The Love Shack by Lori Foster

Story 4 of 5 stars

Heat 3 of 5 stars

Series – Indiana Summers

Main characters – Lawson Salder, Berkley Carr and Oliver Roth, Lark Penny

Berkley Carr came to Cemetery to leave her past behind her and to run The Love Shack Animal Haven. She grew up in a poor neighborhood with dangerous elements. A quiet girl devoted to helping her mother who was dying of cancer. When a married man takes advantage of her, and his wife led a smear campaign to destroy her, it left deep wounds. She’s determined to leave it behind her but she never truly healed.

Lawson Salder is four years older than Berkley. He grew up in the same dangerous town as Berkley but he was dealing with parents who were drug addicts and dealers. Refusing to join the family business He left town to get away from it all as well. He found success in construction and helping restore homes after natural disasters.

These two both found their place in Cemetery, Nebraska but neither wanted to revisit their past. Lawson remembered the quiet girl from his past but wasn’t in a place back then to pursue her. Berkley remembered the handsome Lawson, but is afraid her past will ruin her future in Cemetery.
Lark Penny is a vibrant, outgoing new-comer to Cemetery. She’s determined to meet everyone and make friends.

Oliver Roth was a physical therapist. Trouble at home made him want to re-prioritize his life and start fresh. He’s opening up his own Fitness Center in Cemetery. He just has to get past the matriarch of the town.

He had no plans to get involved with anyone but he finds he can’t resist Lark’s charm.
While the main love story was all about Lawson, Berkley and her beloved animals. Foster delivers a sweet bonus romance with Oliver and Lark. Prepare for hometown feels, healing, sweet romance and animals that find their own love.

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Wait for You by J. Lynn

Story 3 of 5 stars

Heat 3 of 5 stars

Series – Wait for You

Main characters – Cameron Hamilton, Avery Samantha Morgansten

Avery Samantha Morgansten is nineteen years old. Five years ago, she was betrayed, deals were made and everyone turned on her. She choose a college far from home, needing to get away from her family and a town, determined to continue to vilify her, hoping to leave it all behind her.

Cameron Hamilton is a popular man on campus. He’s supremely confident, even though he too has a secret that affected him deeply.

Avery and Cameron met when she almost knocked him over trying to get to class. She’s not interested in any relationship but Cameron knows he wants her in his life. When they discover they live across from each other in the same apartment building, Cameron takes every opportunity to engage with her.

Avery’s past still affects her deeply. She never got help to deal with what happened and struggles with fear and panic attacks. It doesn’t help that she’s receiving messages and calls from an unknown caller harassing her. Avery’s new friends and Cam continue to try and draw her out with mixed success. Cam is sure his charm will eventually win Avery over, but until then he works his magic showing up and being there for her, whether she wants him there or not.

I liked Cameron’s willingness to find ways to be with Avery at her comfort level, even if he was often over the top. I liked that Avery kept trying to take back her life but the hints about what happened, without disclosing what actually happened until so late in the book was really frustrating. It’s mentioned early on that her family wouldn’t hear of her getting help after her ordeal but she was far away at campus… Why didn’t she seek help from the school counselors? especially after she had a big freak out?

I have mixed feelings about this story, I spent a lot of time being frustrated with Avery. I got tired of how often I was told about how beautiful and muscular Cam was and his arrogance was so over the top he could have easily been a villian rather than a hero. There’s a lot of cheesy stereotypical characters that were more of a distraction than enhancement. The characters felt very surface level. I wanted more depth and less caricatures. Not sure I want to continue this series.

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The Naga Next Door by Maggie Mayhem

Story 4 of 5 stars

Heat 4 of 5 stars

Series – Possessive Monsters

Main characters – Zyn, Sybil

Sybil is a witch who took over her granny’s Wards & Witchery business. She’s a strong witch with two little rats as familiars, with plans for her future.

Zayn is a naga shifter losing the battle with a curse that has him losing control of his shifts and separating him from his Naga. He thought he had a plan to keep everyone safe but is quickly losing himself to despair.

When her new neighbor’s antics leave the walls thumping at all hours, she is determined to have it out with her new neighbor only to find herself face to face with his snake form. After hearing Zayn’s story Sybil helps him with a temporary fix, while searching for a way to remove the curse entirely. While that’s going on, Sybil has a stalker who wants her to have his baby, and who isn’t afraid to try blackmail to get what he wants, which leads to more mayhem.

Overall, this is a quick read, with a quick fall into lustiness while they work together to end the curse, clean out her granny’s home, and a dash of danger. I think the story would have benefited from more fleshing out. The story felt rushed and two dimensional, without a lot of depth, I had hoped for.

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The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne, narrated by Emily Rankin

Story 4 of 5 stars

Heat 2 of 5 stars

Main character – Helena Pelletier

Listened to audio narrated well by Emily Rankin.

Helena Pelletier is a married mother of two little girls. She has tried to walk away from her past but when her father escapes prison, she will need all the skills he taught her to protect herself and her family.

Helena’s father kidnapped and raped her fourteen-year-old mother twenty years ago. She was raised in captivity in the marshlands, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Taught to hunt and track and revere Indian ways, she knew nothing about the horrors her mother endured. She loved her father, even when he put her in a well for misbehavior.

Dionne has Helena tell us her own story. We relive Helena’s thoughts and feelings as she tells her story of a daughter who loves a father, who is also a monster. As she tells the story of her father and how she came to realize the truth about him, she also looks at the person he shaped her to be. Weaving in past and present, making parallels with Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale – ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter,’ she was told as a child. Helena isn’t always likeable, she’s a complicated woman, with a complicated background.

I thought it was a very engaging read, with the right blend of graphic realism that felt authentic, while also conveying a child’s wonder of the world as taught by her father. I’m curious if the movie can do this book justice.

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There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh, narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

Story 2 of 5 stars

Heat 1 of 5 stars

Main characters – Luna

Listened to audio narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. The narrator did a fine job, the story just wasn’t there for me.

Nine years ago, they were a group of eight, until one of them committed suicide. Bea was loved and considered a bright star among them. Each of them still mourns and many still haven’t come to terms with her death. A reunion at Bea and her sister’s family estate brings them all together for the first time, with hopes to find answers and closure.

Their weekend becomes a horror show, as people fall ill, get injured and get murdered. Things start to go sidewise from the beginning and the discovery of hidden passageways and poor cell reception leaves them few options for help and a lot of places to hide.

I struggled to connect to these characters, the pacing was slow and dragged out, the events felt predictable, and there were a lot of too stupid to live moments. While I love her other series, I have not been a fan of any of her fictional Thrillers.

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