Stacy EatonBesprekingen

This was a great audio book for my long drive. All three of the book kept my interest, the characters were well written and likable, the storyline was great and the entire book series was wonderful. The books had a lot of unexpected things going on. It had friendship, love, murder, suspense and a happy ending. Another great book by the author.

Cured is the first book in Stacy Eaton’s Heal Me contemporary romance series that follows a group of friends who are medical professionals. Colt is a plastic surgeon who often meets his friends for drinks at the bar, Shot Therapy. The last several times, they’ve been there, he’s noticed a beautiful woman who always leaves with a different man each time. Sensing that there might be something deeper driving her casual hookups and feeling she deserves better, he decides to make her a proposition: Don’t sleep around or date anyone else but him for one month and he’ll show her how a man should treat a lady. At first Ember is slightly offended by Colt’s proposal, but having just had a wake-up call, she thinks maybe it might be time to try something different. She agrees, and for the next few weeks, they share some of the best times of her life. Colt gradually begins to chip away at the ice that’s formed around her frozen heart, and she starts to really fall for him. But if she tells him the truth about why she’s only been living half a life for so long, she fears what he might think of her. Also, he never promised her forever, only one month, and when a jealous friend who wants Cold for herself stirs up trouble, it could mean the end of Colt and Ember’s relationship.

Because of a traumatic event, Ember has been mired in pain and grief for the past six years. Feeling she’s undeserving of love, she’s walled off her heart and only engages in meaningless hookups as a way to try to feel something. One night, while reconnecting with an old friend at Shot Therapy, she picks up yet another strange man, only to be heckled by a different guy sitting nearby who is even hotter than the one she chose. Recognizing the second man as being too wealthy for her blood, she brushes him off and sticks with her original choice, but their time together ends up being nothing special. After injuring herself twice in clumsy accidents and needing to update her regular STD tests anyway, Ember heads for the doctor’s office, where she finally has an epiphany about the sheer number of guys she’s been sleeping with and wonders if it might be time for a change. Then she literally runs into hot guy number two as she’s leaving the medical complex. Colt invites her to dinner and says he has a proposition for her. She’s intrigued enough to accept, but after hearing his proposal, she’s at first irritated and thinks he’s judging her for her lifestyle choices. However, he turns out to be very persuasive and Ember has never been one to back down from a challenge. Over the next few weeks, the way Colt romances her really starts to melt her heart, but she still blames herself for things that happened in the past and thinks Colt will, too. Then there’s Colt’s friend who makes Ember believe that this was all nothing but a game to him. Alone in the world, Ember has barely been living while trying to cover up the pain of the past, but Colt makes her feel alive again in a way she didn’t think was possible. All she really needed was for someone to show her they cared and to show her what she was truly worth and Colt really stepped up to the plate to be that person for her.

The last several times, he’s been out to Shot Therapy with his friends, Colt has seen the beautiful blond woman who always leaves with a different guy. Being a little old-fashioned when it comes to love and romance, he can’t help giving her a hard time when she offers to buy some strange man a drink. She brushes Colt off, but he can’t stop thinking about her. Feeling a beautiful woman like her deserves far more than all the meaningless hookups she appears to be engaging in week after week, he comes up with his proposal, and when he chances to run into her at the medical complex where he works, it offers the perfect opportunity to ask her out. From night one, Colt plays the perfect gentleman, treating Ember like a real lady, and even comes to her rescue during a medical emergency, tenderly caring for her afterward. Although he didn’t initially intend for their relationship to be anything other than an experiment, he slowly starts to fall for her until he knows he wants her in his life always. But when Ember disappears on him and he finds her in a compromising position, his heart is broken as he fears that she’s gone back to her old ways. Colt is a confident, but beta-leaning hero who is sweet, generous, and compassionate. He’s not the usual plastic surgeon who caters to vain, wealthy people, and when I found out the true nature of his work, it was utterly heartwarming. He’s a man who genuinely wants to help people, and although perhaps a tad meddlesome, that’s all he really wants to do for Ember when he makes his proposal to her. He turns out to be a swoon-worthy hero who treats her in the most romantic ways without going over the top, instead just paying attention and listening. Colt isn’t perfect, though, and must find a way to trust Ember and get over his own hangups about her past in order to find an HEA.

Overall, Cured was a lovely read about a woman who’d been through a lot and has finally found the one man who could make her feel loved and cherished again. I thought that Colt and Ember made a great couple and were well-suited to one another. Their romance is sweet and tender with a little steam on the side, but it’s mostly about them getting to know one another and Colt showing Ember her true value. That said, I thought that perhaps their characterizations could have gone a bit deeper. Ember has been mired in six years of grief that was perhaps overcome a little too quickly and magically, but when she was finally able to open up to Colt, it was a sweet moment, nonetheless. While I loved Colt’s plastic surgeon persona, we don’t learn a lot about his background. We do get to meet his mom, who’s engaged to a much younger man, but both are very nice people. Otherwise, there’s not much else about Colt’s life. Colt’s friend/nurse who decides to interject herself into his personal space could have used a little stronger motivations, too. I understood that she wanted Colt for herself, but after several years of him saying no, one might think she’d have gotten a clue. She also seemed a little too willing to blow up a long-term friendship and jeopardize her own job just for spite, but I guess there are people out there like that. The one other thing that I thought could have been better is the editing, mainly because the dialogue was too stilted and needed a lot more contractions and there was an overabundance of winking. Otherwise, though, I really enjoyed Cured and it’s left me very interested in continuing the series to see Colt’s other friends get their HEAs, too. It definitely hit me in the feels, so much so that I came close to giving it keeper status. There were just those few little things that kept it from getting over that hump, but it was a strong 4-star read for me. Anyone who loves a gentlemanly hero who knows how to romance a lady paired with a heroine who has a little healing to do will probably enjoy it as much as I did.

More like 2.5-4 for origional story- for humor-2 for suspense-3 for how well the story was writtenXHRX2 for character developmentXHRXXHRXWont read another. Not that engaging½

Lovely story

I did enjoy the story, and despite struggling to turn off my inner editor, I stuck with it to the happily ever after.

This was an easy read with a good story-line. The female main character, Joanne DuPree, decides to move closer to her friend and daughter. She’s living a life she likes. Then an old friend, whom she doesn’t remember much, comes into her life and makes it even better. One of the things I liked about the book is that it discusses a woman’s weight and how she could deal with extra pounds. Even her boyfriend, JT, doesn’t mind a few extra pounds. There are other good parts such as finding out you have more relatives which you have found out since they were all adopted. Great story.

This is another Loving a Winston series; like the others, it’s very good. I love all the characters in the series and it is nice to read about the characters in other books that are in the series. This is an excellent storyline about an educated woman, Candy, and an ex-biker man, Michael. They live completely different lives but there is a spark that hooks them together for basically….sex. But along the line, it turns out both of them have other feelings for each other. Then one day Michael finds out he’s a father and that really turns things around. Candy and Michael have a lot to work out to figure out what their future may look like.

This was the perfect short book to read after a long week at work. The story was good and the characters believable. It certainly was a sweet story of finding love after so many losses in the past. When Sandi went to help her best friend, Maggie battling cancer in her hometown, it was the perfect time after her divorce. As she returns to her childhood town to help her with Maggie’s bakery, she is at a farmer’s market to pick up supplies for the bakery when she runs into an old friend, Aaron, from when she was a child. Her brother was best friends with Aaron and she was around them a lot. They both had crushes on each other without each knowing. They had a lot of catching up and there were some challenging times that they each experienced. As they spend the next few days together, Sandi needs to make major life-changing decisions after Maggie dies and leaves everything to her. Maybe this was the time for Sandi to start over and stay in her hometown and see where things off with Aaron.

This book is the second in the Loving a Winston and it’s as good if not better than the first one. The author always knows how to grab your attention and keep it. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t put it down so I’ve done a lot of reading today. The characters are well written and the story is amazing. To have a nurse, Evan, fall in love with a woman, Laney, you would think everything is great. Except that Laney isn’t telling Evan everything. Like she’s a billionaire. Can the two of them make it with her being a billionaire and living the life she lived in California? Can Evan accept her beside her lies and her money? The storyline is great and just makes you want to read more in the Loving the Wiston series. The entire family along with the Youngs (another great series) have a lot more stories to tell. And if you are like me and don’t care too much for steamy romances, since I love the authors writing and stories, I just skip those parts.

This was a very easy and short story which was also very good. It’s about a woman who goes to a ranch to get first-hand experience for a friend who had to cancel at the last minute. The woman, Heather, wasn’t excited about going but it did get more exciting when she got to know the son of the ranch, Rob. Not only was he attractive but also a good person. They spent time together during her week there and proves that she can do the hard work on the ranch and still have fun as well. But what happens when her time is up and she has to go back to Boston? Good storyline.

This is not the type of book I would read since it’s so racey and steamy but, since one of my favorite authors writes the series, I read them anyway with a little skipping of pages. As with all her books, the storyline is great and the characters well built. In this book of the series, we see Jake, owner of Safety Zone Security, change his character a little bit when he learns his father is dying. Jake is a control freak and cannot control this. He wants to make sure his dad knows he’ll be okay and talks Alice, one of his employees, to marry him so his father would think he’ll be ok. The problem is Jake isn't a very easy person to get along with and has a wicked temper. Alice looks like the girl next door but she certainly isn't in the bedroom. While they are at a meeting in Las Vegas, Jake popped the question to Alice to play the game as being married which included a $35,000 bonus. Little did they know, they each had feelings for each other. As the story continues, we learn that the office staff wasn’t too surprised but Jake’s father certainly wasn’t convinced. They continue the fake marriage and Alice becomes very close to Jake’s father and Jake becomes a much nicer man. Will this last after his father is gone? You’ll have to read to find that out.

This novel really opened up my eyes to how hard it can be for veterans to reintegrate into normal again. Life has changed completely for them, and we do not understand all they’ve gone through and seen, as well as how others view them. Whether it is physical or emotional scarring, they have changed as a person and this novel really gives a great perspective on how they struggle and are probably harder on themselves than others are on them.

Lauren has her own issues and fears to face and she is doing her best to face those and yet her sole focus in life is not herself, but others. Lauren does what she can to help those how have seen the horrors or war and now have to try and get back into a normal routine at home again. Therapy helps most, and she cannot help all but she knows she is making a difference.

Shane is still struggling with his integration back into normal society and his father seems to not understand he has all gone through. He struggles every day and he has finally come up with something he wants to try and do. A organization he wants to start to help other vets like him- he is lucky enough to come from a family who has money and is getting the care and help he needs for his wounds but there are tons out there who are not as lucky.

Lauren and Shane meet at a fundraiser set up by Shane’s father- both were not looking forward to going due to their struggles to be out in public but they both know its for a good cause and do all they can to be there and be active. Shane brings his proposal to his father, just waiting for it to get shot down when he surprises him with being interested and sets up a time for him to go over it further. Lauren gets a call from Mr. Logan and he has a proposal he has to offer her for another sort of fundraiser he has in mind.

Mr. Logan has agreed to help Shane get his organization off the ground but has some ultimatums in mind and if Shane does not agree then its off the table and he will have to see about finding a different way to get funding. Lauren accepts the offer. It’s a change of pace and will be a new start for her and she can still help the veterans as it is all through virtual calls. But soon the two of them find out that Mr. Logan has other plans in place to get this organization off the ground.

I really enjoyed this novel. I liked that the author had two characters that both has similar but different issues that they had to work through to help themselves and each other and that she really dug deep into the struggles and challenges veterans and those with ptsd face every single day. I did enjoy the pov coming from both Shane and Lauren, as each had their own past that had developed them into who they were. I am excited to read the others in helping me to better understand the struggles and strength of those who have been in these situations.

Thank you to the author and Author Marketing Experts, Inc for reaching out and sending me the free books. I at least have one more to read before I’d have to get the others.

I’ve read a few books in the Celebration Series and as with this book, I enjoyed them all. I might have gotten a little sunburn being at the pool and forgetting about time as I was reading the book. It’s about a nurse, Jason Hayes, who is back in his hometown working at the local hospital. Then we have Riayan Simmer who goes back to Celebration Township, her hometown too, helping her aunt out with a bakery shop. Jason and Riayan had a past many years ago when they were in college and they were in love. That was until Riayan caught Jason doing something she could never forget and left. When she runs into him in their hometown, there may be some sparks starting again. The question is can Riayan forgive Jason when she hears the real story and does Jason still love Riayan. The book has some really funny, interesting parts in it and I enjoyed every bit.

I have really enjoyed reading the Loving a Young series and this book #6 is just as good as all the others. You can read it alone but I would read the entire series, you get to know each of the characters. What a great family. In this story, the oldest son of the family, Bradley, hasn’t had anything to do with women since his wife passed many years ago. He was a single dad bringing up two kids. His construction business is doing just fine. Meanwhile his sister, Kayley, is always trying to set him up. This time a good friend of hers was moving in the area into a house that needs a lot of work. But Nolan (strange female name) wants to do the updates to the house and get it ready while her daughters are finishing school and staying with her parents. So Kayley gets her brother Bradly to come to the house and he feels something different, something he hasn’t felt in a long time. That was an attraction to a woman and Nolan was a big flirt. I loved the story line because it dealt with a lot of things parents deal with, being single, and bringing up an austic child. The author put that in the story and really did a good job. A lot of people don’t realize what parents of austic children have to do. Well, done Stacy. Loved the book and highly recommend it!!!

This was a good read that had you wanting to keep reading because it’s that good. As usual, the author does a great job of developing the characters. In this story Rainey Caldwell is a geneticist who is really a wallflower and not much of a party goer. She was talked into going on a cruise and runs into the most popular boy in school, Zack Wheeler. He also didn’t really want to go on the cruise for a week but was blow away when the woman he thought was super nerdy in school turned out to be anything but nerd looking. As they sail on the ocean they both decided to have fun, enjoy the cruise and enjoy each other. But what happens when they get back to port? You’ll just have to read it, I’m not going to spoil it for you.

This was a very emotionally moving story. It talks about something that most people don’t talk about or even know about. Our men and women who are in the service, face so much uncertainty when they go overseas to protect our country, and they may come back as a real person, a broken person, or not come home at all. This book brings that out and speaks about what really happens to these people. They serve our country and should have our total support and the book talks about the best place where these people can go for needed support and medical, mental health. The story centers around Sergeant Brady Vanover who is in the US Air Force and totally proud to be so. He’s overseas when a horrible bombing took place in which he survived but his friends and fellow serviceman didn’t. He came back broken and having a hard time dealing with everything. He tries to get better by himself but he’s not the same man and having a hard time adjusting. He thinks his wife is having an affair and just can’t deal with everyday life being in pain so much from the blast. Not only is he on pain meds but one day decided to get drunk. That was possibly the best thing for him because he hooked him up with Rise Again Warriors who truly know what our military personnel go through because they have been there. Issues with his family are really bad but his wife, Gracelyn, is not going to give up on her husband. Even when someone she works with seems to want to be more than friends. When Brady got as low as he’s ever been, even suicidal, he calls RAW and then his life starts to get back to a new normal.

The book is the best in the series and is a hard book to read when you have tears running down your face. But it is so worth the read and honestly would make a great movie. My son-in-law is in the Army and when he was in Afganistan we did nothing but worry about him. He’s home now and not broken, thank God, but so much could have happened. Thank you, Stacy, for writing something difficult to read and yet putting it out there for everyone to know what some of our heroes really go through. I look forward to more in the series but you’ll have a hard time doing better than this book.

This was an awesome read. I am not one who cares to read steamy romances and the “F” word a lot but this is my favorite female author. Since I’ve read many of her books, I knew it would have a great storyline and I wouldn’t be disappointed. I wasn’t disappointed at all. Once again, she’s written an intriguing story with wonderful characters, a lot of secrets, some happiness, some sad parts, ups and downs all which makes it a great book. The main character, Kelly Smith, meets Mike Johnson at a cemetery. It was a little odd when they met again at her place of work, a steakhouse. Something sparks between them and they start a very different relationship with many secrets but a lot of physical contact, desire, between the two. The question is, can both of them go into a real relationship with so many secrets and not just a physical romance. I look forward to more in the series and I'll just have to skip over a few of those really steam scenes.

Oh my gosh, I loved this book. I love the whole Young series! This one for some reason just really gave me joy to read. I loved the characters, the story was heartbreaking and joyful and the book was just so well written. Even if you haven’t read the other 4 books you could pick this up and enjoy the read. Then you will want to read all the others. The storyline of a woman dating a man much younger than her was interesting, and then add the loss of life, and break-ins, and damage to your business kept your attention. I lost a lot of sleep last night because I had to finish the book. Another great book by the author. Can I give it 10 stars?

Sweet but unconvincing story.

*Note: I listened to the audiobook.

In this 3rd Book of the Heart of the Family series, It begins with an unneeded amount of bad language, sexuality, and explicitness, yet, the story-line after the first few pages was quite good. It had less explicitness than the prior book in this series and a more intense content..

This is a story of "love at first sight", but includes some twists, trauma, bitter-sweet dilemmas but fails to have a strong ending.

The characters are very well developed and the reader can feel the emotions portrayed by the characters. There were a couple of sensitive subjects in which a box of Kleenex came in handy. The scenes are well described and easily visualized but a few ended too abruptly for this reader's preference.

The Narrator, Lisa Beacom, gave a very good performance in narration,

This audiobook was gifted me with no pressure for a positive view. This is my honest review½

This is a book in the Loving a Young series and I absolutely love the series and this book. You can read this as a stand alone but you will want to read the others because it is so good. The author has such a great way of describing each of the characters in the book. I had no problem getting myself into the story and wishing I had that family. All of the Young family members are just what we all need in our country now and of course, who doesn’t want a handsome hero.

In this story, Daniella Knight, shows up in town and is a hermit. Unfortunately, her house burns down. As she is trying to go back into the house to grab her laptop, since she’s an author and working on the last chapter, a firefighter stops her and throws her over his shoulder to get her out of danger. That firefighter, Huntley Young, wanted to make sure no one goes in but he does go in and gets the laptop. Since Daniella is new and town and basically has no family, the Young brothers convince her to stay at their parent’s place until things get settled down and the house is rebuilt. She cannot believe how friendly and loving the Youngs family is but it’s still hard for her to trust anyone. The one thing the Young’s were really wondering is why Daniella has a german shepherd,Tigger, that is professionally trained to protect her. So many questions to be answered by Daniella and of course, Huntley, finds her attractive and someone he may want to make a life with. As the story goes on we see the insecurities with Daniella along with trust issues and Huntely finds himself in love with the woman and would do anything to protect her. The question will be can Daniella trust someone again after a horrific experience and is Huntley willing to court her even though she seems to live her life as the characters in the books she writes. I look forward to more in the Loving a Young series since I absolutely love the entire family!

This is another short story in the Finding Love in Special Places series and it is a perfect read during the holiday season. A sweet story about a mother and son moving back to her hometown after the death of her husband and mother. She has a lot going on in her life but still took her son to see Santa. Little did she know that Santa recognized her as the love of his life, Faith. She didn’t recognize him but her son’s Santa letter had their address on it making sure Santa knew where he moved to. Peter knew he had to go see her after carrying a torch for her since they were in high school. What happens next is just per joy and happiness. Great short read.

What a delightful, warm quick read. As always, the character’s are well written and you get pulled into the story immediately. Imagine how hard it would be to go to your father’s cabin that you spent Christmas vacation in for the last time, just to spread his ashes as he desired. All along, for years her father was telling Maverick about Lucy, his daughter. showing pictures of her and telling stories. He knew they were meant to be with each other. Unfortunately, it took his death to bring the two together, at Christmas.

Unforgettable Sweethearts: Unforgettable Lovers (The Unforgettables Book 18
9 stories from 9 different authors.
..
Aloha to Love by Josie Riviera
Really enjoyed this story because it follows a woman-Angelina and she's a writer and some of her script needs correcting before they can make it into a movie.
The scientific expert Caleb is on the cruise also and he conducts classes about his career choice. He knows a lot about volcanoes. She takes his classes and he helps her with the script-he playing the male part.
Love that he tells her, when he stops reading his lines, that a guy wouldn't say that. what was written. They improvise and get through the script and then some.
Story also follows Rachel who's pregnant and on her way to meet her spouse who's already on the island.
Love hearing of the events that take place away from the ship and all that is learned on the excusions.
Good holiday romance, more from five others.
Received this review copy from the author and this is my honest opinion.

The title of this book kinda suits me, it was unexpected trouble because I picked up the book and couldn’t put it down. It had me in the first chapter. It was a great read with a little bit of everything in...a hostage situation in a coffee shop, two high school sweethearts meeting up again, a mom with alzheimer and sex. The characters were well written with a strong female, Maggie, who has a job, takes care of her mother and runs into her high school sweetheart, Greg, and all those feelings come back. Meanwhile, Greg is doing everything he can to keep Maggie out of trouble and out of his heart. He feels he never could give her what she desires such as a marriage and kids. But is that what Maggie really wants. I recommend the book for a good read as all of the author’s books are.

Stacy Eaton has written a sweet romance book that could be anyone’s dream. Imagine being divorced for 3 years, take a few days off before starting a new job, get caught in a riptide in the ocean only to be saved by a hunk of a guy and have a few days of nothing but love, fun and a lot of sex. Cynthia thinks it’s faith that they met and it should be nothing more and just keep the happy memories. But faith didn’t just come that week-end it came again and this time maybe they should be together. That’s what happened in this short read. The character’s are great and the story well written, The perfect little story to put you in the summer mood and dream of a week-end with a hunk. I look forward to other books in the series for my time of happiness and escape from COVID-19. Thank God I love to read and I’ve been a huge fan of Stacy Eaton for years.