Don’t you hate it when you read a bunch of books by an author and love them, and then you hit on one that makes you feel completely underwhelmed. It’s such a bummer, and that’s kind of how I feel about Hope Ford’s Virile. BEWARE! THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD!
Virile is book one of the Whiskey Run, Savage Ink Series and definitely has potential. The story line is about Gracie, who is the eighteen year old daughter of the Mayor of Whiskey Run. Gracie has been kept under lock and key her entire life, so when she turns eighteen she is looking forward to the freedom of making her own choices. The first choice she makes is to sneak out and get a tattoo at Savage Ink, the best tattoo parlor in town.
Aiden Savage is the owner and operator of Savage Ink and he has seen a lot of women walk through his doors, but none as compelling as Gracie. He decides the moment he sees her that she is going to be his in that insta-love move that we all love so much. Gracie practically falls into his arms and then aft er their one incredible night, she runs away, determined to protect Aiden from her father’s threats.
This story has got really good bones. It has insta-love, a rich girl who falls for the boy on the wrong side of town, and a surprise pregnancy. See? Good bones. Unfortunately I wasn’t crazy about the execution of this story. The novel mentions characters that must have featured in the original Whiskey Run series, but since I have not read that series, there were several points where I had to reread and really just infer who some of the characters were as well as their importance. The other thing that kind of bugged me was the problem with Gracie’s dad. She mentions in the beginning that he is evil, but other than being a controlling bully there is no evidence of that until the end, and then for me, the kind of evil he is just kind of came out of nowhere. There was no lead up, no foreshadowing. It was just here’s her dad, oh by the way he’s a (SPOILER!! BEWARE!!) human trafficker.
Despite the negatives of this book, I will definitely read more of Hope Ford and I hope you will too.
“My beloved monster and me…” (EELS, Beautiful Freak album and Shrek Soundtrack)
I took a break from romances with delicious mountain men so I could indulge my other love: Monster Romance. I know, it’s still romance and I very rarely branch out. I am a sci-fi nerd at heart and I have devoured authors like Ruby Dixon, Michele Mills, and Honey Phillips, geeking out on their alien romances. I also love fantasy: witches, and werewolves, and vampires, oh my. So, it’s no surprise that when both Ruby Dixon and Michele Mills posted about Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta, I had to check it out.
I have to admit, this novel is a little out there, even for me, but it’s out there in the very best way possible. In the story, Violet is a human (on Earth, the whole thing takes place on Earth!) who is drowning in student loans and working at a dead end job that has nothing to do with her degree. As her financial situation gets more desperate, she clicks on an employment ad for Morning Glory Milking Farm. The requirements are few and the off ered pay is good, plus benefits, what could go wrong?
Okay, before I move on to tell you about our love interest, Rourke, lets just think about Violet’s situation. How many times have you looked at an employment ad and felt hope at the words, “No experience necessary”? Let’s be frank, it’s diff icult to find a good paying job that doesn’t require some type of experience, but the problem with the phrase, “No experience necessary,” especially when it comes to the job at Morning Glory Farms, is that the ad didn’t exactly say what the employees would be doing to earn their pay. Again, not a stretch, since I’ve seen those types of employment ads too, and once you find out… well, you might not want the job anymore.
Morning Glory Farms sounds like a dairy farm and there is certainly milking going on, just not of cows. Do you know how bull semen is collected? Yes, that’s right, Violet applied for and got a job as a semen collector, but not for regular old bulls, for Minotaurs.
Minotaurs, as you might remember from your Greek mythology class are part man, part bull.
Check out this sexy version by myths-legends.fandom.com. I could not for the life of me figure out how to attach the image here, so you get a graphic novel picture and a link to the sexy pic, you’re welcome.
By the time Violet gets over the shock of what she will be doing for her new job it is the end of her first day and she is told that she will be on her own for the last client. Injecting some steel into her spine and embracing the clinical persona her trainer had imbued all day, she gets to work, only this Minotaur, Roarke, is diff erent and she finds herself doing more than merely “milking” him, she finds herself making a connection. She then convinces herself that her connection to the sexy (did she say sexy?!?) bull-man is not only one sided, but completely imagined, until he returns the next week and asks for her specifically, that is.
This is a wicked awesome book that I had a lot of trouble putting down (darn day job) and I will be definitely be reading more from this author. So, if you are not repelled by the idea of doing the dirty with a “man” who is literally hung like a bull, check out Morning Glory Milking Farm. I guarantee you will get hooked and need more!
How do you feel about prequels? Honestly, they kind of annoy me because in my mind it messes up the order. For example, my husband is a Star Wars fanatic and when we watch the movies he wants to start with Episode 1 and I want to start with the original trilogy. He is all about keeping the timeline and I just want to watch the ones that actually came out first…first. I have the same feelings when I’m reading a series. It bugs me that suddenly I’m thrown back in time to experience how things came to be. If you wanted to tell that story, why didn’t you write it in the first place?
Okay, shoo, rant done. As you may have guessed, the last book in the Bear’s Tooth Mountain series is actually the first one, because it is a bonus prequel. I believe you can only get this book if you read the set (available on Kindle Unlimited), but it is definitely worth it. This prequel actually reads more like a standalone since we hear about this character more peripherally in the other books. We haven’t been able to really get to know her that well, except to say that she’s a little quirky 🙂
The story starts with Bear sitting on the porch of his cabin in the dark and seeing a flash of something bright white streak by. He immediately pursues and finds Ainsley about to be mauled by a mountain lion. Bear literally wrestles the lion away from her and then, aft er one look decides that she was meant to be his and that the mountain sent her to him.
Ainsley was a runaway bride. When he father tried to marry her off on her eighteenth birthday to a man three times her age, Ainsley escapes with nothing but her wedding gown and runs up the mountain and into the woods. When the hulking mountain man scoops her up and takes her home, Ainsley realizes that there is something drawing her to the stranger, the same something that had drawn her up the mountain. She may not know a lot about Bear, but she knows that he makes her feel safe and she never wants to leave.
I love this type of story and I love more that the main character is named Bear. There is just something about a rough, gruff, mountain man who can knock any threat right onto it’s butt, and Bear is definitely that guy. This prequel is totally worth your time and even though I wish that it had been the actual first book in the series, I’ll take it 🙂
Stay tuned for more reviews on Cameron Hart (I’m totally going to read The Men of Blackthorn Mountain) and other awesome authors!
Two men, one woman, hot, hot, hot! Well, it’t hot in the fictional world. It never fails that when I read about menage relationships I come away thinking that in reality it would be a lot of work. I have trouble balancing my relationship with one husband, there is no way I could deal with two. Still, that doesn’t stop me from enjoying menage romances, and Shared By Her Mountain Men by Cameron Hart is a good one.
The story starts with Quinn who has just broken up with her cheater boyfriend. Trying to get out of town a regroup, she rents a cabin up in the Bear Tooth mountains and heads up there to lick her wounds. A massive snow storm stops her ancient car in its tracks and leaves her walking back through the blizzard and hoping that she will make it back to town. Of course, she doesn’t. Enter Grant.
Grant and Sawyer are former service men who share a cabin in the Bear Tooth Mountains. Grant is rough and growly, suffering from PTSD and a severe dislike of anyone who isn’t his best friend Sawyer. Sawyer is the charming PI you may remember from Redeeming Her Mountain Man and he is as different from Grant as you can get. When Grant returns to their cabin carrying a tiny, unconscious Quinn, he and Sawyer are immediately smitten and vow to protect and take care of her. They have always done everything together their whole lives, why should a relationship be any different?
I really feel for Quinn in this story. She realized that she had been staying in her relationship because it was convenient and she didn’t want to be alone, and then before she could even really wrap her head around that, she is bombarded by two larger than life mountain men. This is a novella, so she just kind of falls into a relationship (and bed) with the men, but I like the way she has to work through being attracted to both of them and then acting on that attraction with both of them. I also like how she interacts with each of the men differently. All three are in a relationship together, but each of the men has different needs and different problems, and the story really shows how Quinn is able to respond to those.
This was a great continuation of the Bear’s Tooth Mountain series and I can’t wait to read the last book, Rescued by Her Mountain Man.
There is not much that is more compelling than a character with a tortured soul and a shady past. Writers suck you in by making you care and once they have you, they play with your emotions like a cat torments a mouse. It’s wonderful…and terrible, which is kind of how I felt about the next book in Cameron Hart’s Bear’s Tooth Mountain Men series, Redeeming Her Mountain Man.
This installment of the series is about Gunnar, brother of Brooklyn, best friend to Ryker, and all around tortured soul. Determined to punish himself for his grief stricken misdeeds, Gunnar throws himself into being the best brother, friend, and employee that he can be. When he catches a young woman stowed away in the back of one of the vehicles in his mechanic shop, he feels an immediate kinship. She is tiny, dirty, and wild, but her eyes have shadows behind them that speak to a difficult past and Gunnar is immediately taken in by the need to protect.
To say that Finley’s past is dark would be a massive understatement and if you have triggers concerning abuse or human trafficking here is your warning. She’s barely escaped from hell when Gunnar finds her hidden in the back of a truck in his garage. Traumatized to the point that she is unable to talk, Finley can only watch warily as Gunnar tries to enfold her into his life, first with food and then with the promise of a hot shower and something clean to wear. Soon she finds herself trusting him, but will she be able to trust him with her past?
This book deals with tough subjects, so if you are looking for a sweet, happy, read you should probably skip this one. The story is definitely engaging and makes you want to read on, but some of the subject matter may be disturbing to some readers, so proceed with caution. Gunnar and Finley are the perfect characters to compliment each other and you find yourself rooting for them from the beginning.
This book is available on Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited, so if you think you can hack it, add it to your list. Also be on the look out for my review of the next book in the series, Shared By Her Mountain Men
I love the mountains. When I was a kid my family and I would go camping up in the mountains of Northern California and we would drive over the Sierras frequently on our way to Nevada. There is just something about the trees, the rugged terrain, and the crisp air that makes me feel at home and happy. Having said that, it’s no wonder that I absolutely can’t resist a romance featuring a grumpy mountain man. Taming Her Mountain Man by Cameron Hart totally ticks that box!
Kade is a grumpy mountain man recluse who can’t seem to remember how to interact with others. He has a past he isn’t proud of and just wants to hide out in his cabin creating custom furniture and be left alone. Things don’t work out that way when Adelyn stumbles into his life. A sweet eighteen year old looking for a fresh start, she is way too innocent and beautiful for the likes of him… Or so he thinks.
Adelyn has been lonely and imprisoned her entire life. When she turns eighteen she escapes from her controlling adoptive parents taking nothing but a few suitcases and her mangy cat. The cabin she inherited is the perfect place to start over on her own and explore her freedom. She never expected to fall head over heels for the sexy mountain man down the road.
I love the premise of this book! Kade is all gruff, tough, mountain man and Adelyn is all sweetness and light. It’s the grumpy vs. sunshine trope and I dig that. Of course you throw in the whole sexy mountain man thing and I’m all over it. This story is an insta-love novella that totally has the potential to be a full length novel. There were some intriguing plot points that were mentioned but didn’t get resolved, such as why her adoptive parents were so controlling. I kept waiting for there to be some connection between the biological grandparents who gave her the cabin and the adoptive parents who kind of sounded like psychos, but that was never resolved leaving a mildly unfinished feeling to the story. This is one where if the author went back and extended it, I would definitely reread.
Having now read several of Cameron Hart’s books I am finding that there are some similar themes. Curvy girls and age gap are predominant in her stories as well as cuddly pets. The other thing that features heavily is the heroine being a new adult (18, 19, 20ish) and being out on her own. I don’t know about you, but I was a mess at eighteen and was totally not ready or even capable of being out on my own, so the idea that these young women are out foraging their way in the world kind of gives me anxiety while at the same time makes me want to celebrate their girl power.
Adelyn in particular being out on her own is a little hard for me to swallow, mostly since she admits in the story that she never had any sort of real world experience, not an education, not a job, heck, not even a driver’s license. If she hadn’t inherited the cabin she would not have been able to move away from her adoptive parents, and even with the cabin, she still would need money to pay for food, gas, etc. Once again, totally anxiety inducing, though it does make it believable for Kade to come to her rescue in that awesome knight in dented armor trope that we all love so much.
Taming Her Mountain Man is a great start to the Bear’s Tooth Mountain Men series and with the introduction to some new characters I am eager to continue on. Check it out on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!
I hate writing reviews that are not glowing recommendations, which is why I don’t do it much. I’m trying to be better about that since the truth is, you probably want some diversity. Not all books are great books and even great books have some places where I wrinkle my nose. The book I am reviewing today is a good read, but it did get a nose wrinkle or two, and after some thought, those nose wrinkles are probably more about stereotypes and personal experience than anything else.
Designed By Fate by Cameron Hart is definitely a good read and it has some of my favorite tropes which make me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Nolan is the mega rich hero (love me some rich men 🙂 who earned his money and his fame through fashion design. And here is where the first nose wrinkle occurs. I know, I know, men can totally be fashion designers, in fact many of the best ones are. I guess I just feel like when I picture a male fashion designer I picture a guy who is gay. I don’t know why that is. It’s horrible of me. Straight men can be fashion designers, in fact many of the most prominent male fashion designers such as Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and a whole slew more are straight (Quora.com, The Guardian.com). So, it is totally on me that it bugs me that Nolan, the straight hero of this novel, is a fashion designer. I should be applauding Cameron Hart for breaking gender barriers and instead I’m wrinkling my nose (now at myself, because I feel crappy for stereotyping).
In the end, this is totally my problem, not Ms. Hart’s. As a reader, when I read something that doesn’t quite line up with how I picture it, my strategy is to do a “double take” where I reread, think about it, and then read on. Either my reread and think will end with me feeling good and my perception changing, or it will end with a perpetual nose wrinkle. In this case it was a little of both. I guess I wanted Nolan to be a little more Alpha than he was. I am reading a romance novel and I love me some Alpha heroes, so it was a little disappointing that he didn’t really come off as some sort of badass.
So, let’s continue. Nolan is a fashion designer who has kind of lost his mojo. While taking a walk in the park he runs into our heroine, Willow, who is the antithesis of her name. Willow is short, curvy, and has absolutely no filter. She also is plagued with anxiety and has an emotional support cat who helps her through it. Commence second nose wrinkle. This wrinkle is based on some experience. I have battled anxiety my entire life, and while I know that not all anxiety attacks are the same, and not all methods to combat them work the same, the way the attacks were approached in the story kind of bugged me. I definitely have animals, but maybe I got the wrong ones because none of them seem to be able to detect it before I have an attack, and in the story the cat is able to sense it before Willow has an attack and thus rub against her and make a chirping sound to provide comfort. My cats and dog must be falling down on the job, because in the midst of my attacks they don’t provide comfort 😦
The other thing that kind of bugged me is that people who battle anxiety and depression are tough bitches and M.Fers, and Willow didn’t come off that way to me. There was this sense of helplessness that kind of surrounded her and then Nolan came swooping in to solve her problems. I know, I know, the knight in shining armor trope is classic romance, so why am I complaining? I’m not, not exactly. Many a time in the midst of the darkest points in my life I have wished for someone to come to the rescue and just make my anxiety go away. Sadly, it doesn’t work like that, though I wish it did. My husband, like Nolan, is always there for me and tries to talk me off the proverbial ledge with words, breathing exercises, and a fierce hug. In the end, the anxiety lets go when it’s ready. Looking back, it could be interpreted that Nolan was not trying to solve Willow’s anxiety, but instead was there off ering support. See, once again, it’s my deal and not Ms. Hart’s.
I definitely applaud her for including mental health in her story. Too often issues like that are ignored or glossed over as not important. I do love the way Nolan goes to tremendous trouble to find ways to help Willow battle her anxiety, which is the mark of a good partner, and a lovable hero, and Nolan is definitely lovable. Despite my wish that he was designing bullet proof vests or something, he is warm and loving to Willow and spends a lot of time trying to show her how beautiful she is. Willow, who is alone in the world and just trying to get along, falls head over heels for him and shows her strength in the end.
So, this is not the most glowing book review I have ever written, but Designed By Fate is tropetastic and definitely enjoyable. If you are into curvy girl, age gap, insta-love that also plays with some gender stereotypes and touches on mental health this read is for you and can be found on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. I will definitely be reading more of Cameron Hart in the future (specifically tonight 🙂 by moving on to the Bear’s Tooth Mountain Men series, so stay tuned and read on!
I love discovering a new author that I can binge read. I’m not sure there is anything else in the world that fills my heart with such joy and let’s be frank, we all need some joy right about now. 2021 has the potential to be great, but realistically nothing has really changed or improved since the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, so I’m sure we will take all the joy we can get, even if it comes in the form of an author we have never read with a whole series of books just ripe for the reading.
On social media there have been a number people who have mentioned Jessa Kane’s novel Husky and the way people have been talking about it, I just had to read it.
I LOVE books with curvy women and having been a big girl for most of my life, my favorite phrase is, “big girls need love too!” However, big beautiful women are becoming more and more common as the heroines of romance novels, but what about big beautiful men? They need love too!
Husky takes the idea of the plus size man and show that it is absolutely sexy. I tell my own plus size teddy bear that a keg is better than a six pack 🙂 and what I mean is that there is something to be said about having a guy who is cuddly, sweet, and sexy, and makes me feel small and feminine. In the book Husky, the main character Daws is all of those things. He is a big guy who doesn’t boast a set of six pack abs. He is a real dude who earned his muscles through physical labor and who is a badass even if he isn’t model perfect.
Daws is a beat up, rough looking, bar owner who isn’t looking for love and doesn’t expect it. When Parker walks into his joint and slides her gorgeous ass onto a bar stool, he feels like he’s been blindsided, especially when the young, gorgeous woman tells him that she wants him to be a model and inspire her new clothing line. After discovering she is serious what could he say, except, fuck yes. There is no way he is going to let the opportunity to spend more time with this sweet, beautiful woman get away.
Parker is an up and coming fashion designer. After winning a reality show for fashion design, all eyes are on her for her first real show. The problem is that her men’s line is serious lacking and uninspired. The perfect male models just aren’t doing it for her and unless she can find some inspiration quick, her first show is destined to be a flop. Then she strolls into the corner bar and sees Daws. His rough, tough, husky appearance is a far cry from the shiny models she’s been working with and he’s exactly what she needs…both for her designs and to sate the sudden lust that has overtaken her.
It is completely refreshing to read a story where the guy is the one who is feeling a little uncertain. Oh, sure, it’s pretty common to read about a hero feeling like he’s not good enough for the heroine, but it’s usually not because the hero is husky. Jessa Kane not only makes Daws sexy, but she also makes him a mysterious badass with a past that includes a cool as hell job. He’s real, and the way Parker wants to climb him like a tree makes the book totally hot. I love, love, love it and I have already downloaded some of Jessa Kane’s other books (Burly, King Sized, Queen Sized, and My Husband, My Stalker {because who can resist a title like that?!?}).
Jessa Kane’s storyline is fresh and compelling. Husky is a quick read that will leave you fanning your face, but also completely satisfied 😉 So, get to Amazon and check out Jessa Kane’s writing!
Are there six stars in a rating? Can I give a book six stars? Nichole Rose has earned six stars and my money with her short novel, Keep You.
I read this book twice yesterday, and that probably sounds more impressive than it is because this story is short, a mere 103 pages, but it is packed with awesome. The moment I hit page eight I pretty much knew that I was buying the book. The characters are vibrant and exciting, demanding you to read more.
In the story, Holly, a forensic accountant (how cool is that?), is hired to help Ian find what he suspects has been embezzlement in his company. The moment Ian lays eyes on her he is done for.
“Heaven is a woman and she’s standing in front of me…(pg. 17)”
She is the most beautiful thing he’s ever laid eyes on and he knows that there is no way in hell he will be able to keep his hands to himself while working with her. Unfortunately, all that leaves his mouth is a solid, “No,” and a declaration that he can’t work with her because of the way she looks. By the time he realizes that he sounds like an asshat, she is on her way out.
There is no way that Holly is going to work with a man who can’t even stand to look at her. She’s had a crush on Ian since she first saw him in her boss’s office six months ago. Knowing that her mouth has a tendency to run away from her, she has been avoiding him, and the probability that she would make a fool of herself, ever since. When she discovers that Ian is her new client she knows she’s screwed. He is more handsome than she remembered and his ass…yum, too bad he’s a jerk. When he grabs her arm as she tries to storm out of the office she of course, doesn’t take that crap and knees him firmly in the balls. Take that, asshole!
It doesn’t have the expected effect, however. Oh, sure, it dropped him to his knees, but the words out of his mouth were not just a pained groan. They were a declaration: ‘”We’re getting married,” I wheeze… (pg.18)’ What? Married? She couldn’t have heard him correctly, could she?
I love, love, love, that Ian is knocked on his ass, quite literally, by his first look at Holly. She is a total badass who is curvy and confident, or at least she comes off that way. As the story progresses it becomes evident that Holly has some body image issues that she tries to ignore, and there are a few scenes where people make rude comments implying that she has no business being with someone as hot as Ian.
I have read comments for other books where people feel like the characters should show more body positivity, or seem to feel like people making rude comments is not realistic, but fat girls know that that’s not true. People can really suck, even people who are supposed to be grown up and above stuff like that, which is one of the reasons that I like this book. I love that Holly has to deal with comments and fights against her own self-doubt. That’s believable because it’s real, and the way that Ian is knocked on his ass with desire is every fat girl’s dream.
Above and beyond all of the curvy girl goodness, this book is hot, hot, hot! There are a lot of love scenes and caution friends because they are explicit. Ian has a hint of dom that just serves to make him even hotter, and the way he worships Holly’s curves…(fans face), holy cow!
Needless to say, I will be reading more of Nichole Rose.
Merry, merry friends. May your holiday be bright and all that jazz. Let’s cut to the chase. This holiday season has sucked. S.U.C.K. sucked. There are a lot of reasons I sound like the Grinch and I won’t bore you with any of them. Needless to say, I have been on a mission to find me some Christmas spirit and that includes Hallmark movies and of course Christmas romance books.
There are a plethora of holiday stories out there guaranteed to give you warm fuzzies and I have stumbled across a some on Kindle Unlimited that are awesome. Hope Ford, my friends. Hope Ford. She has a bunch of novellas on KU that are positively yummy and will bring a glimmer of Christmas spirit into your life, yes, even mine 🙂
This book gives you all the feels. It’s got a BBW for a heroine; a tall, dark, and broody military man for a hero; letter writing (so sweet!), and instant love. What could be better than that?
Sweet, curvy Cassie has been pen-pals with soldier Gavin for the last year. Letters back and forth have built their relationship and she knows more about him than maybe she knows about herself, and one of the things she knows is that he has never had a real Christmas. When he gets out of the military and moves to Mistletoe, Montana, a mere 3 hours from Cassie’s house, it’s obvious what she has to do.
Gavin treasured every letter he received from Cassie, but despite the closeness he felt, he knew that when he was stateside once more their correspondence would be finished. Resigning himself to a lonely holiday, he is shocked when Cassie shows up at his door dragging Christmas spirit along with her. But it’s not the tree or the snowman or the gifts that has him dazzled. It’s Cassie herself. She is everything he thought she would be and more and now that she has driven right into his arms, he is never letting her go.
I loved everything about this book! It is super short and one of those insta-love affairs, so if you are looking for more ups and downs with the plot, this is not the book for you. Hope Ford does an awesome job orienting the reader and providing enough backstory that you don’t feel like you are missing any of that character development and it’s so sweet and steamy that you feel like you’re reading one of those Hallmark movies, but you know, with sex 😉 I totally recommend!
The next one I read (because who can just stop at one?) is Christmas Delivery. This is Alison and Ben’s story, both of whom were mentioned in Her Christmas Soldier. This one is even shorter, truly a little bite and it’s good because it takes place concurrently with Gavin and Cassie’s story. While Gavin and Cassie are getting cozy in Gavin’s cabin in the mountains, Alison and Ben are spitting fire at each other back in the city. This is a forbidden romance where Alison and Ben (and Cassie) are step-siblings. Alison and Cassie’s mother married Ben’s father when Alison was sixteen and Ben was seventeen, and Alison has been in love with Ben ever since. She has no idea, but he has been feeling the same way and on Christmas, thanks to an encouraging phone call from Cassie, he shows up at Alison’s house to tell her and make her his once and for all.
This story is super short and super sweet (and steamy!) and I love the overlap of the characters. Alas, this story is not free on Kindle Unlimited, BUT you can click on the link at the end of Her Christmas Soldier and get Alison and Ben’s story for free. **As of December 21**
Then there is Totally Smitten, and this might be my favorite one so far!
This is sort of an office romance. I say sort of because the culmination doesn’t happen in the office and it’s not really an office to begin with, more of a trailer for a construction company. Totally Smitten is a story in the Cozy AF Christmas series, which is comprised of a lot of different authors all writing holiday based stories. Let me just tell you, it wasn’t just the storyline or the fact that I had already read a couple stories by Hope Ford that had me picking this up. It was the fact that it is part of the Cozy AF Christmas line. Cozy AF (hehehe). I’m smiling just typing it. This book is definitely a cozy and steamy Christmas story.
This one is about Tara the sweet, round, administrative assistant who is in love with her boss. Baker, the foster brother of you guessed it, Gavin from Her Christmas Soldier, fell hard for Tara the moment she arrived for the interview. He loved her big eyes blinking at him innocently from behind thick glasses. He loved the way she never swore and used crazy old fashioned phrases. He loved her thick hips and round a— Well, you get the picture. When he comes into the office a few days before Christmas and sees Tara in tears he is all in to help.
Tara can’t believe it when her sexy boss offers to be her date to get her out of a bind, if only he were offering for real. When she takes him back to her childhood home for Christmas and they have to make things look real for her family, she is both elated and terrified, especially when her mother expects them to share a bed. For Baker, this is the perfect opportunity to show Tara that he’s been into her all along.
I love, love, love everything about this. I love that Tara has a fat crush on her boss and that her boss is secretly crushing right back. I also love that while Tara thinks they are pretending, Baker absolutely isn’t. He is all in to get her to realize that she is meant to be his.
These short little snippets are perfect holiday binge reads. They take no time at all and leave you feeling warm and fuzzy when you are finished. I will definitely be reading more by Hope Ford in the future!
amberlynnmyers 
