You Can't Buy Love - Melanie A. Smith

You Can't Buy Love by Melanie A. Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the third book in the Live Lessons series and like the previous two instalments, it's a great read. The books would work just as well as stand-alone books, so you don't have to have read them, but they are both good, so I'd recommend checking them out.
This time we have the story of Jules, the sensible nurse practitioner that works with Becca and Sasha from the previous books. She's passionate about her work, the hospital, her patients and her work colleagues. Unfortunately, that means that she doesn't always see eye to eye with the hospital administration. When she finds herself attracted to Noah, who has a key role in restructuring the hospital, it's clear that her personal life and professional life are going to clash.
I loved the romance and conflict between Noah and Jules. We only see things from Jules' point of view and while there are points where I would love to see what Noah is thinking and feeling, I actually think that it works better that we don't. Jules doesn't know what he's thinking either, although I think we might have a better idea than she does, seeing as we're not blinded by emotion.
This was a great read. I really enjoyed it. I don't know if there's more to come from this series and these characters, but I for one am not ready to leave the Rutherford Hospital behind just yet.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Keep Forever - Alexa Kingaard

Keep Forever
Alexa Kingaard
Published by: Acorn Publishing
Publication date: March 28th 2020
Genres: Historical Romance, Women’s Fiction

“Unlike some war stories that focus on intense, harsh and graphic depictions of post-combat trauma, this tale unfolds gently, like an Edna Ferber novel, spread across many decades, detailing the impact this soldier’s illness has on an entire family, including children and grandchildren. KEEP FOREVER is a wonderful, emotionally satisfying read that I highly recommend. ”
GARY SEIGEL, author of “Haskell Himself”
Paul O’Brien’s idyllic childhood in Southern California comes to a halt when his mother dies in the summer before his senior year of high school and a very different persona of his father emerges – isolating himself inside the house, turning to alcohol for comfort, and barely noticing his only child. Simultaneously, the war in Vietnam is sending shock waves around the world and young men from one coast to the other are being called upon to serve. Paul enlists in the Marines before receiving his draft notice.
Elizabeth Sutton is eager to gain some independence from her father’s old fashioned notions and looking forward to her first year in high school. At fifteen years old, tragedy strikes with the loss of both parents in an auto accident, turning her childhood into one of responsibility and worry overnight. The four siblings are scattered when her nine-year-old twin sisters are sent to live with their Aunt and Uncle on Nantucket Island, and Elizabeth is left behind in Boston with their grandmother. Her older brother, Sam, enlists in the Marines, eager to join the conflict a world away as opposed to dealing with the one unfolding at home.
A bond develops between Paul and Sam in Vietnam, and both are injured in a bloody battle that costs Sam his right hand and sets the stage for a lifetime of nightmares and sleepless nights for Paul. Matched by similar tragedies at a young age, Elizabeth and Paul’s first introduction by Sam upon their return from Vietnam is the beginning of friendship and love that survives five decades.
After marrying, welcoming their first child, and inheriting a small beach house, the couple adapts to their new surroundings, but distant memories of Vietnam continue to haunt Paul. In an era when veterans refuse to speak of their pain and the government denies that thousands of soldiers are coming home irreparably damaged, he is left to deal with the challenge of caring for his loved ones amidst his his erratic flashback episodes and moods. As their lives unravel from the lingering effects of PTSD, Elizabeth learns to accept the burden that Paul brought home, and together they make their own memories to keep forever.
Inspired
By
A True Story

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ALEXA KINGAARD, a California native, currently resides in Carlsbad and is the mother of a son and daughter who continue to be her biggest fans and cheerleaders.

October 13, 2011, was the day that changed her life forever when her ex-husband, a Vietnam veteran, took his life during a PTSD flashback episode. Inspired to share this tragedy that continues to rob husbands and wives of their spouses, children of their parents, mothers of their children, brothers and sisters of their siblings, and comrades of their friends, Kingaard relied on her own experiences to shed light on this crisis. The burden brought home is not partial to Vietnam, but is an insidious aftershock endured by combat veterans of all conflicts.

Kingaard continues to pursue her literary career, writing about nostalgia and the human condition, the common denominator of our lives. 

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My Review

This is a book based on true life events, while it's not an autobiography as such, it's clear when you read it that the authors own life is mirrored in the pages. The story stretches from Elizabeth, our heroine's teenage life and follows both and her close family members as they face many challenges and difficulties.

I have to admit that this isn't really my kind of book. Memoirs are not really for me and not being American I failed to relate to much that the characters faced and dealt with. Unfortunately, for me, this combined with the fact that I didn't find the way the story was told to be particularly engaging, I struggled to feel anything for the main characters. 

I think for anyone who can relate to the experiences of both Elizabeth and Paul, this might be a fantastic read. It's a shame that I didn't really feel the connection, but it was still an interesting book to read. 

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Wish by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Wish by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a great read this was. I started it this morning and polished it off in one day. I'm glad that it was so good, I've had a bit of a slump in the good books department lately. I think that what I really enjoyed about this storyline wasn't the great writing or engaging characters (although it had both of these things) it was how fresh and original the storyline was. There are so many romance novels that follow well-trodden paths, that it was really something to come across something so different.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I might be a bit vague. It took me a while to see where this book was going. Was it a paranormal book? Was there more here than met the eye? Was it actually a romance at all? I have to admit that this one kept me guessing until the very end. Ginnie is a great character and she really meets her match with the hero in this book. I loved the development of the story.
This book has a good balance of lighthearted moments, it has a feeling of almost being a romantic comedy, without being laugh out loud funny, alongside some more serious elements.
I'm so glad that I got the chance to read this, one of the best and most original romance novels I've read in quite some time.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Burn Zone - Annabeth Albert

Burn Zone by Annabeth Albert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A couple of years ago, I'd never heard of smokejumpers. This is the second or possibly third series to feature them that I've come across. What isn't to like? Firefighters, fit well-trained firefighters, fit well-trained firefighters who not only put themselves at risk to deal with fire but parachute into danger to do it.
This story deals with Jacob and Lincoln. They have had a thing for one another since Jacob was just nineteen years old and first came out to his family. Nothing can ever come of it, because Lincoln promised Jacobs older brother that he would steer clear. Now that said older brother is dead, there's no way that he can go back on that promise. Especially when hardly anyone even knows that he is gay himself.
This was quite a cute story and although it had much of the things that you expect; life-threatening situations, which make them question what they want. It was well written and gripping. I couldn't help but like Lincoln and Jacob and love them together as a couple.
This is the first in the series and I'm sure that we're going to see more of these hotshots before long.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Between Friends - Elsa Miles

Between Friends by Elsa Miles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I know that you should never judge a book by its cover, but when I saw this one and it immediately reminded me a of a certain series set in a high school with twins in it that I used to read as a young teenager, then I couldn't resist. Between friends sets itself as an Old School Romance, the romance is the story, rather than some other plot that carries much of the story with a romance burning alongside.
I actually really enjoyed this read. Tessa and Jordan have been best friends for years, but never lovers. Of course, everyone else thinks that they are going to end up together and although they are against that, to begin with, it soon becomes clear that they have always really been in love.
I liked the way that the romance unfolded, with both Tess and Jordan trying (and failing) to resist the pull between them. I did think that Jordan could have been slightly nicer at points. I sometimes get a bit tired of the virgin and the player making a perfect match. I don't mind the male character has been around a bit if the heroine also has. It's just small niggle though and it didn't really stop me enjoying this fun friends to lovers romance. Sometimes all you need is a bit of Old School Romance and I'd be more than happy to check out others in this series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Her Wicked Libertine - Lisa Torquay

Her Wicked Libertine by Lisa Torquay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Her Wicked Libertine is, as you would expect, a story about a man who is hardly a 'gentle' man. Harris Darroch is a businessman, but if he works hard, he plays even harder and with little thought for anything other than his own pleasure. Edwina Whitman is everything he is not. Refined, gentle, proper and certainly not knowledgable in the pleasures of the flesh. When she goes to Darroch to try and convince him to forgive one of her late fathers' debts. He agrees, eventually, but only if she offers herself as payment.
Of course, when she has no choice but to accept his terms, it isn't long between the fire between them begins to burn brightly and they cannot keep their hands off one another. Can Darroch learn to see her as anything other than a temporary pleasure? Can Edwina tame the famous libertine into a loving partner? That would just be telling.
The only thing I would mention is that this isn't a book that adheres slavishly to historical fact and if that's important to you, then this might not be for you. Edwina behaves in a way that a lady of the time just wouldn't, I know that is addressed a little in the book, but really it isn't that realistic. She also works producing lace, I think it highly unlikely that she would be working for herself and still accepted as a member of the ton, it's simply not done darling.
That all said, this was a good read. Edwina was a little too tightly laced, to begin with, but Darroch certainly brought her out of herself. I'd certainly be keen to check out the next in the series.


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Through the Night - Tamsen Schultz

Through The Night by Tamsen Schultz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm always a little wary of starting a series midway through and this is book seven on the Windsor Series. Fortunately, with this book, it really didn't matter. There are characters that I assume have appeared in previous books, but as someone coming to this fresh, I wasn't lost or confused as to who was who or what was going on. I'm not sure if there is a running story through these books, the epilogue suggested that perhaps there were events that might be dealt with in a later book, but I don't know. In any case, most of the characters are involved in some way in FBI investigations and it seems to be this that holds the series together as a whole.
In many ways, this is a bit of an unusual story. On the one hand, it is a thriller/investigation type of book. As I previously mentioned, most of the characters are involved in the FBI in some ways. Our lead female is a computer genius who consults for them. There is, however, also a strong romantic part to the storyline. With our female lead, Naomi, meeting the male lead, Jay at a bar towards the beginning of the book. As the storyline plays out, their relationship develops too. That's not to say that it's full of sex scenes or the like that romance books tend to have, but it is a key element to the storyline. Overall, the investigation does take the lead role, so I would suggest that this is a thriller with a romantic element, rather than romantic suspense.
I don't want to give anything away about what happens, particularly with the mystery element to the storyline. I will say that I liked both of their lead characters and their relationship. I also enjoyed the investigation and thriller side of the story. It was quite a fast-paced read, which is always something that I enjoy. This was a good read.
I'd be quite keen to go back and read more in this series. I don't think that it will matter too much what order I read them in, but I am planning on reading a few more of the Windsor Series once I get chance. If you are looking for an exciting read that will keep you on the edge of your seat, with a little bit of romance thrown in, then I honestly don't think that you will go far wrong here.

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