booksbyec's reviews
280 reviews

 A quick enjoyable read about two single dads who meet by chance and that meeting set the course for the rest of their lives. The fact that a small white lie leads to a fake relationship that leads to discoveries about themselves and a HEA is just gold.

Kylen is a pilot with a 4-year-old daughter, Flora, from a one-night stand. He and the mother of his child have a good relationship and Kylen identifies as gay. And this is something his family hates. 👨‍✈️ 🛩

Dallas is a teacher and his daughter, Audra, is about 1 year old. He is divorced after he found his ex-wife in bed with another man. They have a rockier relationship, there is a lot of resentment. Especially since she felt he had zero s*xual attraction to her and that is why she strayed. But there is an explanation for this and it is just as much of a surprise for us as it is for Dallas. 👨‍🏫 📖

This book touches on subjects like; found family, being a single parent, h*mophopia from parents and siblings, greys*xual awakening and learning how to trust people both mentally and physically.

I love it when a book gets me thinking and learning new stuff. This book is not über spicy, it's more about the relationships found and formed between various characters with the main two being the focus point. ❤️🧡❤️

A perfect part of the series WORDS WE NEVER SAID 

 Kev and Hux together are everything. I adore them and if you have read the previous books you know that these two together have chemistry in spades. From the moment they interacted for the first time in Hijacked I have been waiting for this book and I am just as much in love now as I was then. They are so much alike but also so different. ❤️

Kev is Carter's cousin and is a smart young man with some social anxiety and he rather stay in his lair playing Horn of Glory than being out and about. Hux is a former marine, who works for Champion Security with all things tech-related. Both of them are masters of the game Horns of Glory and with that being said they clash on more than one occasion when playing the game but also in real life, they clash. 🎮

This book is the conclusion of the investigation Champ and the team has had regarding the game and d*ug-related business.

Kev, who is a civilian, has been helping and in this book, he takes on a bigger role, something Hux is not happy about. But it is not purely because of Kev's civilian status. It is because the more they get acquainted, the more they realize that they have things in common and that the animosity they have felt is attraction rather than hate. And with this realization, they have to figure out how this will work. Que some rather funny situations but also angst and vulnerability from both characters. 

 Hitched is hilarious, it’s spicy, romantic, angsty and all-around an awesome read.

In this book, we meet Percy Champion, the big boss of Champion Security and his one-night stand turned into very many nightstands QuinnTaffet. The book also picks up right after Hijacked as the storyline about the Horn of Glory continues in this book and the next one. 🎮🎮🎮

Quinn who is a wedding planner and Champion who runs a security business should not have much in common after that first night of hot, sweaty s*x. But in a twist of faith, Champion's next mission and Quinn's next wedding intersect and they decide to work together. Then the fact that a small white lie about them being engaged makes it all go haywire is just on par with what happens to people connected to Licking Thicket. 💒💍🤵‍♂🤵‍♂

The food-related nicknames and innuendos are hilarious. And the fact that most of Licking Thickets citizens are matchmakers makes for some funny moments.
But not only that, we get to see the vulnerable sides of Champion and Quinn. Their week's long one-night stand turned from “I am not looking for love” to "I think I have found it”, now they just need to find a way to express and keep that love.

I love the way Lucy and May weave action, love, spice, funny moments and personal relationships together without it becoming stale and boring. 

 This is book two in the Just a Little series by Kerry Kilpatrick

I am usually not the biggest fan of the troupe Best Friend to Lovers, but Owen and Barrett hit differently. I don’t know if it is the fact that they share the same k!nk or if we as readers just get that these 2 should have been dating all along. But I can also understand why they never started dating back in college. It is hard putting yourself out there and even harder if you are friends and if you are not sure if certain parts of you will be found attractive by the other person.

And this is where Owen is at, he is a Little but he feels like his version is too much work and he doesn't trust Barrett, who is a Daddy, to want to take care of him. Partly is because Owen has never seen Barrett in a relationship with a little, he has only seen him with Middles. 🧡💜🧡
Barrett on the other hand has wanted to date Owen since they met and he just wants to take care of Owen regardless of who he is in his little space.

Que an old lodge, a bear attack, the cutest kitten imaginable, and car keys disappearing! All this makes Owen and Barrett take that first major step. 🐈‍⬛️🐻🔑

Mind you it won’t be a dance on roses and Owen will fight the mounting attraction and pull because he still believes that Barrett will get sick and tired of him. This is even after Barrett took the best care of Owen when he accidentally slipped into Little space. Barrett will have his work cut out for him but what I love about him is that he doesn't give up, maybe he goes about it the wrong way but he is trying his hardest to make Owen realize that they are meant to be together.

I will say the journey to the HEA is not straightforward but oh so sweet when will finally get there. You could say it's "just a little magic" 

 Hijacked is a perfect blend of action, spice, angst and laugh-out-loud moments. A book with a dash of forced proximity, instant attraction, a monologuing bad guy and side characters that are hilarious when butting heads.

Carter is a renowned cardiologist who is going to Venezuela to work for the Doctors Across Continents program. What he doesn’t expect is that his grandfather hires a bodyguard from Champion Security named William Riggs. Let's just say Riggs doesn't want to be there but when you have f*cked up on a previous opp, you do as the boss man says. What neither thought would happen in the jungles of Venezuela was the instant attraction both felt and the fact that they would be kidnapped by a hypochondriac for dr*glord with nefarious plans. 😷👨‍⚕️🩺

The book is hilarious and the dry humor suited me immensely. Carter and Riggs both dislike and enjoy each other's company and the way they navigate the kidnapping situation is gold. Carter has a heart of gold and that will get him into trouble and make Riggs' job just a tiny bit harder. The spice is just enough and doesn't take over the storyline.

The overall storyline will continue in books 2 and 3 and I just know we as readers will find ourselves in more hilarious situations. 😂 😂😂 

After Oscar Book 5

This is the fifth book in the After Oscar series and we finally get Oscar's story. HEA spans over a longer time frame than the previous books. Mostly because Oscar has a hard time letting go and just enjoying the love Hugh wants to give him.

They meet for the first time at Wells and Conor’s wedding, where they hit it off instantly. But it takes some time until they meet again. And this is the way the book is set up, with longer time spans between the physical meetings but they do keep in contact via text and phone calls.

Hugh is a wonderful character that believes in love and is the ultimate romantic. So him and Oscar couldn't be more different, but I think that is what makes it work. This is not to say that Oscar doesn't believe in love but he is hesitant to put himself out there again. 

It's also a story about family and compromises. It's steamy enough and a nice end to the series. 

The best character though is Frank, Oscar's emotional support hedgehog. 

 This is an enemies to lovers book at its finest. 

The way that one smallish mistake can change the life course for not only the 2 MCs but for their friends and family, shows the ripple effects decisions can have.

The way that this book is set up is quite brilliant. With shorter chapters you get a better flow and understanding of Rhys and Everest moods and feelings. We also get to know these characters and why certain decisions were made. The fact that we get a slight build up of the side characters I see as a plus, even if it may take away from the two main characters. 

We get to see the growth but also the struggle between the two MCs during the book. 

Not only for Rhys to realize that his sexuality is not what he thought but also that the person he has hated for years is struggling just as much as he is. 

Everest struggles with the implications of his decision to be silent at the age of 14 and it has been hunting him for years. It has also made him disregard his relationship with his brother, all because Elton is Rhys best friend. And he didn't know how to tell the truth.

Be aware to read the full blurb and warnings in the beginning of the book. This is a book for mature audiences. 

I received an advance copy directly from the Author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

 

After Oscar Book 4

This is Richard's redemption story and it was so good. I have always been a sucker for a redemption story. Especially if the character that we as the readers know has more to offer than just being the bad guy. And Richard showed this in James and Scottys book that not everything is as black and white as it seems in regards to him and his life. 

In the beginning of the book we yet again met the elusive Oscar and he is not a fan of Richard. I think it's a brilliant plotline that the authors give Richard. Not only does he need to prove himself to Oscar but also to us as readers. Let me tell you I was rooting for him from the get go. 

He may be a spoiled brat but there are so many layers to this character and I also enjoyed that the authors let him evolve but not losing that sparkle that he had from the beginning. Because evolving does not mean changing everything about you just to fit in.

Boone is just a sweet grump, who has decided that finding the one is not on the table for him. He also is a bit of an asshole that judges the book for its cover and not for its content. But when he opens himself up to the possibility of love he blossoms. 

I really enjoyed the setting of rural Wyoming and the ranch that Boone owns. It became its own character in a sense. 

This book is a slow burn but I didn’t mind at all, because this made us get to know the characters and what makes them tick and also get a deeper understanding of where they come from. It is nice to sometimes read books that are not wham bam thank you ma’am!

After Oscar Book 3

This book was so much fun but also it had its sad moments. 

We met James in the first book. He is friends with Connor and helped him with the legal stuff surrounding Connor's mums invention. James still works for Dick Sr his ex boyfriends father and he is sent on a mission the Cape to secure the real estate deal for Dick Sr. 

What he didn't expect was meeting Sawyer, who he had an instant attraction to and they hit it of that first night. But Sawyer is not only a bartender, he is one of the owners of the motel James is trying to equire and he does not want to sell.

This book is steamy but slow burn. But not only that this story talks about that instant connection you can feel when meeting someone and the fact that you want to get to know everything about them and their life. It's about compromises, loss, hurtful past relationships and about forgivness and exaptance that life does not always turn out the way you invisioned it. 

I laughed and I cried and I felt with the character and what they went through.

The way that Lucy and Molly weave the lore of Oscar and his past boyfriends and them finding happiness when Oscar can't seem to do it, is well thought out. Because you route for all of them, and you want all of them to find happiness and love. I can't wait to when I get to read Oscars book, but first James's ex Richard will get his shot at love in book #4. 

This book is something else, I just say WOW!

It is as unhinged as the blurb makes it out to be, if not even more. But it is the good unhinged, the adorable unhinged. I mean maybe you shouldn’t call this book adorable but it is in its murder romance glory. It also has so many laugh out loud moments and I feel like I could live in this world with how my brain works. I don’t know what that says about me…

Scotty is such a darling boy but with tendencies to step into the dark side. Brody is just broody and in a lot of denial of who he really is and who he really is attracted to. You would think Brody, the actual hitman, is the toughest of them all but him meeting Scotty also means he has met his match in all things weird and quirky. The Insta love (Scotty) and Insta lust (Brody) they feel should make you back away slowly and question the life choices being made. 

But they just work together, okay! 

This book is so funny and the side characters are gems. The story may seem a bit out there and far-fetched, but it is anchored in real feelings and real problems that some of us will meet and go through in life.   

I knew stepping into this world and this book that there are certain things that can and have triggered people. So if you haven't read this book yet, do me and the author a favor and read the content warning and Lance’s word of caution in the beginning of the book. Because this book and this world is not for everyone and that is okay.  

On my blog I will write more about the book and certain aspects of it. Mind you that post will contain spoilers and should be read with discretion. It will be up later tonight or tomorrow!