Reviews by SoCalReader

Good, but the story felt a lot like the Dare Series. Abused sister (Lois), women who are extremely fearful (though more on Lois' part) and somewhat traumatized. etc. I liked this story though and I liked Valentina's strength. I especially liked her reaction to the town's rule on "guardians." I mean, the concept IS pretty overbearing and if I were a woman, I'd be totally annoyed too. Overall, while I liked Valentina's story, I was MUCH more interested in her sister Lois' story. She was more compelling IMO and I'm really looking forward to her book. This one felt rushed to me. Part of that may have just been me wanting to get to Lois's book too.

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Very good book. I loved Logan and liked Lindsey. Their story was very emotional--Logan finding love again and Lindsey's backstory of her accident and scars. I do wish we'd gotten a deeper insight into Lindsey though. She was almost 25, tended bar at the club, but didn't seems to do much else or have dreams or ambitions, really, side from her longstanding crush on Logan. We're told she was almost done with her degree when her accident happened. Did she finish? She hardly had money so was she just waiting for her inheritance to kick in? But she knew her father was using her for the inheritance so it's not like she'd see a penny. I just didn't quite get Lindey apart from her traumas. Who was she aside from that? I never really knew.

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Love this book! I found Malayna really compelling----trying to get used to freedom, a father she never knew, trauma that would break most people, and an attraction to her 4 brave rescuers. My heart broke for her. I loved Star, Border, Krane and Lucca who loved Malayna fiercely. I must admit, after being disappointed in Nina's book (Baby Love), I was nervous about this one. But I was happy to find that in this book, the heroine felt more fleshed out. My only quibble was the climax with the villain. Vlladim was such a looming presence in this and previous books, but he hardly had any dialogue in this one. The final conflict for such a big villain was abrupt and a bit anticlimactic. I wish there had been more drama to it. Still, overall I really enjoyed this story. I hope we'll get a future story with Malayna's guards Dubkova and Murin. They were intriguing.

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Started off really well but the story lost energy even before the halfway point. I liked Jade but never felt like we got to know her well. The best, most illuminating scene was Asher talking to her about her paintings. That was wonderful and I wish there'd been more scenes like that. The heroes were good, but again, aside from Asher, not very fleshed out. Overall, the story lacked drama for me (except for Jade's escape at the beginning), both in action (heroes vs villains) and in romance.

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Hmm. I'm conflicted on this book. Characters were 4.5. Plot was 3. I liked Nina and really felt for her--the fact that she never really had love I her life and was so lonely. I really liked the heroes. They were very cynical and black and white in their views, which felt very realistic. They had distinct and different personalities which I loved. But the plot itself was a bit boring. There was a lot of plotting by multiple characters who had different motivations. I liked the complexity. What I didn't like was the heroes basically being bystanders in the entire story. They were not active participants, aside from giving Nina a place to stay. Even Nina who was more active, seemed lost in the various mob dramas. As a character, things happened around her, but she wasn't really a catalyst for anything. She felt peripheral to her OWN story and that made me sad. I wanted to see the heroes ACTIVELY protecting her and the danger be ABOUT her. It wasn't, it was more about her brother and mob plots. Nina was forgotten. One thing I did love the most though we're the heroes finally having to work for her love and forgiveness. So, for me this was a mixed bag. I'm giving it a 4 based on the strength of the characters, even though the plot was really disappointing. Especially since I was so intrigued by Nina's plight in Book 1 and was expecting a much more suspenseful, dramatic read.

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I was really, really looking forward to reading this book based on the blurb and author. The story started off GREAT. Very suspenseful and tense as Cat ran for her life. The villain was a true killer which amped up the tension early on. Then, once Cat met her men, everything just sort of stopped. For the entire middle of the book, we didn't see much of the villain. There wasn't any dramatic tension regarding threats or attempts to her life. It was just the 4 of them kind of having the same conversations over and over. I liked the heroes, although Hank seemed a bit mean. The action picked up again at the end but overall, after such an awesome start, I was ultimately disappointed.

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Very good book. This book goes back to the Russian mob world which I must admit, I could not get into when it was Aspen's story. But I loved Nalia--her toughness and strength. She did whatever she needed to survive and I especially loved that she was trained to defend herself. She was capable and not just a damsel in distress. For a heroine, she was a nice change of pace. As for the heroes--hot, hot, hot! The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was the lull thru the whole middle of the book. After Nalia was taken to Salvation there wasn't much dramatic tension or feeling of danger until the last couple of chapters. Sure, that created time for the H/h to develop a relationship but it felt like nothing but sex scene after sex scene. Not that I don't love those lol, but more story mixed in would've been nice. I am SOOO looking forward to Malayna and Nina's books. Just the glimpses we got of their back stories were so compelling. I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

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I was eager to read Missy Ann's story since her introduction in the previous book (Eliza Grace's book). I liked Missy Ann. She was still recovering from being kidnapped and it was a slow process but I liked that it was realistic and not overly dramatic. She was realistic and knew her own limitations and issues. I loved Finn and Salvatore who were there for her from the beginning. I also appreciated that they didn't introduce her to Antonio and Billy for months, respecting her privacy and the need for her to heal. Also, I liked that Antonio and Billy were not ex soldiers or law enforcement. They were businessmen--a nice change of pace. So, overall, this was a nice, sweet story. I did have 2 issues: 1) The ending was very, very rushed. There was no real lead in to the drama near the end. It almost came out of nowhere. 2) Needed more action IMO. Had there been more action/drama throughout the book, the ending wouldn't have felt so rushed and abrupt. Still, despite those issues, I enjoyed the book.

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An OK but very slow read. It took me almost a week to read this book. It was a bit weird to think about Reed & Lyle playing with Basco (Tony) then later developing a sexual relationship with Vanessa. It's not something that totally put me off from the story though. What put me off was the plodding, slow pace of the story. I understood it at first; obviously Basco's death & Vanessa's grief and pain wouldn't and shouldn't go away quickly or easily. But after awhile I just got bored. I liked all the characters but I needed more. More story that wasn't mired in grief. The story was kind of a downer, frankly, despite the HEA in the end.

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THE GOOD: 1) Loved the heroes. I liked that Tazer & Lynch were their more intense of the men, while Burker and Parker were less so. The men were loving yet firm and I thought it was great that they had doubts and fears themselves. 2) Eliza Grace pretty good. She wanted to take control of her life and took steps to do that. I liked that she had that drive to succeed. THE BAD: Ms. Dwyer can be really repetitive. Eliza Grace is constantly being described as "petite" and "shy" by LITERALLY every character in the book. Every one. It made no sense that every person would constantly call her those things. Most of them didn't even know her. Same with the descriptions of the men--they are always sooo big and sooo scary and muscular and capable. It's overkill. 2). I wish the author would switch things up. The heroine's are always scared of intimacy because of a trauma from her past or an abusive boyfriend. I'm a sucker for damsels in distress and alpha heroes who save the days but it'd be nice to see heroines be a little less weak and scared all the time. 3). What's up with all the double names? Eliza Grace, Shelby Ann, Missy Ann. It's kind of annoying to constantly refer to people by both names. Overall, still a good book amd I am looking forward to Missy Ann's book.

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Eh. I feel like I skimmed a lot of this. I really liked Caroline's story, and unfortunately with Shelby's book coming right after, this just felt redundant. Shelby's story was exactly like Caroline's and frankly, Caroline's book was much better IMO. I liked Shelby from previous books--in those she was strong and interesting. In this story, she seemed weak and weepy. I just couldn't get into it. I really liked Eliza though and am looking forward to her story.

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First let me say, I love that this author writes wonderfully HOT stories. Unfortunately sometimes the stories themselves can be a bit lacking. I liked that Sam was confident in her sexuality---or at least, her willingness to be adventurous and have what could have been a one night stand. The men were hot but not very defined. They were interchangeable. My biggest issue was that everythjng happened so fast. There was no conflict at all in the relationship. The men fell for Sam instantly and that was that. I wanted more. More drama, a little internal conflict. The heroes were billionaires and powerful. Men like that don't get to be were they are by seeming.....almost hesitant and naive about sexual relationships but that's how it came off sometimes. Why weren't they wary of getting too close or involved considering their wealth and status. Sam wasn't after their money, but wouldn't the heroes be just a little wary anyway? It all seemed so unrealistic. Even the ending, with the simple, easy and pat resolution to all the family secrets/dynamics was like WTF? Suddenly everyone was getting along?? Talk about out of nowhere. So, I like this author and will continue to read her books, but I wish she would add more depth to the characters and story. There were so many angles that could have been explored more that just weren't.

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Great book. This book was full of emotion. I loved Caroline's relationship with her sister Shelby, the slow, sweet buildup between Caroline, Hunter, York and CJ, and the way everyone in town was so caring and protective. I must admit, the Dare series has been very hit or miss for me, but this book definitely hit the right mark. It had all the emotion and heart that I've come to love when this author is on her game. The story was sweet without being over the top, and just what Caroline needed in her life. I enjoyed the heroes as well but I do wish we'd gotten a little more insight into the. Particularly York, as he seemed to get the least story time. Also, there were a few grammar and editing errors. But overall, this was a lovely, heartwarming book. I am really looking forward to Shelby's story!

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I so wish I could have given this more stars. Unfortunately, as mentioned in another review, there were a TON of editing mistakes. The worst was the dog, Brutus, incorrectly being called Rufus throughout the book. It was crazy. It'd be one thing if this had happened only a couple of times but 50% of the time??? There is no way anyone edited this book which makes me wonder what is going on. As for the story itself, I was intrigued at first, but didn't feel like we ever got to know Rissa. At all. She barely spoke for most of the book except to say she was sorry or stutter a couple of words. I never got a sense of who she was or her motivation--what attracted her to Daddy Doms in the 1st place? Jonas was hot and loving but because Rissa was such a vague character it all fell a bit flat for me.

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Good book. It took me a little while to warm up to Sam because sometimes she was too stubborn and it annoyed me. But she also had realistic reactions to the mysteries and machinations going on in her life which I appreciated. I also liked that she was strong, independent, and was no scared virgin. She loved someone else before her mates which was an interesting twist. The plot, and the mystery of her family was pretty good, but a bit convoluted; there were too many characters I think. Still, overall I enjoyed the book.

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LOVED the ending of this book. It had great emotion and heart. If only the 1st 75% of the book had the same heart. The authors used a strange device where she had this story happening at the exact same time as Raven's story (Book 1 of the series). Since I'd already read Book 1, it was weird to read parts of it AGAIN here. Literally, there were identical scenes/passages/conversations in both books. The only difference was, this time it was from Heather's POV. For example, both books had the same scenes of their friend's clothing store grand opening and later the same bar fight. As a reader, I was annoyed at this. I don't want ro read the same things over again. It felt lazy on the author's part. So, overall this book was a flat 3 until the ending, which was so good that I'd bump it to a 3.5 if I could. Lots of repetition and no action until the last 25% of the story.

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In actuality this rates more like a 3.5. I liked the heroes and Ava. I liked that the author switched things up with the story---no crazy danger or criminals, stalkers or murderers. Just Ava, facing a health crisis and Colton and Evan dealing with their absentee father. Loved the concept, but the execution was a bit lacking. After a good start, the cancer scare started to feel.....glossed over. There wasn't a consistent sense of tension or drama throughout Ava's story. Also, I though the true story behind the heroes' relationship with their dad was contrived. I didn't buy it or their reunion. So, overall, I applaud the author for doing something different and hope she tries it again. I just wish the story was tighter.

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Just OK and more like a 3.5. The story wasn't very compelling to me nor were the characters all that deep or interesting, unfortunately. It took me a lot longer than usual to finish this book. I liked Elise's kick ass personality from the previous books, but we didn't see much of that at all in this story. Disappointing.

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Good book. The villains were a little implausible but the overall love story made up for that. So far, this is one of the best in the series.

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Just OK. I couldn't really get into the story for some reason. I felt like I never got a good sense of just who Juliet was. She was Carl and Richie's girlfriend but who was she apart from that? All we knew of her personality was that she was shy. That's it. Nothing about what she wanted out of life, her goals, etc. So, because I didn't know her, I couldn't invest in her or the danger she was in. Even the villains seemed a bit murky and not well defined. This book was not a favorite.

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Good, but the ending was rushed and a bit abrupt.

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Good book. I loved the uber alpha heroes, although I must admit there there were moments I didn't care for Tyler, as he could be TOO controlling and arrogant sometimes. But overall, I'm a sucker for protective alpha heroes. My only other critique--the ending was way too rushed, which is unfortunately typical for this author.

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Love Dixie's books, but this one was meh. The story was slow and there wasn't much of a plot. The side story of Bethany's brother Angelo stealing money and her ex boyfriend's (Curran) cousin Cristano, who was an investor in her boss's business was clunky and a little convoluted in that it didn't really go anywhere. I didn't see any point to Cristano at all. The theft angle would have made more sense if it had just been about Angelo and the people he stole from. As for the romance, none of the characters felt well defined although the heroes were better defined than Bethany. Bethany was...blah. I liked that she had some spunk but for all her supposed fear about prior abuse and trust, she didn't seem hard to convince re: a relationship. I just didn't feel connected to any of the characters the way I'm used to when reading a DLD book. This book felt like a rush job.

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Very hot story, but I can't give it more than 3stars because the story took so long to develop. It was very slow....there was no action or drama until the end, when suddenly everything rushed to conclusion. The men didn't make a move on Raven for most of the book, while she fantasized about them all day long but still resisted them. It was frustrating as they wall danced around each other, never going anywhere. One thing I loved though, was the relationship between the brothers. They each had distinct personalities and the way they talked to each other was so realistic, it was wonderful. So in the end, great heroes, an OK heroine but s too slow story.

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I was a bit disappointed in this book. It was OK but based on the blurb, I expected the story to be more emotional and dramatic. As much as I felt for Talia, I didn't feel like the author really explored her struggle to accept 2 new mates in any deep or compelling way. I think I needed to see more interaction between the trio. There was a lot of time spent on other characters who lived in the house with them and lots of comic relief with a mangy cat, but not enough time at all of Talis, Ken and Ryan building a relationship. There was some resistance in the beginning, then a lull thru the middle of the book where nothing happened, then suddenly full acceptance. I didn't really feel their journey. Also, the ending with the villain was totally anticlimactic. Totally. That was extremely disappointing. Overall, I loved the story concept, not so much the was the story played out.

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