First in a Football Series

 I Got You by Stacy Williams 

I love a marriage of convenience. I don't mind a slow burn. I love a bit of jealously and possessiveness. Maggie is the oldest of the six siblings and the primary care giver since her mother died, her step mother abandoned the youngest four, and her father is dying from complication brought on by CTE. Shane is a former NFL star turned coach. Their first interaction does not go well and it's hysterical. When he learns who she is and what she's going through he immediately volunteers to marry her so she can keep custody of her younger siblings. It's a marriage on paper only. Except he's very attracted to her and is falling for her, but doesn't know how to have or express feelings. She is also very attracted to him and is constantly leading by example by putting herself out there. He calls his foster brothers for advice and on bye week they come to visit and they eventually get Shane in gear. He shows up for her on the biggest night of her life. They make their marriage official in a fade to black. I really enjoyed this book and Prime Reading is really working hard to get me to sign up for Kindle Unlimited because I want to read the next book.  

Soldier Series #4

 Wicked and True by Shayla Black 

This pissed me off so much. All of the characters were so dumb. Zy is trying to figure out who the mole is. He is convinced that it's not Trees or Tessa. He has looked through all of Trees stuff and can't find anything. Meanwhile, he's head over heels in love with Tessa. He's been given the green light to seduce the information out of her and all he's doing is the seducing part. He has seen, with his own eyes, a shady character approach her in the parking lot. He has heard her account of what happened. And yes he's trying to find the person, but when Tessa starts acting strange he doesn't put two and two together to realize that said stranger did something and kidnapped her baby?! I repeat, they are all so dumb. She should have told Zy. She had every opportunity but didn't take it. They could have found Hallie so much faster if she did. And they would have found out the answer to the who is the mole question faster too! I knew it was Aspen, I didn't know it was her shady ex-boyfriend. Turns out, when he was living on her couch, he was using her computer when she was asleep and sending messages to the cartel. Then, he helped Aspen and the stranger to kidnap Hallie which Zy and Trees had to rescue. Zy gets hurt during the rescue and Tessa is worried. The bosses show up at her house after everything is all over and tell her she's not fired and apologize for putting her in that position and tell her if it happens again to tell them. Zy shows up and asks her to marry him. We still don't know where Kimber is, but we do know that Tessa had nothing to do with her capture. This book sets up the next couple well. I hope they aren't as dumb as these two.  

Crime Series #9

 Point of Origin by Patricia Cornwell 

I really hate it when kids are the victims and this book has shown me that I also hate it when animals are as well. The science was still the star in this book, but the story wasn't as strong (but that might be because I was so turned off by the attack on the innocent animals to begin the book). We have arson as our method of choice this time. And it's a serial arsonist. Also, we have returned to our serial killer that spanned a few books earlier in the series; the female accomplice has broken out of the psychiatric prison she has been held in for the past five years. The serial arsonist has been working solo for a while, but he teams up with Carrie to target Kay and Lucy. He cuts the faces off of his victims, to steal their beauty. Benton is one of the victims. The arsonist is a psycho-therapist and both he and Carrie die in a helicopter crash when they are chasing Kay and Lucy, trying to kill them; but Lucy is the better pilot and the better shot. The book ends with Benton's funeral. Just when you think you've read it all, something new shows up.   

Final Book in the Series

 Christmastime Cowboy by Maisey Yates

This series was so inconsistent, but at least it ended strong. This was a second chance romance that was only Christmas because it took place in winter; it didn't have strong Christmas themes. We get Liam's background and what he kept hidden, and what he protect Alex from. We find out what really happened between him and Sabrina all those years ago. She and her father reconcile. Liam learns that he's not as closed off to love as he's always thought. I am glad that the series ended strong but I am done with this author.  

Romeo and Juliet but Make it Asian Gangsters

 Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

I put off reading this book because I was terrified of the emotions it was going to make me feel and it ended up being such a disappointing end. Not because it was bad, but because 1) I built it up so much in my head that it was going to be a let down no matter what and 2) the epilogue gave me hope. Roma and Juliette spend the book desperately trying to save the people they love. Roma spends a huge chunk of the book desperately in love with Juliette while also hating her because of Marshall. Then, Benedick finds out that he's alive and has to keep that secret. Finally, Juliette, in desperation tells Roma and they are back together. Their fathers want them to work together not knowing they are in love but on the outs. And the whole time I'm mad at the both of them because they won't just get over themselves and talk it out. And every time they are given the opportunity to kill each other, they can't. Juliette even goes out of her way to save Alisa, Roma's sister, but he can't see that that's her way of protecting him. When they finally get all of the answers, they marry each other in an unofficial capacity and then go out in a blaze of glory, literally, to kill the monsters that have been terrorizing the city but also killing themselves at the same time. Alisa then forges a marriage certificate for them and the book ends with her thinking she sees them on a boat, happy together. Why would you give me hope? Why? There is a spin off series for Rosalind but I'm not sure I can put myself through that. I probably will, eventually. But not yet.  

I. Hate. Cliffhangers.

 Wolf Kissed by Heather Renee

I borrowed this for free on Prime Reading and book 2 isn't available at the library or for free on Prime, only to buy or on Kindle Unlimited. I'm starting to get really irritated with Prime Reading, especially since this ended on a cliffhanger! They're really about to make me get a KU subscription. So, Cait is a nanny in Australia and she's at the beach on her day off when she gets stung or bit by something and gets this weird mark on her arm. She sends picture of it to her best friend who immediately video calls her to get a better look at it. Bestie says quit your job, I just put a bunch of money in your account and bought you a plane ticket and I'll pick you up at the airport. Meanwhile, she's getting accosted by a hot guy who is asking her what pack she belongs to and he's following her so bestie is telling her to get out of there. She quits and leaves, but bestie can't pick her up and instead sends someone she trusts to get her and he likes her immediately. When they get to the house, hot guy from the beach is there. Turns out, he lives there. Also, bestie is actually a werewolf and hot guy is her alpha. Also also, his wolf has decided that Cait is his mate. Cait isn't sure how she feels about Roman (hot guy). She spends the book learning about her mark - she's not a wolf but she is marked by the goddess and has the strength of a wolf but she doesn't know how to harness it. She and Roman are trying to figure things out. Then, she gets captured by a witch and taken through a portal and that's how the book ends. I. Hate. Cliffhangers.  

Cozy Mystery

 Finished Off by Rebecca Kent 

The thing that I love about a cozy mystery is that, no matter the genre, they all agree to give a quick review of all of the important characters at the beginning of the book. But the review isn't just a list, it makes sense in the context of the story. This is only book 2 in this series and I can't remember when I read book 1, but it was interesting enough that I decided to keep going. This takes place at a finishing school and the headmistress can see and sort of communicate with ghosts. This time it's the ghost of a young girl that she doesn't know. But through some investigating she discovers that her whole family died in a fire and she died a month later from illness. She needs their deaths to investigated and her father's name cleared before she can be at peace. The headmistress eventually figures out that the assistant bank manager was the one who was misappropriating funds and then killed his boss (the little girls dad) to cover up the theft. He almost killed the headmistress but the police inspector was there to hear his confession, but before he could arrest him he fell down the fire weakened stairs and broke his neck. The book ends with the headmistress having two potential suitors: the owner of the school and the police inspector. I personally prefer the inspector because the owner has been super condescending during each encounter whereas the inspector took her seriously and his actions are what caused the owner to make a move in the first place. I will probably continue with this series, but I am in no hurry.  

Not What I Thought

 On Rotation by Shirlene Obuobi

I do not like coming of age stories when I read YA and I do not like finding yourself stories when I read adult novels; this was more finding yourself than romance. The best part was the inclusion of Ghanaian cultural practices and customs. I found that fascinating! Angie is a third year med student who starts the book breaking up with her boyfriend before heading to her parents house for her younger sisters knocking (it's like asking for her hand in marriage but specific to Ghanaian culture). Then a few days later she meets Ricky when she's crying in a public park. They have an instant spark and spend the day together and at the end of the day he finally tells her he has a girlfriend. Then she and her friends go to a concert and meet a girl in the bathroom and she moves to sit with them and her boyfriend just happens to be Ricky, and he just so happens to be friends with one of the girls that Angie is at the concert with. She and Ricky keep running into each other: he is a volunteer at the hospital where she is assigned for one of her rotations. Then they become friends. Then he tells her his girlfriend broke up with him weeks ago and they start hanging out, but they don't define the relationship. When she finally gets the courage to ask him to define the relationship he balks. She ends things. She keeps running into the same older woman in the hospital, turns out it's his grandmother. During this time her best friend and roommate has moved out. She's trying to repair that relationship and Ricky just so happens to be besties with roomies girlfriend so she asks her if he would be open to her reaching out. She ends up spending time with him at the hospital while his dad is dying, acting as a go between for the family and the medical team. After his dad dies his grandmother tells him to go be with her and he takes her to a mural he painted of her. The epilogue is of match day a year and a half later. They are still together. She gets her second choice program but is devastated because it's in Seattle all the way across the country. Then he shows her a job offer from the same city and tells her that he had been applying for jobs in all the cities of her top five programs. Then he gets down on his knee and proposes because he knocked when she was out interviewing. I was upset about the ending on two fronts: first because she never specified what program she matched with (it is implied that it's internal medicine but not outright stated and I wanted that closure) and second because we didn't get to see how his knocking went. The cultural aspects were my favorite parts of the story and I wanted more. I wanted to like this book, but finding yourself it not my favorite.  

Soldier Series #3

 Wicked as Lies by Shayla Black 

We have yet another MMC with a stupid nickname. But unlike in the first two books, Tessa actually calls him by it. His name is Chase but when he was in the military they gave him the nickname Zyron because he looks like a taller Zac Efron. *eye roll* This book focused on Zy's task of determining whether Trees or Tessa was the company mole. Except, we get all of Zy and Tessa's backstory from when he first got the job right after she had the baby and Aspen was the temp. Then Tessa comes back to work and it's love at first sight. Then her horrible ex-boyfriend is in and out of the picture and Zy has to do body guard duty at her house and they are so domestic he's ready to risk it all but she needs the job. Then she lets the ex move in after he gets sober so Hallie can have her dad in her life, but they aren't together. But he doesn't really do anything to help around the house or to bond with the baby. Then Tessa has to go on a mission with Zy. And the entire time they are making eyes at each other. But Zy is convinced that neither of Tessa nor Trees is the mole. The book ends with the bosses changing both of their contracts and eliminating the no fraternization clause. Then, Kimber, the Colonel's only daughter, gets kidnapped. A lot and nothing happened all at the same time. We are still dealing with the ramifications of the op from the first two books and trying to solve that.  

Crime Series #8

 Unnatural Exposure by Patricia Cornwell 

I was less irritated with the decisions of the characters but the science was still the star of the show. We have a dead body in a landfill that has a mysterious rash. But this body mirrors other bodies from a serial killer. Then we get another body on a small fishing island with a similar rash and realize that the first body was just disguised to look like the serial killer to disguise the rash. We have biological warfare on our hands; someone is engineering a smallpox like virus and trying to spread it throughout the country. But, outside of the fishing island they only get one more victim: Kay's morgue assistant Wingo. I was sad that he died, but it wasn't unexpected when he revealed earlier in the story that he was HIV positive. What was surprising was who the mastermind behind the virus was: a respected colleague and scientist. But, she was bitter for being overlooked yet again for a promotion that instead went to a man and decided that she was going to get the recognition she deserved one way or another. Unfortunately for her, Kay didn't get anything more than a bad flu and was able to be there when she got arrested. Said scientist got sick and died from her own virus before she could be put on trial. We are eight book into this series and so far each of the mysteries have been unique and the science has been interesting.