Lucky Like Us by Jennifer Ryan

 

On the Cover:

The Hunted series continues as Special Agent Sam Turner discovers that protecting the FBI's star witness is more difficult than he thought!

Bakery owner Elizabeth Hamilton's quiet life is filled with sweet treats, good friends, and a loving family. But all of that is about to turn sour when an odd sound draws her outside. There's a man lying unconscious in the street, a car speeding toward him. Without hesitation, she gets the man out of harm's way before they're run down.

Unwittingly, Elizabeth has put herself in the path of a serial murderer, and as the only one who can identify the FBI's Silver Fox Killer, she's ended up in the hospital with a target on her back.

All that stands between her and death is Special Agent Sam Turner. Against his better judgment, Sam gets emotionally involved, determined to take down the double threat against Elizabeth—an ex desperate to get her back, despite a restraining order, and a psychopath bent on silencing her before she can identify him.

They set a trap to catch the killer—putting Elizabeth in his hands, with Sam desperate to save her. If he's lucky, he'll get his man … and the girl.

*****

Lucky Like Us is the second book in Jennifer Ryan’s The Hunted series. It’s fast paced, intriguing, sexy… a thoroughly engaging story.

I'm just going to get this out of the way, right up front: I wasn’t all that impressed with the first book in the series, so I hadn't planned on reading this one. It's not that it was awful, but it didn't WOW me enough to want to continue, but boy-oh-boy, am I glad I did! The writing is very good, the story and the relationship development flow at a believable pace and once I started reading, I didn’t want to put it down.

I loved Sam and Elizabeth, both apart and as a couple. They’re compassionate, devoted to their friends and family, honorable to a fault, and compelling people with interesting lives who ‘fit’ together perfectly. It was great to revisit Jack and Jenna, and Caleb and Summer, as well as meeting new characters whose stories need to be told.

The bottom line: Ms. Ryan has really found her storytelling mojo with this installment of The Hunted series and I’m excitedly looking forward to reading the next book in the series, The Right Bride.

My thanks to Avon Book and Edelweiss for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Books in the series:

Honey Pie by Donna Kauffman

 

Mocha Chocolate Chip… Caramel Fudge…Strawberry Lemonade…Butter Rum…There’s no such thing as guilt when it’s another delicious bitch and bake session with the women of the Cupcake Club…

When Honey D’Amourvell inherits property on tiny Sugarberry Island, she’s prepared to start a whole new life. Her plan is simple—make a home, open a shop, and maybe, finally, find a place to belong. But the building she now owns is leased to none other than the owner of Babycakes, which means her spot is already occupied. Honey isn’t sure how to put down roots when she has nowhere to plant them. But sexy, softhearted mechanic Dylan Ross seems determined to help. He’s everything she never imagined she would find in a man, and each kiss is more persuasive than the last…

Soon enough, Honey is another important ingredient in the spicy mix of the Cupcake Club. But will Dylan convince her that what she craves most is his love?

*****

Honey Pie is the fourth book in Donna Kauffman’s Cupcake Club series and not at all what I was expecting. The cover had me thinking chick-lit meets chock-lit, and the blurb did not do the story justice!

I’m such a fan of small town romances, so when I saw this book I had to grab it! But, like I said, this isn’t at all what I had thought it would be. I began this expecting a light, romantic, feel good read, which it definitely is, but it’s got such a deep, wonderful story to it, too.

I haven’t had the pleasure of reading the previous books, so I'm not sure how much information was given about Aunt Bea other than what we get in Honey Pie. I don’t want to give away anything that might be a spoiler, but Honey turns out to be a very complex, conflicted heroine! Not weak, not mousey, but definitely struggling with what some might consider a blessing, but what she considers a curse.

Luckily for Honey, Dylan Ross isn’t quite the standoffish, unapproachable man he seems to be, even after he realizes that the pretty newcomer to Sugarberry Island is all kinds of trouble. Just a single touch – and what happens because of that touch – is all it takes for Dylan to open up and – whether she wants it or not – help Honey find her footing and put down roots in this tiny community where secrets, especially the kind Honey has, are impossible to keep.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed this story! Sweet, sexy, passionate… it’s not so much a story about letting go of your past, but learning to live with what Fate has given you. It’s about opening yourself up to friendship and love, knowing it’s better to take a chance on having it all rather than hide yourself away and living with the regret of knowing you never even tried.

The bottom line: I’m excited to have found another author who knows how to blend the wonderful female friendships of chick-lit with the passion and romance of contemporary romance. I am so looking forward to reading more of the Cupcake Club series!

My thanks to Kensington/Brava for providing me with a copy of this delightful story in exchange for an honest review. It’s been such a treat!

Protecting Paige by Norah Wilson

Tommy Godsoe’s life hasn’t always sucked, in fact until recently, it’d been pretty damned awesome. Being a cop was his life, being a dog handler was his passion, but being shot during a police raid has put a damper on things. Days that were once spent serving with honor and purpose are now filled with pain and uncertainty. Unable to stand the thought of the pity he'd see in the eyes of his ex-fellow officers, Tommy has closed himself off from any and all contact, but much to his displeasure, the fortress of painkillers and bitterness he’s locked himself in has been well and thoroughly breached by his new neighbor who comes bearing dinner, and — despite his best efforts to get rid of her, won’t take no for an answer.

It’s not easy being a single parent, just ask Paige Harmer, she’ll tell you. Her son, Dillon, is a really great kid, but at 18, he’s not much of a kid anymore, and so Paige has to perform that tough balancing act of caring but not smothering. Dillon’s smart, respectful, ambitious… he’s pretty much everything a mom could hope for in a son, but unfortunately for them, his clean cut, boy next door image is exactly what Derek Weaver is looking for, and Derek is not one of the good guys.

Nervous and in need of something to do and someone to talk to, Paige takes dinner to her next door neighbor who, according to her landlord, is recovering from a recent surgery. The man is gruff, rude and clearly unappreciative of her offering, but Paige, being the strong, persistent woman she is, won’t take no for an answer.

Protecting Paige is the third book in the Serve and Protect series and is, hands down, my favorite! Being a parent myself, I always worried that my kids would fall in with the wrong crowd and get involved in things they shouldn’t, so I was able to relate to this story. And because Paige was facing those same things that all parents are familiar with, her character drew me in. Her strength, her devotion to her son, and her determination to do whatever she had to do to protect him…the magnitude of her love for him truly pulled at my heartstrings and made her a woman I could understand and admire.

And then there’s Tommy. Though we didn’t see a lot of him in the earlier books, we saw enough to know that he was an honorable cop who loved his job and the men he worked with. It was a little bit heartbreaking to see the bitterness that had taken hold of him, heartbreaking but understandable. I can only imagine what it would be like at 30 years old to lose any chance of returning to the job you loved, the one you’d planned to spend the rest of your life doing.

I've always felt that when things go wrong in your own life, when you just can't figure out what to do next... help someone else. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself or fretting over things you can't do anything about, devote your time and energies to the needs of others and everything else will fall into place. So, with that in mind, one of the high-points of this book, for me, was that when Tommy did just that... when he focused on helping Dillon and Paige... that's when things in his own life fell back into place and he once again became the man he was born to be - an honorable, powerful, caring man and a force to be reckoned with!

Okay, sorry - enough rambling!

The bottom line – If you’re like me you love romantic suspense, but sometimes you want the stories to be about everyday people, people who could be your friends, neighbors, or even yourself. You want to be able to relate to what’s going on in their lives, believable events and situations that could, for the most part, happen to anyone. So yeah, if you look for those things in stories, too, then I really do think you’d enjoy Protecting Paige. It’s emotional but not angsty, the characters are flawed but not stupid, and the friendship, the romance, the courage... all of these things combined have made this my favorite book in the Serve and Protect series and I’m hoping there will be many more books to come!

4.5/5 stars