Taken, Not Spurred (Lone Star Burn #1)

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 1/2

 Would-be writer Sarah Dery has just turned twenty-five and feels like her life is on hold. She's done squat with her English degree and is just killing time working for her parents. So, when the opportunity to spend the summer working on a ranch in Texas comes her way, she jumps at the chance, figuring it might be just the jolt she needs to get her creative juices flowing.
Tony Carlton is a handsome and reclusive horse trainer with a tortured past and an eye for trouble, this time in the form of a naked blonde stranger he finds in his shower.
The wrong turn that led Sarah into the arms of this sexy, brooding cowboy turns out to be just what she needed to find her steamy inner voice, but will their connection be enough to break down Tony's defenses? 

Review
****Montlake Romance, via NetGalley, provided me with a complimentary ARC of this book for my honest opinion****
Sarah Dery has decided she's done hiding in past regrets. Now 25, she's ready to pursue her career as a writer, but her voice remains stubbornly silent. When summer rolls around, she decides to take a break from it all. Punishing herself for the past, working for her parents in a career she has no passion for, she's ready to throw it all to the side and try to discover what it's like to truly live her life. What better option than to hitch her trailer, load herself and her horse Scooter, and take a road trip to spend the summer at her friend Lucy's Texas ranch? What she ends up discovering is there is in fact more than Double C ranch in Texas, and the short-tempered, hot as sin cowboy who discovers her in his shower may be the answer to her dried up writing inspiration. If she can just keep her heart from joining the party, she may just survive the summer.
Taken, Not Spurred is a fun roller coaster romance that's filled to the brim with multi-layered characters, ping ponging emotions, and lines that bring a smile to your face. Sarah made me instantly fall in love with her sarcasm. She's relatable even if she is naïve, her inner dialog had me laughing from the first chapter. Tony Carlton is a damaged roguish main character that will break your heart. Together they somehow form a fantastic pair that you want to see survive and thrive through all the struggle. There is instant chemistry between the two. I don't know if this series will continue or we will get other character's stories but they were certainly intriguing enough to make me read their story if it does. There were some things that were brought up, but never addressed, leaving me to assume more will be told, but time till tell. While having a level of emotion and commitment, the story was light enough that it didn't leave you with an emotional hangover while still leaving you aware. Really a fun book overall and one I'm glad I picked up.

Night Fever

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Lola’s heart already belongs to Johnny, but for him, she’d sell the devil her soul. Unfortunately, the devil wants something else.
Beau Olivier is the kind of wealthy that buys anything—even people. When he makes Lola Winters a proposition, she finds herself tempted into a seduction that will have her walking the line between comfort and humiliation, desire and resistance. He would own her—for one night. She would be his—for a price. It was wrong. It was scandalous. It was the opportunity of a lifetime.
Sex, music, neon on the Sunset Strip—right in the middle of it all, he would have her. Come sunrise, he would let her go. At least, that was the plan.Night Fever is the first novella in the erotic romance Night Fever Serial. All three parts release November 2014. Reader discretion is advised due to mature themes intended for an 18+ audience. 51,000 words. 

Review
****Jessica Hawkins, via NetGalley, provided me with a complimentary ARC of this book for my honest review****
Lola has always loved Johnny. Since he saved her from herself years before she's been happy watching him tend bar at Hey Joe while she serves drinks. Things aren't always easy, but they're happy and they both know dreams don't come true without work. All that comes crashing down when Beau Olivier comes into the bar. Lola can't deny the instant attractive, but she's not a cheater and she knows without a doubt that Johnny is her future. So why can't she seem to shake the pull she has to this man? When he offers them their dream, own Hey Joe in exchange for one night with Lola, she finds herself in a situation she never saw coming. One night is all she has to make it through, but one night may just be enough to destroy her.
There was something so addicting about this book that the minute I finished it I had to grab the next, and happened to get lucky it was just released. Lola is flawed but loyal. She has her past like everyone else, but she refuses to let it define her, with Johnny's help. Beau provides a crack in that armor that makes her reevaluate everything she thought she knew and wanted. The two are volatile, passionate, and irresistible together. The chemistry almost instant. Thoroughly developed, even in a short time, both characters crawl into the reader's mind and refuse to let go. They both have secrets that I feel we've just grazed the top of, I can't wait to see how it all ends! The writing flies by and you turn the last page before you realize it, begging for the next.

The Fire of Home

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A scandalous homecoming...
When Amy Layton’s family learned she planned to steal her sister’s fiancé, Amy left home in disgrace. But in 1922, she returns to Powell Springs to escape the violent man she married. Despite the town’s gossip, Amy is determined to rebuild her shattered life with the boardinghouse she inherited…and little else.
A terrible secret...
Deputy sheriff Baxter Duncan senses there’s more to Amy, his new landlady, than the rumors claim. Yet Bax respects her privacy. After all, a painful secret haunts him, too. And now that he’s found a future in Powell Springs, he refuses to let his dark and wretched past destroy everything he’s built.
A redemptive journey...
As Amy struggles to make amends with her family, she finds a kindred spirit in Bax. But just as they begin to trust each other, a new visitor arrives in town—and this person knows enough to ruin them both. After so much pain, can Amy and Bax still fight for their dreams…and win? 

Review
****Montlake Romance, via NetGalley, provided me with a complimentary ARC of this book for an honest review***
Everyone has a past. Sometimes it's full of laughter and joy, and sometimes it's full of things you wish you could take back. Amy Layton knows all about past regrets, she left home to elope with a man who didn't have her heart, to run from the family and friends she hurt with her selfishness. She's spent the last few years living with the consequences of her actions and hiding the bruises of a man who said all the right things in the beginning. When she has no choice but to return to Powell Springs she learns just what it's like to be from a small town that never forgets your sins, but this may be they only second chance she ever gets.
Baxter Duncan has made a new life for himself in a new town. His past is behind him and his dreams of the future are becoming possible again. One run in with an infuriating woman when he's trying to be neighborly throws his whole world on it's axis and he finds his past coming crashing into his present in the town he hoped to call home for good. The only thing that may save them both is each other.
This story had me feeling so many things and even a little teary-eyed as early as 14%. I love the feeling of when a book stays with you, and The Fire of Home certainly did. The writing was engaging. The transfer between point of views was clear but smooth and easy to read. The writing addicting and seemingly flawless brought to life a world that I felt instantly transported to. It was a little more innocent than what I normally read, but the chemistry and buffet of emotions kept me coming back for more. This was the story of people with a rich history of heartbreak and pain. I loved every detail of it and wouldn't have minded if it were longer.  

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