A Legacy of Love and Murder by Brenda Whiteside

July 11, 2018 By 1 Comment


A Legacy of Love and Murder by Brenda Whiteside
The Love and Murder Series Book 3
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (321 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Poinsettia

In Austria to meet her great-grandfather and explore his castle estate filled with priceless art, August Myer arrives to find he’s died suspiciously. As one of the heirs, her life is in danger, turning this fairytale Alpine adventure into a nightmare of veiled threats, unexplained accidents, and murder.

Inspector Tobias Wolf splits his time between his profession and fighting the spread of neo-Nazism. But when the beautiful, intriguing American crosses his path during a murder investigation, ensuring her safety challenges his priorities…and his heart.

When August learns the handsome inspector is concealing a personal involvement, and the death of her great-grandfather is somehow connected, she takes the investigation into her own hands. The outcome could be the death of both of them.

August and her mother uncover more than family history on their trip to Austria.

August and her mother, Lacy, had high hopes for their trip to Austria. It was a chance to connect with long lost relatives and take in the beauty and history of the estate. Unfortunately, they don’t receive the warm welcome they were hoping for. August’s great-grandfather is dead and his widow, Eike, and nephew, Fabian, make it clear they see August and Lacy as intruders. In spite of it all, August and Lacy stay in the castle, but are they living with a murderer?

August is a fun character. She is spunky and certainly not afraid to speak her mind. She isn’t ruffled by Eike and Fabian’s chilly attitude. Her enjoyment of history and art leaps off the pages, and it was a joy to watch her explore the castle. August and Tobias have great chemistry from the start. Even though their personalities are very different, I think they make an interesting pair. August is a take action sort of woman, and I admire that about her. However, she does have a tendency to be impulsive and jump to conclusions. Tobias is more of a planner. He likes to gather as much information as he can before he makes a move. I think their skills complement each other nicely, and I enjoyed watching them work together.

The culprit of the crime is revealed well before the book ends. The suspense comes from watching August and Tobias solve the puzzle piece by piece. The tension is further increased as the murderer becomes increasingly bold in their efforts to prevent August from solving the mystery. I was on the edge of my seat wondering how far the villain would go!

I really enjoyed reading A Legacy of Love and Murder. The pacing and suspense are very well done, and Tobias and August make a great couple. While this is book three in the series, it stands alone very well. Fans of romantic suspense would do well to pick up a copy today.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Daisy’s Choice by Mike Owens

June 28, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Daisy’s Choice by Mike Owens
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (308 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Nothing left to live for…that’s how eighteen-year-old Daisy Sugarbush feels after an explosion inflicts deep burns over seventy percent of her body, condemning her to six excruciating months in the hospital, where her pleas to stop treatment are ignored.

Blind and horribly disfigured, she wishes only to end her wretched life as soon as possible. Starvation should push her ruined body over the edge—the doctors told her as much—which becomes her game plan.

Then a new therapist, Arthur, enters her life with other ideas, but can he succeed where so many others have failed?

Everyone has their own limits on how much pain they can bear, and Daisy might have just reached the end of hers.

Daisy was a well-developed and sympathetic character. Sometimes she said and did things that made me cringe, but that was a positive thing in my opinion. There’s something so endearing about a protagonist whose faults feel this realistic and meaningful. Knowing that she was just as flawed as any living person made her many personal strengths stand out even more in my mind. I felt like I got to know every part of her personality. It’s always wonderful when that happens in a story.

The foreshadowing in the beginning was heavy-handed at times. I definitely appreciated it the first couple of times it popped up, but after that it felt repetitive to me. This book would have been more enjoyable if I hadn’t been able to so easily predict how it was going to end because of all of the hints I’d been given in the first couple of chapters.

In the beginning, I wasn’t sure what I thought of Daisy’s relationship with her mother. Their personalities and interests were dramatically different from each other, and Daisy’s mom wasn’t the sort of person who found it easy to accept the fact that she’d raised a child who was so disinterested in traditionally feminine activities. Seeing how their relationship evolved from that point after the accident was a highlight of this story. I never would have guessed how much both of these characters would grow over time. While I can’t say much more about this without giving away spoilers, I loved what the author did with this subplot.

There were pacing issues. While I understood Mr. Owen’s desire to show what Daisy’s life was like when she was still healthy and pain-free, it would have been nice to have a glimpse of her time in the hospital much earlier on in the plot. The transition between her life before and after the accident was so jarring in large part due to how much time was spent showing who this character was in the beginning.

This tale did a thorough job of exploring the ethics of assisted suicide and saving the life of someone who doesn’t want to be saved from multiple points of view. Some kinds of suffering are so severe that it’s hard to imagine dealing with them for the rest of one’s lifetime. Daisy’s accident stole her sight, seriously limited her mobility, and left her in excruciating pain. I honestly couldn’t blame her for wondering if choosing to die was the right decision even though I desperately wanted her to find a reason to keep living.

Daisy’s Choice was a complex novel that I’d recommend to anyone who is looking for a riveting read.

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A Different Kind of Reunion by Joanne Guidoccio

May 24, 2018 By 1 Comment


A Different Kind of Reunion by Joanne Guidoccio
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Genre: Mystery/Suspense, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (239 pgs)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Snowdrop

While not usually a big deal, one overlooked email would haunt teacher Gilda Greco. Had she read it, former student Sarah McHenry might still be alive.

Suspecting foul play, Constable Leo Mulligan plays on Gilda’s guilt and persuades her to participate in a séance facilitated by one of Canada’s best-known psychics. Six former students also agree to participate. At first cooperative and willing, their camaraderie is short-lived as old grudges and rivalries emerge. The séance is a bust.

Determined to solve Sarah’s murder, Gilda launches her own investigation and uncovers shocking revelations that could put several lives—including her own—in danger. Can Gilda and the psychic solve this case before the killer strikes again?

Maybe you’d best not miss another of your reunions…

As in the title, this might be different than many reunions you’ve been to, whether a high school or a family reunion. This one happens to be a few high school students and a teacher who was with them long ago, gathering because of murder. Or at least because they think poor Sarah was murdered. They also think their teacher, Gilda, can help them find some answers. Gilda spends some time reflecting on the personalities of the students and also has a difficult time moving past nicknames the kids gave each other back then, most likely behind one another’s backs. Mean Barbie, Wannabe Ken, and as many other Barbies as you can imagine; some nice, most not.

This book was very readable. It’s another in the “Gilda Greco Mystery” series. A lot of the story seemed to be spent describing the characters and at first reflection I thought that might not be construed as an interesting topic. Much of this description was because Gilda spent a lot of time reflecting back on her students. I don’t think any of the in-depth description of the characters was extraneous. Much of the plot was dependent on knowing the characters well to try and determine which one could have killed Sarah, which personality does it take, which person had good luck since graduation, which one had fallen on hard times. I looked at them all in trying to decide and I changed my mind several times. That means the author did a very good job of deception. I bet that was why it was so entertaining.

There are several other books in the Gilda Greco series. Check them out too.

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Duke du Jour by Petie McCarty

April 18, 2018 By 2 Comments

Duke du Jour by Petie McCarty
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Time Travel
Length: Full (337 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Snapdragon

..a reverse Kate and Leopold…a light-hearted time travel romance where a bewildered modern-day duke ends up in Regency England and meets the girl of his dreams…

Jared Langley, present-day Duke of Reston, tumbles into an abandoned fountain on his ducal estate and travels back in time to the year 1816. There, Reston servants and local villagers think him a dead ringer for his namesake and rakehell ancestor–the seventh Duke of Reston, gone missing at the Battle of Waterloo. Unfortunately, Seven got mixed up with French spies out to assassinate the Duke of Wellington, and an unwary Jared ends up in their crosshairs.

Lady Ariana Hart has loved Jared Langley, the seventh Duke of Reston, since she was twelve years old, until the night the rogue broke her heart. Given up for dead, her rakish neighbor makes a miraculous return from Waterloo–only Jared shows up a changed man and reignites all the feelings Ariana had long ago buried.

Jared is in a race against time. He must waylay the suspicions of his quirky servants and neighbors, get to Wellington before the French spies do, fix his fountain–before Seven shows up–so Jared has a way home, and definitely not fall in love with the irresistible Lady Ariana.

Duke Du Jour kicks off with a surprising scandal – one that we readers could scarcely expect…and this story is intriguing immediately. Kudos to the author for plunging in so creatively. I must confess; given the time period, the titled character, the very word ‘romance’ – I expected my initial thought to be ‘entirely predictable.’ Happily, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Jared, third duke, is not getting his own way – right from the start. People and events transpire to affect him in ways he can scarcely imagine, but somehow, we believe. His meeting with Lady Ariana is both wonderful and awful, because we cannot see how this romance could ever actually work out. No spoilers here – McCarty enthralls us with this intriguing story line.

I’d call this a ‘mostly’ historical romance and suspect historical romance fans will find it enjoyable – don’t be put off by the time travel aspect. Definitely worth the read.

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A Murder of Principle by Susan Coryell

April 18, 2018 By 19 Comments


A Murder of Principle by Susan Coryell
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Genre: Mystery/Suspense, Contemporary
Length: Full length (275 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Snowdrop

A new principal takes Harding High by storm, wreaking havoc with every executive order and every decision, tearing apart the stellar school tenet by tenet.

Teachers, other administrators, students, parents, and the community at large increasingly react to the tremors shaking Harding High as Principal Wendy Storme churns a destructive path through their traditions, values, and protocol. Everyone associated with Harding has a valid motive for murder.

Determined to save her school and friends, English department chair, Rose Lane, and her rookie sidekick, intern Penny Bright, vow to move the hurricane-force Storme out of Harding for good…except somebody beats them to it with the decisiveness of murder.

What mystery about a school wouldn’t have a mean old principal? This one fits the bill starting with Wendy Storme the new mean principal hired to replace the retiring one. Though she is not necessarily eager to be placed in the position of saving the school, Rose, the new English Dept Head, decides to take on the role and show that new incorrigible principal what’s what. It is such a breath of fresh air to see the teachers (or some of them) portrayed in a good light in this mystery. While they may have been somewhat impolitely vocal about well…you already know who I mean…the mean old Principal, Wendy Storme, they are for the most part eager for their school and their students to do well.

I am not always in favor of books that open with the scene of the crime and then step back in time to describe how we got to that point. I’m not crazy about it at all and I was already set not to like Susan Coryell’s book. But then, she caught my attention and I couldn’t let go or at least not until I was all the way to the very end. Her characters were very clear and her school life description very distinct. In truth, what I thought was going to be a book I would not enjoy turned out to be well-written and very readable.

In summary, Put this one on your TBR list and check out her other books too.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Cushion by Tamela Miles

April 17, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Cushion by Tamela Miles
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (119 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

Natalie Kliebert finally has the perfect life she spent years dreaming of. She’s on the fast track to her fantasy-come-true career as a therapist. If she can help pop star Billy Chambers, it will be her greatest achievement and even sweeter than earning an “A” grade.

The last thing Billy Chambers wants is anyone’s help, especially when he doesn’t see a single thing wrong with his life. When bossy Natalie becomes his court-appointed personal therapist, sparks fly from day one. Annoyance was never so arousing. Hooking up should be easy, but an undercurrent of evil is coming for Natalie, which may force her to reveal her deepest secret.

The problems of their pasts are no match for today’s demons. Natalie and Billy must come together and be the allies they were meant to be in a supernatural fight that may cost them their lives.

This is a unique second-chance story filled with spice and the supernatural. Carin Bell is a writer. Seems normal enough. Then, she gets killed in a fiery car accident, but his is not the end of the story. It’s the beginning. Her love match, Billy Chambers, is a pop star who is in trouble. Billy had made fun of Carin when she was a teenager. Now she’ll get her chance to confront him. She is gifted with a second chance at life, not exactly the typical reincarnation story. She comes back as a different adult with a new identity, not as a baby reborn.

The new Carin, now Natalie, approaches Billy, and the meeting is memorable. How will he react when he sees the new, supernatural woman in his hotel room? Something in him changes, and it is good to see.

After some time he meets her again, but she is his therapist, charged with helping him overcome alcoholism. He makes his hard journey into sobriety. The chemistry between these two is hot, and the romance develops, as one might expect. However, their’s is not the typical love story. There is more to this tale, an underlying sinister presence, seeking to destroy them and others. The tale becomes somewhat of a supernatural thriller. The suspense is created when the characters are scared by their enemy.

During these occurrences, the characters are developed well. Billy shows himself to be thoughtful and considerate. He’s so human, and we see his weaknesses and struggle as well as those of Natalie. Both have personal demons to confront as well as the literal one. Though of battling that one is terrifying. They must go to a bad place and rescue trapped souls. The stakes are very high. They could easily lose themselves and the souls depending on them.

This is a fast-paced story that takes twists and turns to keep up the suspense level. It is well worth the read.

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Betting on Kincade by Devon McKay

April 11, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Betting on Kincade by Devon McKay
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (228 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Mistflower

Everyone Cassie Wilcox loved is gone. And now, thanks to her drunken stepfather, her house and family business will be taken from her, too, unless she can find a way to buy back the ranch from the new owner. With less than two months to come up with money she doesn’t have, her options are running out, and apparently, her common sense as she rents out rooms to an eclectic group of strangers.

Returning home for Dalton Kincade is bittersweet. Not a damn thing has changed. Two years on the rodeo circuit weren’t able to shake free the memory of the feisty redhead who’d broken his heart into a thousand pieces. Nor the sting of her parting words…Never trust a Kincade.

Winning her beloved ranch in a drunken bet is the last thing he expected to happen, but at least he saved it for her. Now, he has to figure out how to break that news to a woman who never wants to see him again. Renting a room in the house he now owns might be a risk, but it’s nothing compared to betting his heart on winning back the love of his life.

This is purely a feel good book that is quick and easy to read. I have read a huge amount of contemporary western romance stories so I recognized a lot of familiar tropes; some I liked, some were just okay. There was one scene that I can safely say was unique and I know beyond of a shadow of a doubt that I’d never read this in a story before because I’d sure remember that particular scene. Despite relying on a lot well-worn storytelling techniques, I can classify this novel as an entertaining read that was worth my time.

Dalton Kincade is the hero in this romance and he carried the momentum for me in this story. He had his reasons for leaving the heroine, Cassie Wilcox, to join the rodeo for two years. Cassie should have understood. Yes, she suffered a broken heart when he left but under the circumstances, she should have had a less selfish perspective, especially after two years. It obviously hurt him to leave too.

Cassie’s stubbornness and pride was borderline annoying. For that reason I had a hard time connecting with her “woe is me, I must save the ranch all by myself” attitude. It was a broken record to hear Cassie constantly talk about how she can make more money to save the ranch. I’d say that Cassie was the most presumptuous character I’ve ever read. Some of her solutions to make money were surreal and unrealistic. All I know is that Dalton had way too much patience and clearly loved her more than she loved him. Although their past love was well established, the chemistry in the present was lacking. There were some good moments when Cassie let down her walls and showed some vulnerability. I wished there were more scenes like that. It would have helped.

Cassie viewed Dalton as bossy, stubborn and a man who will always try to step in and save her. I didn’t view Dalton as bossy and stubborn at all. I actually viewed the heroine as ungrateful that she didn’t appreciate his stepping in to help her. What’s wrong with a man who loves you wanting to protect and help you? I’m not saying Dalton was perfect but I sure liked him more.

Some upbeat and positive elements were when Cassie and Dalton kept making wagers back and forth between themselves. That added a bit of humor into the story and helped me to connect to them as a couple. They did have some sizzling scenes but that only reinforced my impression that Dalton was too good for Cassie.

Some characters were more developed than others. Cassie’s stepfather, Gary Evans, was definitely a loser, a dirt bag, and a pathetic piece of life. He added suspense and drama to the story because he was the main conflict throughout the book. How his character was handled at the end didn’t exactly work for me. One of my pet peeves is not having all the plot threads tied up. I need absolute, complete closure. There must be justice. I don’t want to speculate in my head that everything worked out. I love happy endings with a pretty bow. There at least could have been an epilogue. If it weren’t for Dalton, then this entire book would have been infuriating to me.

Betting on Kincade was a good read. It was mostly enjoyable. I made it through and didn’t consider it a waste of my time, because time and time again Dalton drew me back into the story and kept my interest. I know not all romance books can be smooth sailing. Reading this book was like being in a car with a manual transmission whose driver didn’t know how to drive a stick shift. You’re just glad to be out of the house and going for a ride. You just have to hang on even when you hit the potholes because spending time with Dalton Kincade is SO worth the risk.

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Flirting with Fairies by Peg Pierson

April 10, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Flirting with Fairies by Peg Pierson
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Full length (233 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Orchid

Literary agent, Nicole McConnelly is in trouble. Her career’s in the toilet, her bank account overdrawn, and she’s a wanted, fugitive fairy, from the Realm of Imagination, with a price on her head and a ruthless bounty hunter, who happens to be Satan’s brother, on her heels.

Lonely young writer, Kaleb Whalen, lives in a rundown apartment with his pet cockroach and dreams of becoming a best-selling author. But after a run-in with a Boston city bus, he may have lost any chance of a future at all.

When both agent, and author, magically appear center-page in Kaleb’s jungle adventure novel, Nicole finds herself faced with something more terrifying than her long-time nemesis…the possibility of something she has artfully avoided for three centuries. True Love.

This is the other side of the printed word where books come alive in the Realm of Imagination. The combination of author and agent are dumped into the Realm where they meet the author’s characters. The consequences are hilarious and bring the story to life with a jungle man complete with ape, a cannibal and of course the ditzy heroine.

I loved how the author didn’t stop at the characters’ written lives, Ms Pierson also brought in other characters such as a vampire, bounty hunter and a dead sister. When mixed together this made for a book reminiscent of a comic strip but with more depth.

All the characters are larger than life and intertwine with each other to great effect. Just when it seems things have worked out well for everyone, another event happened to stir the plot up again. Good book but not if you want something deep and meaningful; this one is for laughing and enjoying.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Please Be My Valentine by Jennifer Wenn

April 6, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Please Be My Valentine by Jennifer Wenn
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short story (77 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Benjamin Emerson is determined to honor the dying Mrs. Brody’s last wish, that her granddaughter shall not spend Valentine’s Day alone. But as the special day is closing in, he still doesn’t know how to reach the stiff, correct librarian.

Broken by her psychopathic former fiancée, Leonore Brody moves back into her empty childhood home in Barnesville, numbly taking one day at a time. When Ben asks her to help his daughter, she can’t refuse, knowing how much he meant to her grandmother.

Caught at the Emerson Farm by a snow storm, Leonore finds herself drawn to the charismatic Ben. But the scars from her past are deep – can she ever trust a man again?

After being dumped almost at the alter by her long-term fiancé, Leonore knows that her mood is volatile and that she’s far too easily irritated. She knows that her Granny would hate the snappish, waspish woman Leonore had become, but Leonore just can’t seem to help herself. Even Ben – whom she’d known since childhood – wasn’t safe from her temper and annoyance. When Ben comes to the library to get a book explaining about puberty in females – his almost-teenaged daughter suddenly mystifying him – Leonore a can’t help but try and help the humble, shy man and his delightful no-longer-little girl.

This is a lovely and mostly sweet story about a very hurt woman trying to find herself again and in the process helping a caring and loving young man raise his teenage daughter. I found it to be full of heart-warming emotion and definitely with that “small town” type of feeling. I sympathized with Leonore and her initially crabby mood – she’d been harshly treated by her ex and hadn’t really healed from the painful break up. While I felt for her, I didn’t really particularly *like* her in the first half of the book. Leonore’s actions – her anger and cynicism – were completely understandable, but I didn’t feel as connected to her or like her as much as I would have hoped. Ben, however, I felt smitten with almost instantly. A shy, sweet, humble farmer who simply wants to do hard work, love and raise his family and keep his nose clean – he was absolutely hero material to my mind and I was eager for him to receive his (well deserved – in my opinion) happy ending.

I found this story to be a very interesting, if character-based, plot. Again with a “small-town” kind of feel Ben’s relationship as a single father with his almost-teenaged daughter, and then the growing friendship/relationship with Leonore was definitely central to the storyline. Readers who want an action filled, fast-paced style of story might not find this as satisfying as I did. But I honestly feel sometimes everyone needs to sit back with a slower paced story, with vibrant, relatable and believable characters and read something a little sweeter and in those respects this book completely exceeded my expectations. While I admit a part of me would have been ecstatic had I found Leonore more appealing as a heroine, she was real. She had a temper, she was hurt and needed to complete her healing process. I might not have enjoyed her as a heroine as much as I could have – but I could certainly respect her and understand where she was coming from.

This is definitely a slow-moving romance story. Leonore takes quite a bit of the book emotionally healing from her ex and I wasn’t keen how she compared so much of who Ben was to what her ex had been like. I found for me, personally, that got old pretty quickly, but again it was understandable and realistic. When Ben comes clean on his promise to Leonore’s Granny and Leonore finally starts to look at Ben with romantic interest their relationship really starts to build. While they became intimate fairly promptly after this, I didn’t find the singular sex scene graphic – the bedroom door wasn’t “closed” as such but it absolutely wasn’t drawn out or described in explicit detail. I would think most romance readers who enjoy a bit of spice (but not erotic levels of it) in their romance should find this satisfying without being overly graphic. There are only a few passionate kisses and the one sex scene – so really to my mind the majority of the story revolves around the characters and their growing relationship to each other – not the physical and intimate side of the romance.

Readers looking for a story with a whole bunch of characterization, realism and good, warm-fuzzy type of feelings, this is a great story to kick back and relax with. While absolutely not perfect, it is a great read and one I fully intend to enjoy again in the future.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

No Getting Over You by Cerise Deland

March 15, 2018 By Leave a Comment


No Getting Over You by Cerise Deland
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full length (151 pages)
Other: M/F
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Viv LaClare is so over being the matron…the widow. She wants to live again, laugh, maybe even dabble in a little affair…if she can find the right guy. Enter the studly Navy SEAL designated to drive her around town on wedding errands. She’s hot for his body, but when her newly healed heart gets ideas, she’s not sure she can risk it on a man with one of the deadliest jobs in the world.

Britt Ackermann is done with one-night stands and women who party with a SEAL for bragging rights. He wants a lady with guts, sass, and more than a lick of sense. He has doubts a woman like that exists. So when he meets the Matron of Honor at his teammate’s wedding, she hooks him at ‘hello.’ He wants all the nights she’ll give him even if he can’t promise her tomorrow.

Viv has been taking on more work and more responsibility in her job and while she’s truly delighted her co-worker and best friend, Abby, has found the Navy SEAL of her dreams, it makes her feel a little tired and lonely to see Abby so blissful. When Britt knocked on Viv’s door to help her with all the last minute running around for Abby’s wedding he had no idea how much his life would change. Wounded in combat with his fellow Navy SEALs Britt is determined to get through his duties as best man then carve out a new life for himself. While he hadn’t been looking, after meeting Viv he knows he wants to include her in all his future plans.

I found this to be a lovely, slow-burning style of love story. While there are a few steamy sex scenes, I feel most traditional romance readers should find this a good, slow-paced style of story and not find the descriptive sex too overpowering. Almost the whole story revolves around Viv and Britt and their helping their friends, Abby and Nick, throughout their wedding. The pace is easy enough I found myself half way through almost wishing for the wedding to be over so I could see how Viv and Britt dealt with reality and “normal” life – not while they were constantly thrown together with the million and one pre-wedding duties they both needed to do as Best Man and Matron of Honor. While the preparations and wedding itself only took a few days it really felt to me a bit like a soap bubble out of time and each of their real life, so while their attraction and connection during this intense time together was great, it didn’t give me a lot of confidence of how they would build a solid and lasting relationship that would remain steady outside of this small space of time.

The characters of Viv and Britt were interesting and had a number of complex layers that I really liked. I also loved the strong cast of secondary characters, Abby and Nick, their team-mates and family. I could easily see a number of future characters for follow-up stories down the line and wouldn’t be surprised if there are more of these to come. While the sex was graphic I didn’t feel like it over-shadowed the story itself. There was a lot of story both before and after the main intimacy and this helped it feel a lot better rounded as a story to me.

While I would have preferred to see Viv and Britt develop their relationship a bit more outside of the wedding setting, this was otherwise a great, slow-burning and character-centric story that was both sweet and spicy. I feel it should appeal to a wide range and readers and I’ll be interested in further stories to see some of the strong secondary characters develop.

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