5/5 Review: Never Let You Go by Monica Murphy

This is the second book in a two part series. The first book tells the story of Katie and Ethan (Will). How she was kidnapped and physically and mentally abused by a terrible man named Arron, Will's father. Years later Will reconnects with Katie under a different name, Ethan. They go through a lot together. They fall for each other. Katie finds out the truth at the end of the first book and it devastated her that she was deceived by the man she had given herself to.

A little time passes before they start talking again. Lisa Swanson interviews Aaron about his side of the story and now she wants to hear what both Katie and Ethan have to say about it. Katie refuses to do the interview without Ethan; but Ethan has zero desire to share his side with the media. Katie and Ethan end up deciding to do the interview together. No one knows they have been in a relationship. They both know what everyone would think if they went public.

Lisa gives Aaron Ethan's address and he writes to him asking for his and Katie's forgiveness for everything. Neither of them wants to forgive that monster. They also don't believe him when he says he's changed. Aaron has little time left before his execution. Katie can't shake the feeling someone is watching her just beyond the woods behind her home. Lisa tries to convince Katie that Ethan is working with his father and is using her. She knows deep inside her heart that it's not true and Aaron has lied to Lisa. Turns out that Aaron does have someone on the outside keeping tabs on her and Ethan.

Katie and Ethan are trying to get past what happened with Ethan's deception because they really truly love each other. They are able to rekindle their relationship.

Aaron ends up breaking out of prison by faking a heart attack when the prison is understaffed. Aaron goes after Lisa first because he thinks they have a connection. He finds out where Katie's lives from her and then proceeds to go after her too. Lisa knocks on the door and Aaron pushes past her to get to Katie. Lisa tries to run and Aaron shoots and kills her before she was able to get away. Aaron takes Katie back to the amusement park where he originally kidnapped her. Ethan was out of town and was able to catch a quick flight home after hearing what's happening.

Aaron makes Katie ride a bunch of the rides while he stands there watching. Katie thinks for sure this is the end and he's going to finish what he started years ago. He then makes her ride the sky glider; the very ride he abducted her from. She tries to reason with him to spare her life by lying to him and telling him she's pregnant with his grandchild. Aaron doesn't care and continues to force her onto the ride. Ethan shows up and pleads for his father to spare her and take him instead. Aaron agrees, but they never make it to the end of the ride. Aaron ends up being shot by the cops that are surrounding the amusement park.

Katie and Ethan can finally breathe and enjoy their lives together. While at the hospital they find out that Katie truly is pregnant. He asks her to marry him and of course she says yes!

I was so happy that I was able to read the conclusion of their story. This book was a great read. It was full of love, action, and a little bit of mystery. The sex scenes were full of passion and very steamy. I was bummed at the end of the first book when they went their separate ways; but I'm glad they found their way back to each other. I absolutely love Monica Murphy! If you plan on reading this book make sure you start with book one. You won't be disappointed!

5/5 Review: The Truth About Him by M. O'Keefe

We played our roles, told each other lies.

But now Dylan is no longer just a mysterious deep voice on the other end of the line. We’re face-to-face and our relationship is very, very real.

We still have secrets—but so much is crystal clear:

The thrilling danger.

The raw, naked desire.

The need to keep feeling the way he makes me feel. Forever.

Dylan is putting up walls, trying to keep me safe, but he can’t shut me out. He has seen my darkness and rescued me. Now it’s my turn, if only he will let me.

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Dylan is a rich man with a dark past. He has a lot of secrets and Annie is peeling them back one at a time and willing to help heal his icy heart. 

Annie isn't withouther own secrets and a dark past... only her past has literally come to fine her. When Dylan helps save Annie he's afraid his dark past may bring her down, and after everything she's been through he's reluctant to keep her too close. 

This is a 2 part series, and "the truth about him" is part 2. This book literally starts out with instant action and keeps you glued to your spot and keeps you continuously turning the pages. 

It was a bit of a rough start for me as I didn't read the first book, so I had to figure a lot of things out along the way. Luckily the author is great at catching you up, without seemingly annoying a return reader (I would assume anyway!) 

The entire book was well written and kept me entertained, I enjoyed the variety of characters that always kept me guessing, and the bonds between them. If you enjoyed the first book (as I assume I would too) then you'll definitely fall in love with the conclusion. But if you didn't, the book is still a great book and worth the read (but maybe grab the first one too!)

4/5 Review: After She's Gone by Lisa Jackson

Cassie Kramer and her younger sister, Allie, learned the hazards of fame long ago. Together, they’d survived the horror of a crazed fan who nearly killed their mother, former Hollywood actress Jenna Hughes. Still, Cassie moved to L.A., urging Allie to follow. As a team, they’d take the town by storm. But Allie, finally free of small-town Oregon, and just that little bit more beautiful, also proved to be more talented—and driven. Where Cassie got bit parts, Allie rose to stardom. But now her body double has been shot on the set of her latest movie—and Allie is missing.

Police discover that the last call to Allie’s phone came from Cassie, though she has no recollection of making it. Instead of looking like a concerned relative, Cassie is starting to look like a suspect—the jealous sister who finally grew sick of playing a supporting role. As the tabloids go into a frenzy, Cassie ends up on a Portland psych ward. Is she just imagining the sinister figure who comes to her bedside, whispering about Allie—a visitor of whom there is no record? Is someone trying to help—or drive her mad?

Convinced she’s the only one who can find Allie, Cassie checks herself out of the hospital. But a sudden slew of macabre murders— each victim masked with a likeness of a member of Cassie’s family—makes Cassie fear for her safety and her sanity. The only way to end the nightmare is to find out what really happened to Allie. And with each discovery, Cassie realizes that no one can be trusted to keep her safe—least of all herself…

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This was truly a strong suspense novel. I realize that it's billed as a "romantic suspense" but trust me there is hardly any romance to be found in these pages so those of you that are scared off by the idea of romance will be safe in picking up this title. There were a lot of character's but I don't think there were so many that one could not keep track of what was going on. Really I feel that each character did play it's part in the telling of the story. The story line was excellent and the characters carried with them enough baggage to help you understand their actions. The suspense was awesome and kept me guessing until the very end.

This novel is everything I enjoy about reading: characters who act their age, romance that seems natural and realistic, a mystery that makes you change you mind about "whodunnit" a dozen times before it is revealed, high stakes, I could go on and on.

I like that the characters had a past. It sounds complicated, but it helps the reader follow the story, rather than complicate everything by throwing in flash backs. I have read plenty of novels by this author, and she has a definite style. Even the novels she writes with her equally talented sister, Nancy Bush, there is a definite difference, although it does not distract from the story. I think I only notice because I have read novels by both sisters. On a related note, HUSH by Nancy Bush is awesome. The genre is the same, and it's a great novel.

Lisa Jackson writes lengthy books, so you get a lot for the price. The only drawback is that some of her books can drag in places, but never for long, and it always goes somewhere. She had a few series that I recommend, although my all time favorite books of hers are the ones set in Oregon.

The twists and turns in this book are hard to predict and keep things very unsettling. Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, you’re wrong. I was on the edge of my seat until the very end. It’s been awhile since I have read a suspense novel this good. The characters are very well written and I was truly invested in what happens to them. Leah portrays a strong woman that fights very hard to regain her footing after spending the past 4 years still looking over her shoulder. Cassie Kramer is our heroine, who is the daughter of former well known Hollywood actress. Cassie and her sister, Allie tried to follow in their mother’s footsteps, with Allie becoming a star. Cassie  decides that she is the only one able to find her sister. I just may have to go back and read the other books in the series to get to know them better.



5/5 Review: Try Not to Breath by Holly Seddon

Some secrets never die. They’re just locked away.

Alex Dale is lost. Destructive habits have cost her a marriage and a journalism career. All she has left is her routine: a morning run until her body aches, then a few hours of forgettable work before the past grabs hold and drags her down. Every day is treading water, every night is drowning. Until Alex discovers Amy Stevenson. Amy Stevenson, who was just another girl from a nearby town until the day she was found unconscious after a merciless assault. Amy Stevenson, who has been in a coma for fifteen years, forgotten by the world. Amy Stevenson, who, unbeknownst to her doctors, remains locked inside her body, conscious but paralyzed, reliving the past.

Soon Alex’s routine includes visiting hours at the hospital, then interviews with the original suspects in the attack. But what starts as a reporter’s story becomes a personal obsession. How do you solve a crime when the only witness lived but cannot tell the tale? Unable to tear herself away from her attempt to uncover the unspeakable truth, Alex realizes she’s not just chasing a story—she’s seeking salvation.

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The book is told in an interesting intermittent flashback format, by Alex Dale who is still grieving the loss of her husband, her baby & her career. Alex is also in deep denial of her alcohol addiction. Alex is narrating the present-day chapters in first-person, while the flashback chapters, are told from Amy's point of view which describe the actions of several key characters on one day 15 years ago.

 Besides Alex, the most fascinating character in the book is that of Jacob, the married man with secrets tottering on the brink of fatherhood. Jacob, yearning for the girlfriend who was taking from him to soon. Living with an over protected mother, is such a confused, unlikeable person at times. Yet this author makes the reader see the good in Jacob and how much he wants to do right by everyone, even as the story moves the angst-ridden man inexorably toward the unspeakable crime which are at the center of the narrative.

Holly Seddon's prose style is unique, complex and utterly creative.She is an expert in her ability to paint a word picture of a situation or a character in a few phrases.Seddon does an excellent job of taking a woman who has hit rock bottom and showing us why she's so messed up -- and at the same time, how beautiful and smart she is.Seddon writes action sequences very well. When she wants to, she can command your attention and allow you to experience what horrible thing is happening to each character. She also compels you to finish reading by speeding up the pace and making you want to keep going. This novel is shocking, brutal and disconcerting, an unsparing exploration of people and their motives, a harsh landscape that questions long-held assumptions about the human capacity for violence.

 This novel is a fascinating murder mystery, but it is so much more than that. It is a wise, evocative character study -- a glimpse into the lives of people who are lost and are struggling to find their way in a dangerous world. Some never find a path, some show others a path, and some find refuge -- which can be either heaven or hell. But all of these people -- for better or worse -- matter, and their intertwined lives are a lesson to the reader that even the tiniest action may have huge unintended consequences.

5/5 Review: Never Tear Us Apart by Monica Murphy

Crazy how eight years can disappear in an instant. One look at Katie Watts, and I'm a fifteen-year-old again--the one who risked everything to save a terrified girl from her twisted kidnapper. She's grown-up now--beautiful, quiet, composed--and telling her story to the world. A story that involves me in more ways than you can imagine. She used to call me her guardian angel. Sure, I risked my life, but she was worth dying for.

I need to make contact with her. Just to ensure that she's safe.

Somehow we reconnect. We become friends . . . but I want more. I want to make her mine. And she wants me too. Does she know who I am? Has she figured me out? Not yet. But she will. In the meantime, I need to make sure that whatever hold that animal had on her is gone.

So, yeah, I'm stealing these moments with her. Savoring them. Knowing, dreading, that she'll soon find out who I really am. And everything will fall apart. All because of that twisted, perverted monster sitting on death row. Her kidnapper. A convicted serial killer.

My father.

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Katie Watts has a very traumatic childhood. She was kidnapped and abused both mentally and sexually. Eight years later she is trying her best to lead as normal of a life as she can. She secludes herself from the outside world. She doesn’t speak to anyone she doesn’t know. She doesn’t go out and have fun with friends. She no longer has any anyway. That all changes when she meets Ethan, something about him brings out the person she wishes she could be. She starts to enjoy life. Ethan may know her past and who she is, but little does she know who the man is that is slowly stealing her heart.  

When I first saw what this book was about I was hesitant on how I would feel reading a book with such a sensitive subject matter. Monica Murphy did a really good job explaining what happened to Katie without going into details that would make people extremely uneasy. It didn’t take me long to be sucked into the story and have to know what happened to poor Katie. A child being kidnapped, held prisoner, and abused both physically and mentally at such a young age. The story bounces back and forth between Katie and Ethan both resent and past selves.

Fast forward to after she is rescued by the son of the man who took her. She has this connection with him from that the moment he saved her. They have a connection that never seems to go completely away for either of them. I loved watching a relationship grow when they meet again as adults. She's never been able to trust anyone especially a man. She finds it hard to function in normal situations. But she feels safe with him and can let herself go and not be that scared of life little girl anymore. I wanted to see the relationship keep growing but he was keeping who he really was from her. Little did she know that the man she was spending all this time with was actually that boy that saved her those years ago. It made me crazy that he wouldn’t tell her, but how could he without chasing her away?  Ethan keeps this secret from her because he has this urge to be close to her that he can't fight. He wants to make sure she is safe.

She finally finds out who he really is right at the end of the book. I can't wait for the second part of this story to come out so I can find out what happens! I'm hooked on the drama and love story of Ethan and Katie.

5/5 Review: Claimed by Elle Kennedy

 

After a devastating war decimated most of the world, Hudson Lane has only known the oppressive life under her own father’s tyranny. She finally escapes, branding herself an outlaw and hunted by the Enforcers. Her best chance at survival is Connor Mackenzie, an aggressively sensual fugitive who opens her eyes to the wicked possibilities of a world without rules.

As the leader of a band of outlaw fighters, Connor can’t resist the beautiful stranger who asks for his protection. Despite his reservations, he agrees to introduce her to a whole new way of life. But when Connor discovers Hudson’s connection to the enemies of liberty, he wonders how far he can trust the woman who has abandoned all inhibitions to challenge every forbidden desire.

 

 

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Claimed by Elle Kennedy is the first book I have read from this author and to be honest I wasn't sure what to expect, but I wasn't disappointed.

End of the world books I usually find quite hard to immerse myself into but this one defeated the odds and can say that I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

In my opinion most of the characters throughout the book should be considered main characters but the story does focus on the love between appointed leader of the outlaws, Connor and the new comer, Hudson.  Their chemistry together is on fire!

Hudson has came from the city where life is opposite to the outside world.  Her reason for leaving is top secret and guards it close to her heart even though she knows that one day she will need to divulge what it is.  Anyone could take one look at Hudson and believe she is soft and inexperienced to the wild world outside the comfort of the city, but really she is so much more.  She is tough, honest (even if she holds a deadly secret), compassionate and most of all loyal.

Connor never wanted to be leader to his group of outlaws but circumstances and loyalty from the others in the group made him the leader never the less.  He is sexy as hell, fierce, worldly and loyal but he too has a secret he has kept from his best friends.

When Connor and Hudson's lives crash together its a moment neither of them dreamt would take them to the place they need most in the world.  Enforcers are after them and they are in turn after the Enforcers but in a race against time there can only be one winner.  It's up to Hudson and Connor to learn to forgive and to trust enough to get through the hell hole they have entered.

As I said, this story has a bunch of main characters and you can not forget them as they all form such a storyline that I believe its as important as Hudson and Connor.  Rylan, Pike, Xander and Kade all play their part in the story and I can see their stories forming already for the next instalment and I can not wait!

Although I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book I do have to give a warning to fellow readers.  Claimed isn't what I would call an erotic novel but it does have a lot of very graphic sex scenes that might not be for the faint hearted.  I personally loved them, but I like to give a warning for those that aren't used to of the so in your face sex scenes that are in this book.