting to be serious to realize that the endeavor was incompatible with his personality.

All he has to do is convince Chloe to make room for a mischievous trickster in her life, then disclose that in all the years they’ve known each other, he’s failed to mention his real name, his title… and the minor fact that he owns her entire village.

Only one thing can go wrong: Everything.

Review:

The Duke Who Didn’t was a much-anticipated book from Courtney Milan. She has quickly become one of my favorite authors, so I had this baby pre-ordered, and as soon as I caught up with my library books, I started reading.

Chloe lives in Wedgeford, a town famous for its trials. A complicated sounding, day-long quest to find specific medallions or tokens. I’m not sure about all the rules because this year, Chloe and Jeremy didn’t participate. Instead, Chloe helped her father introduce his life’s work, a special sauce, to all the trials’ participants. The plan was to sell the amazing sauce, build a sauce empire, and enact revenge on the racist pricks that stole her father’s original sauce before kicking him to the curb. I can completely get behind this plan.

Poor Jeremy wants nothing more than to make Chloe happy. He’s jovial to Chloe’s more serious nature. He’s learned to be that way after years of dealing with poisonous people. Humor seems to be a coping mechanism. It’s also something he’s good at. He’s been coming to Wedgeford for years because it’s the only place in all of Britain where he feels like he belongs. The only problem is he’s conveniently forgotten to tell them he’s the duke and owns their entire village.

I loved the ending to The Duke Who Didn’t so much. I loved that Chloe was the grouchy one of the two and that Jeremy was always trying to make her happy. I loved their relationship, not only with each other but with their family. I loved how Chloe reacted to the big reveal. I loved how everything played out. It was perfect.

I’m looking forward to learning more about Wedgeford and their trials. There were other characters mentioned and spoken to, but there was very little focus on them. The book was very much centered on Chloe and Jeremy. Still, that doesn’t make me any less excited for the rest of the series.

5/5

Hungry Like the Wolf (SWAT: Special Wolf Alpha Team #1)

Hungry Like the Wolf (SWAT: Special Wolf Alpha Team #1)

By: Paige Tyler

Blurb:

The Dallas SWAT team is hiding one helluva secret . . . they’re a pack of wolf shifters.

The team of elite sharpshooters is ultra-secretive—and also the darlings of Dallas. This doesn’t sit well with investigative journalist Mackenzie Stone. They must be hiding something . . . and she’s determined to find out what.

Keeping Mac at a distance proves impossible for SWAT team commander Gage Dixon. She’s smart, sexy, and makes him feel alive for the first time in years. But she’s getting dangerously close to the truth—and perilously close to his heart…

Review:

First, I want to say that I really like the way werewolves are created in this universe. They aren’t born or made. It’s a genetic anomaly that surfaces when they experience something horribly traumatic. I haven’t read a werewolf story like that before, and I like it.

Mac is a reporter that had to have been inspired by Lois Lane. She goes where she shouldn’t and gets in trouble. Chasing a new story, she finds herself studying the amazing SWAT team. They’ve won awards and excel at their job, so clearly, something is wrong.

Gabe is the leader of his SWAT team pack. He’s built his team up over the years, and they’re all werewolves. He’s immediately attracted to Mac, almost overwhelmed by her amazing scent. If you are not into instant attraction, I’m going to guess you’re not going to want to read any of the books in this series.

In the Hungry Like the Wolf universe there is a myth of The One. Your fated mate. The only person in the entire world perfect for you. Unless you meet that person, it sounds like you’re pretty much shit out of luck. Kind of depressing if you think about it, but based on the number of books in this series, I’m hoping everyone on the team finds their person.

This was a paranormal romance spliced with action. It didn’t have as much action as Wolf Under Fire for which I appreciated. I love action, but in this type of book, I prefer the romance to be more of a focus. Honestly, I wish books like this would be made into movies. I can so easily imagine a nice B movie with this plot, and it really bums me out that we don’t get these kinds of movies. I’m not asking for much Hollywood!

Anyway, a good book and I’m looking forward to the next.

3.5/5

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows (Feminine Pursuits #2)

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows (Feminine Pursuits #2)

By: Olivia Waite

Blurb:

When Agatha Griffin finds a colony of bees in her warehouse, it’s the not-so-perfect ending to a not-so-perfect week. Busy trying to keep her printing business afloat amidst rising taxes and the suppression of radical printers like her son, the last thing the widow wants is to be the victim of a thousand bees. But when a beautiful beekeeper arrives to take care of the pests, Agatha may be in danger of being stung by something far more dangerous…

Penelope Flood exists between two worlds in her small seaside town, the society of rich landowners and the tradesfolk. Soon, tensions boil over when the formerly exiled Queen arrives on England’s shores—and when Penelope’s long-absent husband returns to Melliton, she once again finds herself torn, between her burgeoning love for Agatha and her loyalty to the man who once gave her refuge.

As Penelope finally discovers her true place, Agatha must learn to accept the changing world in front of her. But will these longing hearts settle for a safe but stale existence or will they learn to fight for the future they most desire?

Review:

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows was a slow burn romance. Once it got going though…shoo. The two heroines are in their mid-forties, which was a new one for me. Romances, at least the ones I’ve read, tend to be thirties and below. It was nice to see someone middle-aged get a second chance for love.

Agatha is bisexual. She’s a widow who loved her husband and loves her son. She works hard at the print shop she owns to provide for her family to keep them safe. It’s a very volatile period, especially for someone in her line of work. It was honestly very interesting to read about.

Penelope is a lesbian who has married a man who is in love with her brother. Her brother and husband sail the sea hunting whales, living the life of a married couple, while she stays at home alone. For the most part, it works for her, but she is lonely.

There’s an almost instant attraction for the couple, but because of the time and their personal histories neither woman is sure where the other stands. Lots of hinting and angst happen before things are able to progress.

They’re a cute couple, and there’s a lot of passion. I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the side characters, though. Penelope’s brother and husband were cute. Agatha’s son was annoying, and more often than not, I wanted to slap him. A character from the previous book made an appearance, but you don’t need to have read the first book to enjoy this one.

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows further cements my enjoyment of Olivia Waite. I pre-ordered it because I enjoyed The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics so much, and I was not disappointed. I will definitely be pre-ordering the next.

4.5/5