Bella AndreBesprekingen

Romance

Romance

Romance

Time for a quick/short review:

I've had tons of Bella Andre's books lying around on my shelf for years. I keep wanting to pick up one (or any romance, really) but I wasn't in the mood. I got stuck waiting in a parking lot so I picked up this free book on the iBooks app.

This book was a sweet, contemporary romance that was packed full of drama. It's a great read for those who love straight to the point romance with lots of sexy scenes. There's lots of instant love, lots of hot and heavy moments and a good handful of drama (nude pictures leak, eek).

It didn't hold my attention super well, but it was a great romance read. I'll for sure be grabbing a few more Bella Andre books in the future to see if I'm gonna like more of her books.

Two out of five stars.

This was my second favorite but they are all pretty good.

I just don't have the patience for "misunderstandings" and "I can't ruin our friendship" over and over and over........

eh. 'twas okay

Primo libro di una serie che racconterà dei fratelli Sullivan, sei maschi, tutti stupendi, e due femmine, gemelle e bellissime anche loro.
Per quello che mi riguarda devo dire che la serie non parte nel migliore dei modi, oltre 300 pagine per una storia che nella sostanza si sarebbe potuta contenere in metà rendendo il tutto più stringente ed accattivante. In pratica siamo difronte all’anatomia di un colpo di fulmine, ossia come dissezionare un racconto per farlo diventare un romanzo.
Chase è un affermato fotografo, e una sera, di ritorno da una festa in famiglia, soccorre Chloe che è finita in un fosso con la sua macchina. Il colpo di fulmine è immediato per entrambi, anche se Chloe cerca di contrastare questo sentimento perché non vuole più fidarsi degli uomini per le delusioni da loro subite. Ma come si può resistere al fascino, alla gentilezza, alle premure infinite di un uomo come Chase?
Una storia molto semplice, dove manca qualsiasi colpo di scena, che scorre un po’ troppo lentamente e che si amplifica solo per le ripetute scene di sesso che, alla fine, risultano essere anche troppe.
Tre stelline molto stiracchiate, nella speranza che i prossimi siano meglio.

Terzo libro della serie e sulla ribalta questa volta sale Gabe, l’aitante vigile del fuoco della famiglia Sullivan che, durante un incendio, salva la vita di Megan e della figlioletta Summer. Ma basterà solo uno sguardo tra i due per scatenare ben altro incendio! Entrambi però hanno alle spalle situazioni dolorose che li spingono ad evitarsi in tutti i modi. Sarà proprio la piccola Summer, con l’aiuto di Sophie sorella di Gabe, ad assumere le vesti di piccola Cupido. Ma se anche l’attrazione tra i due è molto forte, non sarà comunque una conquista semplice e tante remore dovranno essere superate …
Anche stavolta le dinamiche del racconto rimangono di base più o meno le stesse e solo la caratterizzazione dei personaggi diversifica lo sviluppo delle singole storie. In sostanza la trama, pur se un po’ più elaborata, rimane comunque in linea con le precedenti. In compenso vanno prendendo sempre più corpo i vari componenti della famiglia e di conseguenza anche le loro personali interazioni. Un libro anche questo che si legge facilmente e velocemente per trascorrere qualche ora in totale leggerezza.
Quattro stelline, però proprio scarse.
E adesso, dopo che la casa editrice ha pubblicato nel giro di poco meno di un anno i primi tre libri, e considerato che da allora di anni ne sono già passati più di due, chissà se vedremo mai pubblicati anche gli altri della serie?

Secondo libro della serie, sicuramente migliore del precedente, con una storia più articolata anche se ne ricalca lo schema.
Marcus è il più grande dei fratelli Sullivan, quello che alla morte del padre ha preso le redini della famiglia accanto alla madre, ed è titolare di un’affermata azienda vitivinicola. Sta attraversando un brutto periodo perché, ormai prossimo alle nozze, la sua fidanzata lo ha lasciato per un altro. Nico è una famosa popstar, una voce bellissima e una fama di donna alquanto spregiudicata. Il loro incontro farà scattare una scintilla che presto si trasforma in qualcosa di molto più profondo, ma le cose tra loro non saranno proprio semplici.
Lo stile è scorrevole e accattivante e la storia si legge piacevolmente, anche se la dinamica ricalca sostanzialmente quella del libro precedente.
Marcus e Nico sono due bei personaggi, abbastanza ben caratterizzati, e proprio per questo riescono a rendere la storia più movimentata e stuzzicante rispetto a quella del libro precedente.
Piacevole, 4 stelline di incoraggiamento.

Mostly sex with a sweet little romance thrown in along with some funny moments.

This wasn't bad. It just wasn't that good. The story was cute. The characters were cute. It just wasn't executed in the best way. It was a bit too short and rushed. Lots of sparks, but not a lot of heat to back up the passion. This would be more a 2 1/2 stars, but not quite enough to round up to three. It was cute enough to give this author another chance, though.

Drake spies a crying young woman on his property, instinctively knowing she would not want him to see her, so he watches her until she leaves his land. He cannot get her out of his mind then he runs into her at the small grocery store near his place. Since he came to his cabin in Montauk to overcome a blockage in his painting, his becoming obsessed with Rosa, the young woman who is also a reality TV star who ran away because of nude photos of her on the internet, becomes a problem since he has vowed never to paint women because of his parents' history. He helps Rosa when her car breaks down. When she comes to thank him, she sees the paintings he has done of her. Why is he painting her? What does he see that she does not? Can they trust each other because of their pasts?

I liked this story a lot. I liked how Drake saw Rosa, not as a victim but as a strong resilient woman. He is able to deal with her wariness and lack of trust. Both listen to the other as they speak of their pasts. Both help the other to find peace and answers to their pasts. I liked how Rosa thought hard about what she wanted for her future and went for it. The Sullivans supported her. She was able to make peace in herself and with her family. Drake was able to find the answers he needed from his dad.

I look forward to more of this series. It is good.

Figured I might as well read the second book. It was ok. Didn't have any of the tropes I generally enjoy and was a little over the top (nonstop sex, then a fair bit of cheese). But not bad. (2.5 stars)

Insecure chubby heroine and plenty of angst. Ignore the skinny cover model. (3.5 stars)

This book was decent for the most part. I do feel like it did not realize its potential. I like the friends to lovers theme. I like the unrequited love theme. I like the falling in love with your brother's best friend theme. This book didn't really take advantage of any of them. The writing was not bad but I felt that the plot was not really tight. The rest of this review is what I would tell this author if I was in a critique group with her. There are major spoilers so read at your own peril.

Motivations seemed simplistic or unrelated to people's actions. At the wedding for example. The heroine, Sophie, has some random plans to "show" Jake. She's going to give him a taste of his own medicine. She asks him to help her make some other guy jealous. I'm not sure what medicine this is supposed to serve up. But it doesn't matter because the author pretty much drops that idea. Then she's going to prove how grown up and naughty she can be so she seduces him and tells him she'll love him forever. Because wearing your heart on your sleeve is grown up and so is getting your feelings hurt when he ditches you after the big love scene. If you're 17 maybe. She's 25. This is some guy she's loved for years who is friends with the family. She knows him. This isn't just some random hook up. I think a more realistic attitude would be to at least call him up and say 'hey you big jerk, what's with ditching me?' If she's so crazy in love with him, I'd expect her to be willing to put a bit more out there. You already told him you loved him when a more self respecting woman would have waited just a tad. You are after all chasing a man who had never indicated any interest in you. You dropped your dress and he went for it. I think you need to play out a bit of line and maybe play just a bit hard to get. But since you didn't then at least give the whole chasing him thing a bit more effort.

Then there's the whole thing with all the brothers. I would have liked to see a lot more of actions and reactions to their relationship. Would have liked to see them interacting with her family. If these guys are going to hit the roof, let's see them do it. Sounds like interesting reading. And show me some reason that they might be pissed at this guy whom they are all friends with getting into a relationship with their adult sister. But there is nothing, just a vague assertion that 'Jake will never fall in love.' Umm why do you say that Smith?

I got tired of the self pity from Jake. At this point in time there really isn't that big of a stigma over dyslexia. I can understand being embarrassed while you're still young or if you still can't read. But this guy hired tutors for himself for 10 years to learn to read. That shows balls. Good for him. I have a dyslexic friend. He freely admits, hey I'm dyslexic, I read slow. Nobody thinks he's stupid. Plus the whole, my father beat me thing. It seemed like lip service to a "bad boy". He keeps harping on 'he can't give her the life she deserves.' I don't get it. He loves her, has always loved her. He has pulled himself up by the bootstraps, taught himself to read and owns a bunch of pubs which have made him rich and famous. He's a friend of the family and they all like him. Where's the downside here?

I also had a problem with the scene where she's in the hospital maybe having a miscarriage. In that situation it just isn't realistic that they would not have let the father of the baby in because he wasn't family. Actually he is. He's the baby's father. I know this for a fact since before I married my husband, I had a miscarriage and he was right there with me throughout the entire thing married or not.

There was too much sex in the book. That sounds like I'm a prude which I'm not at all. But having a pages long sex scene, the flow of which is interrupted by introspection on both their parts about feelings of unworthiness and whatnot, then having the characters wake up in the morning to another pages long sex scene complete with random introspection is just too much. I want some story. Perhaps some of those scenes with her family? And these were far from the only sex scenes. I was hoping one of her brothers would walk in on them. That would have been interesting!

So basically the things that happen when they aren't in bed or heading that way are:

a bunch of long speeches at her brother's wedding which since I hadn't read the book before, I wasn't really interested in. And even if I had, we didn't need to read a complete toast from each Marcus, Smith, Gabe, Zach, Ryan, Jake, Lori, Sophie and Mary. Overkill.

A half of a page of a hen party followed by telling Lori that Sophie is pregnant.

A visit to the doctor.

One day spent in San Francisco. And how did she have a card that let her break into some sort of municipal pool? Details please.

A trip to the library.

A bout of fisticuffs with one brother after which the brother admits that he's always known that Jake loved Sophie and it's cool, welcome to the family. So why exactly he felt the need to fight with him I don't know. Had he been a known drug dealer or a mafioso maybe that would have been justification for all the angst. Sophie wasn't a virgin and I don't know as any other guy got beat up.

A fight between Sophie and Jake about whether he is good enough for her since he's a slow reader.

A trip to the hospital where everyone is all on board with their relationship.

And a marriage with some bait for the next book.

That all sounds harsh. It really wasn't bad it just needed polish and some thought to making the plot and motivations tighter.

3-1/12 stars. I rounded up. This was much better than the first book I tried in this series which was about the sister Sophie. I did like this book. It was very readable and the plot was much tighter than the other I read.

This book was fair. I'll start off by saying that I don't like books where the hero and heroine were lovers in the past. I like to read about people meeting for the first time and falling in love, not getting back together. I found it improbable that Sam would go running off to the side of his ex-fiance whom he hadn't seen in 10 years even if he did hear she had a car accident. I also think they fell back into each other's arms too quickly. Three days after being apart 10 years was a bit short to be believable.

There was very little use made of him being a hotshot forest firefighter. If a book is about a firefighter, there should be more firefighting in it. I also don't like when author's get around telling you who the bad guy is by calling him "the man." It wouldn't have hurt a thing to use his name.

The writing was decent. The dialog was a little corny here and there. Still I'm willing to give the next one a try.

Colbie and her friends are at Lake Tahoe for a skiing vacation. She's not as accomplished a skier as they are, so she sends them off to enjoy themselves on the harder slopes. As she starts toward the easy slope, she avoids a little girl and falls in the snow. She is unable to get up without the help of the most handsome man she has ever seen. Turns out he was a ski instructor and teaches her how to ski. When he wants to spend more time with her, she leaves. Both think of each other and manage to find each other back home in Seattle. Do they take the chance to learn more of each other? Does Colbie run away again?

I liked this story. I felt happy reading about Colbie and Noah. They are sweet together. She has been hurt in the past but Noah senses how fast he can go with her. His intuition helps Colbie feel safe. I hope they have more than one perfect night. This was way too short.

Well this was a bummer of a “meh” for me. Ashley and Nash fell for each other which was good, but then there was way too much unnecessary and contrived conflict to get them to their HEA. Andre definitely needed to keep Ashley’s mother from showing up until the end as the voice of reason because she could have fixed the issues much sooner than actually happened.

Also it honestly drove me crazy that they’re so focused on Nash’s past “mistakes” but don’t really spell them out except he went to either prison and/or jail (there’s a big difference); but all of this supposedly happened when he already was a star and he still did time and she’d never heard about it? I feel like there’s a lot of BS there, and it’s infuriating.

There’s more that’s bugging me, but I’m done with it all. I wish I could have gotten this from the library, but for some reason the author doesn’t let them have ebook access or else it takes forever; at least I waited for a price drop on this one. I’m going back to Balogh rereads to cleanse my palate.

I don't know if the fact that I haven't read this series in two years is affecting how I feel about it, but I wasn't a big fan of this. I actually did enjoy the initial falling for each other that happened in London between Lyssa and Cal, but the rest of it went more overboard along with the unplanned pregnancy. I think the goal was to prove that Lyssa was way more mature about everything than Cal was, even though he was twenty years older; it all just made me annoyed for some reason.½

In this steamy firefighter romance, arson investigator Maya goes to Lake Tahoe to investigate the fire that killed her brother and has a brief fling with a guy she meets in a bar. Months later, she realizes her fling is Logan, a wilderness firefighter, and the prime suspect in her arson investigation. Logan, being a dedicated firefighter, is royally pissed to be a suspect at all, and especially frustrated when she benches him just when there are fires all over the place to be put out. This had great romance, great pacing, and a good mystery that kept me guessing. Will definitely be reading more by this author. Recommended for romance fans!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.

This book was okay. It suffers from having nothing special about it that stands out. There was mystery, suspense, romance, and sexual encounters, but none of it reaches out and grabs the reader. It is the beginning of a series of books about Hotshot firefighters.

This book was better than the first in the Hotshot firefighters series, but not enough for me to give it a higher rating.

This book was better than the first two in the Hotshots series. It was more emotional and brought together several stories.