Reviews by SoCalReader

Just OK. No real plot--just the foursome slowly coming together, with Violet not knowing their shifter nature. It was a pleasant, easy book; worth it mainly because of the 99 cent sale price. Had this cost more, it would have been a disappointment.

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Good, but felt like the trio's story started in a previous book (which I hadn't read). The story started with Angel's car breaking down and Jacob coming to her rescue (he and Mitch had apparently rescued her months before from and abusive boyfriend). Angel is the pursuer throughout the story, while the men (mainly Mitch) try to hold back. I liked the characters but its weird when you feel like you're walking into the middle of the story. I didn't get a sense of who any of the characters were. The trio kept mentioning Angel's past abuse but who was she before and how has that made her who she is now? Other than her deciding to go after the men, we really didn't know. The men were just was fuzzy. Mitch was the most controlling and resistant but that's about it. I wish the author had written a whole story about the trio, starting from the very beginning---Angel's abuse and rescue, then SEEING how she got her life together, seeing the relationship with the men develop. Instead we got just a moment in time with the three.

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This book felt very rushed to me. The relationship between the heroes and heroine just went from zero to sixty in no time. They basically went out on 2 dates and by the second they were pretty much in love. I liked the villian/s who were to really crazy and sadistic. I mean, if you're going to be psycho, might as well go all out. So, that part didn't bother me. I also liked that the author finally had the heroine have LASTING effects from her ordeal. The fact that Sonya wasn't jumping into bed right after being hurt was realistic and a welcome change from DLD's usual books. It's just too bad the love story--the 1st 2/3 of the book--was so...stilted and rushed. Also, there were a lot of typos, so the editing could've been better.

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Wish I liked this more but was put off by Pippa's attitude toward the heroes. I'm all for strong, independent heroines, but Pip was annoying, the way she would have sex with the men, then immediately run away, claiming she had no feelings for them and would not be told by them how to think or feel. Then author didn't really delve into WHY Pip felt and behaved this way, until near the end of the book. So, as a reader I was frustrated and had a hard time connecting with her. As for the heroes, they were OK but one thing that bugged me was the men supposedly loved Pip forever. But Pip's parents were killed when she was 12 amd the men hadn't seen her since. They were older, so when exactly did they fall in love with her? Seems creepy to fall in love with a 12 yr old...I don't know. Finally, the final conflict with the villain was great, as was the aftermath the same night. Unfortunately, it was ruined in a scene the very next day, when everythjng was wrapped up in a nice, tidy bow of sunshine and happiness that was a total 180 and didn't ring true IMO. By the way, what kind of Sheriff and his 2 Deputies don't care about evidence (e.g. making Pip shower when she'd just been attacked by the villain and hadn't even been questioned)? So, overall, good concept, but weak execution.

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This is the first book I've read from the Pine Falls series though I've read all of the Eminence books. Eh, the book was just OK. I liked Abbie, Shane, Josh, and Brayden but the story seemed slow to me and for some reason, I didn't feel deeply about characters. Strange, since the heroes had compelling back stories (the murder of their parents) and Abbie had been thru a huge trauma. The individual pieces of the story were good, but they never fully came together for me.

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Good book. Like others have said, I like that the author mixed up Brigid and the men's first meetings. The fact that it started off with a one night stand was actually really refreshing and different. I liked all the heroes but especially Tobin. I didn't love the arson/insurance fraud p/crazy killer storyline quite as much though because it didn't make a ton of sense IMO. I mean, I got it, but it felt random and far fetched. Unlike in the last few books/series the ending/epilogue had a bit more detail which I appreciated. I like that Brigid still had a couple of issues related to her ordeal which was realistic. Overall, a pretty good book.

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Not bad. I liked all the characters but felt like the story was missing something. The relationship between the heroine and heroes didn't seem like it moved all that much throughout the book. The story felt stagnant. Cashmere had a rough past and I wish that had been explored more WITH the men.

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Great book. Very good mystery/suspense and the relationship between Grace, Sandman, Jay and Duke was hot--but most importantly very emotional amd intense. I especially loved how Grace fought to stay/keep her independence, even if it was sometimes to her detriment. Overall, a great story with strong characters.

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Not one of my favorite books from this author. Mariana was OK, as was Jameson, but Jax was ridiculously overbearing, amd not in a good way. I love a good alpha male, but Jax came off as a jerk most of the time, with little to no caring for Mariana's feelings. The relationship felt very rushed; I didn't feel a deep connection between the trio.

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Good but to short. I liked all the characters and particularly the steady, slow way the men handled teaching Lily. My only issue was that because of the slow & steady way Lily was treated, I felt like the ending was rushed. To me, the book should have been longer to go deeper into their relationship. The foursome's big conflict near the end of the book was abrupt and then resolved too soon after IMO. Still, this was hot, enjoyable read.

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Good book. I liked the way CC took control of her life and I especially liked the mystery of her boyfriend and brother-in-law's death. As with most of the stories in this series though, I felt the ending and final conflict was too rushed. There needed tobe a more steady buildup of tension and drama.

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I liked the mystery of Morgan's parentage but felt there were too many characters to properly focus on Morgan and her men. It didn't seem like the four main characters got to develop there relationship and romance because they were hardly ever alone! I've read all the books in this series but I haven't read any of the books in the Pine Falls series, so I was confused about who some of those characters were that showed up in Eminence. Aiden (Pine Falls) I might vaguely remember, but Eamon, Brody, Elliot, etc.? Not so much. If they ever appeared in the Eminence series I don't recall and didn't want to search previous books to refresh my memory. I wish the author had told/reminded us who they were b/c I was lost. Finally, there were a few times names were mixed up (i.e. Evan talking to Samson, then suddenly Evan being referred to as Ben). So, I was really looking fwd ro this book but was a bit let down. I will say though that I was intrigued by Eamon and am interested in his future story. I just wish it hadn't been at the expense of Morgan's time.

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Just OK. I'm not sure why this book was released AFTER Book 1 (Melanie's story). In book 1 we'd already met Jenny, who at that time was married to Blue & Joe, with a baby on the way. Wouldn't it have made more sense to publish Jenny, Blue and Joe's story FIRST? It just felt weird to read this when we already was Jenny's HEA in book 1. Putting that aside, there wasn't much of a story on this book. Just the trio getting together. There was a tiny bit of danger thrown in at the last minute add drama but it was over and done so quickly that it had no impact. Overall the characters and and the story was fairly flat.

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Just OK. This book felt....like a bit of a throwaway in that it didn't have the emotion I've come to expect from this author. It felt and read very "paint by numbers." Even down to the the same phrasing used in the last few books. Literally, every time a heroine has had sex in the last 3 or so books she's uttered "Oh my God this is so wild." This kind of repetition I probably wouldn't notice except that the author releases a new book every month or so, so you can't help but notice the patterns and repetition. Also the ending was very rushed. Overall, not one of my favorite books from DLD?

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Eh, there wasn't much of a plot to this book. Melanie is hired as a cook for the pack (although she has no idea they are wolves), immediately meets her mates, and has to suddenly learn about wolves and what being a mate means. That's about it. There was a very small side story that seemed thrown in to add danger but mostly, the book was just about Mel and the brothers waiting until Mel accepted them as mates. Pretty boring, basically. There just wasn't enough of a plot to keep me very interested.

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Very good book. Is it generally the same formula and story as most of the author's other books? Yes. But very few authors do alpha military heroes like DLD. Sometimes the heroes can be too overbearing or the heroine too downtrodden and scared, but there was a really nice balance in this book. The heroes were serious yet sensitive; not overwhelming. Sophia was frightened but not paralyzed by fear. She was tentative without going overboard in her reactions. I liked that she was rational. There was a nice hint of future stories with Tank, Hector and Cindy arms well as Jeremy, his brothers, and Catalina. Overall, one of the author's better book.

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Pretty good book. I can't give it more than 3 stars though because the story wasn't balanced to me. I loved the relationships in the book----Elliot and his best friend Yoshi, the friendship between all the men on the team, Elliot and Clara's bond since grade school, etc. the relationships were vivid and felt very warm and real. However, perhaps TOO much time was spent on so many mundane, everyday moments between the trio. Once Elliot and Clara met again,mint was pretty much HEA with Yoshi added in. It was very anticlimactic with most of the scenes with the trio just happy, chatty, teasing moments., EVEN when there was supposed to be a huge threat hanging over Clara's head. In fact, 1 scene had Clara orgasming while the they were being followed and in danger! Speaking of danger, the suspense portion of the story was very ho-hum. There was no sense of urgency at all and it didn't feel like Clara was very concerned at all (hence, sex with being followed). With zero relationship drama, the story desperately needed some oomph on the suspense side and there was none except at the very end. So, I liked all the characters a lot, but the story was unbalanced and a bit boring. The next book in the series--looks like it will be focused on Clara's friend could be interesting though.

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I'd rate this 3.5 if I could. Overall I liked this book but can't give it a full 4 stars because there were some issues. First the good: Very hot and kinky book. I really liked the heroes who were very dominant and strict. I liked the heroine even though there were times I didn't totally "get" her. My issues: The characters needed more depth. I wanted to understand and feel their motivations but here was a lack of deep emotion in the story (except at the very end) that left me wanting. There was a big emotional moment at the end, but it came out of nowhere (at least for 2 of the 3 men). Lots of professions of love at the end but nothing up to that point had really illustrated WHY any of the heroes would feel that way! None of them had expressed any deep feeling for the heroine. Also, I was really, really disappointed in the lack of safe sex. The heroine was a virgin; she never once thought about condoms or the fact the heroes regularly had threesomes. It was the men (after a few rounds of sex) who told her she needed to get on birth control. She only asked them about their sex lives later--and even then, didn't seem to care about the implications of them having had multiple partners before her. That was unbelievable, risky, and made me really dislike the heroine's stupidity. So, this book was OK, but could have been better.

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An OK book. I liked the heroes and heroine a lot, but the story was very slow and the suspense portion wasn't very suspenseful or compelling. I don't know, there was nothing bad about the book per se, it was just......kinda boring. The author did a good job developing the heroes in particular, along with the emotional aspects of all the characters, but the story needed some drama and oomph. As it was, it the whole thing just sort of plodded along.

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An OK book. For some reason, I liked Ethan a lot but Justin and Morgan were just "Eh" for me. I didn't dislike them (although Justin's refusal to give Morgan a chance b/c of one dumb comment a year ago was cheesy). Overall, the characters weren't fleshed out to me. I didn't feel emotionally invested in the trio.

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Definitely one of the better Soldiers of Peatl books. I especially liked that even though Georgia had a horrible experience with her ex, and she was fearful of getting involved again, unlike other books in this series, she was rational. She didn't let her fear overwhelm her of rule her. She was one of the most normal, rational heroines in this series, and it was such a nice change of pace. No irrational running away, no constant hand wringing about various fears, no damsel in distress. She was definitely afraid, but she handled it maturely IMO. It was nice amd different and I hope the author writes more heroines like her just to mix it up a little.

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Just OK for me. I liked the heroes and heroine but the story was a little lacking. For the first 2/3 of the book, Maggie and her men were stuck at 1st base in their relationship b/c off her fears. Suddenly, in the last 1/3 of the story, the characters are hitting home runs and I never even saw them round the bases! And then, they are all professing their love after it seemed like they'd barely spent time together. It just didn't ring true to me. Finally, I really like this author, but a lot of these stories are the same--particularly the Pearl and Dare series. 1) Woman who's been abused, threatened, or is fleeing. 2) Overprotective, alpha men 3) Woman is constantly fearful of big men, sex, relationships etc. 4) Sadistic villain captures woman, almost kills her. 5) Heroic rescue. 6) Epilogue-ish HEA where woman has to initial sex after her recovery. Every book in this series follows this exactly. Now when the emotion is there and it's deep and compelling, I can totally overlook the formulaic nature of the book. But when the emotional depth and/or story isn't there for me, it's much harder. With this book, I wasn't totally convicted by the story.

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An OK book. I liked the heroes and heroine, and the love scenes were hot. I just didn't find the story of the trio building a life on a harsh, new planet all very interesting.

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Good book. THE GOOD: I liked this better than book 1 of the series because the plot was more complex. As another reviewer mentioned, Fearghas was definitely cruel and there were times I was a taken aback by this treatment of Elise. But in some ways I also understood it. Partly because of his past, but moreso becauseas King, he had to treat Elise a certain way. I was conflicted about it but I liked that the author mixed it up a little and made the story hard. Plus, there was always Eonan, who was wonderfully steady and caring to Elise. THE BAD: As in Book 1, all the characters sounded the same. The heroes spoke in very modern ways despite the setting being medieval. Again, I don't want Old English, but no way should Fearghas sould like 21st century Elise. Seemed a bit lazy on the author's part. Also, given Fearghas' horrible treatment of Elise, I thought she too easily forgave him and was accepting of him. Her love for him after everything that happened seemed WAY too fast and a little unbelievable. Finally, I found quite a few spelling errors, instances where the wrong person's name is used, etc. The editing needed to be better. Still, at the end of the day, I did like the book and hope there is a Book 3---which looks like it would revolve around Baen's sister and Camran.

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Pretty good book. I'd give it 3.5 if that were possible. THE GOOD: I loved King Baen and his consort Carr. The were HOT and deeply in love. I liked Jessica, but I didn't feel like I got to know her character much. I liked the world Baen and Carr lived in (Marek)---this realm of dragons and magic. THE BAD: The fact that Marek was set in medieval times, yet so much of Baen and Carr's language was not. Of course I wasn't expecting Old English, but it was jarring to keep reading the men using current terms and not finding Jessica's expressions strange. That the author just ignored this was disappointing. Also the fact that Jessica was so easily accepting of being stuck in another realm. She paid lip service to finding a way home but did nothing to really try to make it happen. She was attracted to the men but not in love at that point, so for her to so easily agree to marriage and not be super conflicted about staying or leaving was strange IMO. Finally, I thought the ending conflict was abrupt and Jessica's reaction toward the end was especially irritating. I think the author was going for "feisty" at that moment but I just thought she was petulant and ungrateful. So, in the end I did like the book, but felt there were holes that hurt the story. I would read the next book though.

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