J.G. MacLeod

This is my third JG MacLeod book and I simply adored Brigid and her Scottish time travel romance! Brigid is a barista and karate expert from Canada who finds herself thrust back in time and winds up in Scotland. Fans of Outlander will definitely enjoy! I loved how although she and Ferghus didn’t get along at first and found every excuse to argue (they were so funny!) they had a fiery passion that kept me turning pages. I liked how Brigid’s grounding in karate served as something in her life that gave her focus even growing up as an orphan. The use of Scottish language and dialect was a neat touch. Favorite moments: serving wenches who work in coffee shops 🍵, betrothed to Aragorn, good Scottish feasts and games, different kinds of stares. This book was so cute! 5/5 stars.… (meer)

This romantic suspense packed a lot of heat! Chad is a 35-year-old ex-con who has gotten out of prison after serving fifteen years and wants to turn his life around. He signs up for a continuing education class, where there are instant sparks with his teacher, Lily, who has a thing for her new student and his hot ink. This couple SIZZLED on page with lots of push and pull and will they, won’t they. One thing I loved was how these two technically had a forbidden romance, but because Chad (the student) is 35 and in fact older than Lily (the teacher), them dating didn’t really come across as anything untoward. Lily has troubles of her own, between an ex who is stalking her, and some substance abuse issues, and when you put her and Chad together, they have enough sizzle and drama to light up every page, especially in those steamy scenes (whew!!)

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
… (meer)

ABALONE is one of those books that stays with you for a long time after you read it. Liz is an eighteen-year-old senior and a good student, but also comes from a troubled home life where her mother passed away earlier when she was in high school and her father was unable to deal with his depression. Because Liz is such a good student, a teacher asks her to tutor an older student who has been held back for several years and is in danger of failing the year yet again and not graduating. This is how Liz meets James.

One thing ABALONE does so well is in describing the details, from the mundane details of Liz’s life, to the insidious details of how abuse starts. People who have never survived abuse or come from a home life where they feel unsupported often say “well why don’t they just leave?” not understanding that it isn’t that simple. Liz’s situation, from a father who can’t really support her, to a lack of support for her future, to a yearning for someone to love her, make her a prime candidate to fall into James’ arms, even if they are abusive arms, and I thought the narrative showed so well even as various people in Liz’s life (friends, other men who wanted to be something more), tried to help pull her away, it was just so hard for her to break away from his orbit. Very well written.

Trigger Warnings: domestic abuse, loss of pregnancy
… (meer)

Lily, having separated herself from an abusive husband, is a high school teacher who has been assigned to teach an anthropology class to a small group of adults who came up a few classes short of graduating in their teen years. Chad, recently paroled from prison, is one of her adult students. Both find themselves attracted to each other, but their current teacher-student relationship, as well as their hidden pasts, keep them from acting on their impulses. However, the arrival of Lily’s stalking husband defensively brings them together. The main story of Lily and Chad’s slow and defensive path to a romantic connection is well-balanced between fear and desire, which will please hard-style romantic readers. Yet, the short intro scene that positions their story as a virtual presentation to another woman trying to experience another moment in time may confuse the reader at the start. Even though its purpose sets up an ending moment of suspense, some readers may enjoy just passing through this plot device and focusing on the main suspenseful romance.… (meer)