Tag: Erin McCarthy

Stripped Down (Tap That: Book 1) by Erin McCarthy

On By JolieIn ARC, book review1 Comment

Stripped Down

3.5 Stars

Publisher: 

Date of publication: October 29th, 2018

Genre: Romance

Series: Tap That

Stripped Down–book 1

Where you can find Stripped Down: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | BookBub

Goodreads synopsis:

His best friend’s hot older sister.
Her younger brother’s annoying sidekick.
And one forbidden kiss in high school…

It was complicated back then. It’s even more so now.

Because former mean girl Sloane rolls back in town to find Rick stripping at a charity event like he was born with biceps.
And single dad Rick is her landlord.
And her brother will murder him if he has sex with her.

But sometimes you have to strip it all down to see what was there all along…

My review:

Rick and Sloane have a history. Sloane was a former mean girl who shared an earth-shattering kiss with her younger brother’s best friend. Rick was that friend and he has changed in the years since that kiss. Sloane is not looking to start a relationship. Hurt by a bitter divorce, all she wants is to be left alone. But that doesn’t happen. After seeing Rick stripping for a charity auction, Sloane needs to see if Rick lives up to the promise in his boxers. Rick wants to know if kissing Sloane now was as good as kissing her back then. Determined to keep each other in the friends with benefits zone, they both start to fall for each other. But can it last? Can Rick and Sloane keep it at sex? Or will it blow up in their faces?

I wasn’t too sure if I liked Rick and Sloane as a couple. I got rebound relationship vibes from them. Sloane was fresh from a divorce. Her ex-husband cheated on her and that made her feel like she wasn’t attractive. So, I wasn’t surprised when she ended up sleeping with Rick.

I thought it was hilarious that such a big deal was made about Rick’s package. I giggled through Sloane’s reaction to seeing it. I giggled through people saying that “he grew into it“. Seeing that I was in bed, I got some dirty looks from my SO because well, it was 11pm and I was laughing my fool butt off.

I liked that Rich thought himself to be a smooth operator. His confidence was awesome. His determination to sleep with Sloane was amazing, considering at his bestie threatened to rearrange his face. His one-liners to her were hilarious. But I also liked seeing his other side. His mature and responsible side. His devotion to his 9-year-old sister was amazing. I was saddened by the fact that he had to become her legal guardian at such a young age. But I was also saddened over the situation that led to it. His truth bomb on his father was something that needed to be said. It saddened me to see that he grew up like that but still. He was the complete package.

I felt bad for Sloane. I couldn’t imagine how she felt when her husband told her that he was cheating on her. Betrayed was the closest thing that I could come up with as a feeling. I didn’t blame her when she moved back to her hometown. I was a little surprised when she decided to hook up with Rick and then keep hooking up with him. I was also surprised when she started having feelings for him.

Sloane and Rick did have some unbelievable chemistry. From the minute their eyes met, it radiated from them. So I wasn’t too surprised that the sex was hot. I did think that Sloane was going to have a problem walking because Rick was so big (haha). The scene on the motorcycle was insane. I will never look at a motorcycle the same again.

The end of the book was a big “Eh” for me. I did think that Sullivan’s reaction after the Ferris Wheel scene was a bit much. Also, what is with everyone ditching the baby with Axl? Other than that, I liked the end of the book. It was sweet. Sloane deserved it.

I gave Stripped Down a 3.5-star rating. This was a fast read with memorable characters. There were some elements that I didn’t like. The ending didn’t resonate with me as much as I wanted it to. Also, I didn’t think that Rick and Sloane made a believable couple. Other than that, I enjoyed reading the book and look forward to book 2.

I would give Stripped Down an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is language. There is mild violence. There are some triggers in this book. They would be cheating and animal neglect/abuse. I would suggest that no one under the age of 21 read this book. Same goes if you are triggered too.

I would reread Stripped Down. I would also recommend this book to family and friends. I would include a warning about the triggers.

I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review Stripped Down.

All opinions stated in this review of Stripped Down are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Have you read Stripped Down?

Love it? 

Hate it?

Meh about it?

Let me know!!!

The Breakup (The Jordan Brothers: Book 2) by Erin McCarthy

On By JolieIn ARC, book review, Loveswept, NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group1 Comment

The Breakup (The Jordan Brothers)

3.5 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept

Date of publication: August 28th, 2018

Genre: Romance

Series: The Jordan Brothers

The Hookup – Book 1 (review here)

The Breakup – Book 2

Where you can find The Breakup: Amazon | Barnes, and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Can two wrongs feel oh-so-right? This bride is about to find out—with the bad boy who makes an epic breakup worth her while.

Bella: I know I’m a princess. I’m used to getting what I want. But all I ever really wanted was a husband and a family. Unlike my sister, Sophie, I’ll never have a brilliant career to fall back on. So what’s a bride to do when she learns that Prince Charming is a cheating snake just a few days before her fairy-tale wedding? With my fiancé begging for another chance, the only way to save the wedding is to even things out with a little revenge sex—and local bartender Christian Jordan seems like the right man for the job.

Christian: If gorgeous Bella Bigelow thinks sleeping with me will somehow lead to happily ever after, I’m not going to turn her down. The guy she wants to marry is a jerk, and her sister is fooling around with my estranged twin brother, Cain. So what’s the problem? Besides falling for a woman who doesn’t know what she wants out of life? All I want to do is whisk her away from that church, take her to a cabin in the woods, and act out all our naughtiest fantasies. And I may just get the chance. . . .

My Review:

I enjoyed reading The Breakup. It was a book that was straight to the point. It had an easy plot to follow, likable characters and some steaming hot sex scenes. I needed to read a book like The Breakup. After some of the books I have read, it was a welcome turn of pace for me.

What is interesting about The Breakup is that it starts halfway through The Hookup. That was interesting to me because I haven’t seen too many books written that way. I got to see everything from the bar scene from Christian and Bella’s POV. It added an extra insight not only to the stress that Bella was going through but to Christian and Cain’s complex relationship.

I could not stand Bella’s fiancée. I wanted to kick him in the nads and punch him in the face. I couldn’t believe the stuff he put Bella through. The things he said to her. I felt so bad for her when she found the text messages and told Sophie why he did what he did. He tried to justify his actions to her. “Baby, you made me do it. You are boring in bed“. What the actual frick frack???? No wonder she was so insecure about sex. Then to get her parents involved? W.T.F. So, yeah, I was happy when she left him at the altar. He deserved it.

Bella and Christian had insane chemistry. Every scene that they were in was through the roof. I found myself chanting “Do it! Do it!” What made it even hotter was that Christian refused to do anything with Bella until she was single. She came to him for a “revenge screw” and he turned her down. What guy does that?? A guy who has morals. Loved it!!

When Bella and Christian finally had sex, it was explosive. I knew that certain things were coming since Bella had told Christian that she didn’t like oral sex or butt play. Him teaching her to like oral was a no-brainer. But, I was surprised that anal wasn’t touched. Maybe because it was a line that she didn’t want to cross. Who knows. What I also liked is that the sexual tension continued. It wasn’t as red-hot as the first time but it was still there.

I liked that Christian was a bit of a straight arrow. He carried incredible guilt over what happened with his brother. He felt that he was the blame for Cain’s drinking. At the same time, though, he also stood up and took responsibility for his son. I did find it interesting that they wouldn’t know if Cain or Christian was the little guy’s father. Because they were identical twins, they have identical DNA. But he decided to take the responsibility. I loved how he handled baby mama drama. He wasn’t willing to rock the boat because he was afraid that she would go for full custody.

Bella was awesome in this book. I got a strong Runaway Bride vibe from her at the beginning of the book. I understood what she was going through, relationship-wise. She didn’t want to stay because he was a jerk but he was also familiar. Her taking off right before the wedding made me go “Oh yeah” and do a fist pump. The same thing when she let loose on Christian’s baby mama. I thought she was a little innocent for Christian, as weird as that sounds. Some of her phrases made me think “Is she from the ’50s?“.

I was disappointed by the last half of The Breakup. I had a feeling something like what happened was going to happen. I did an “ugggh” when it came around. A typical romance theme that I was hoping wouldn’t be in the book.

The ending of The Breakup was your typical HEA. I liked seeing what happened with Sophie and Cain. I also wonder if there is going to be a book 3. There are a brother and a sister that need romance!!!

What I liked about The Breakup:

A) Easy to follow the plot

B) likable characters

C) steamy sex scenes

What I disliked about The Breakup:

A) Bella’s ex

B) Christian’s baby mama drama

C) The last half of the book.

I gave The Breakup a 3.5–star rating. This book was a great read. It had an easy plot to follow. It had likable characters and some steamy sex scenes. I didn’t like Bella’s ex or Christian’s baby mama. I also didn’t like the last half of the book. But, overall, a good read.

I gave The Breakup an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The Breakup. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Breakup.

All opinions stated in this review of The Breakup are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Love Taker (Nashville Nights: Book 3) by Erin McCarthy

On By JolieIn ARC, book review, NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group2 Comments

Love Taker (Nashville Nights, #3)

Title: Love Taker

Author: Erin McCarthy

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: February 28th, 2017

Genre: Romance

Number of pages: 182

POV: 3rd person

Series: Nashville Nights

Heart Breaker – Book 1

Dream Maker – Book 2 (review here)

Love Taker – Book 3

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis (via Goodreads):

The Nashville Nights series is burning up backstage in this sensual friends-to-lovers novel featuring a good-guy cop and a woman who’s been looking for Mr. Right in all the wrong places.

Pretty-boy musicians are a fixture of the Nashville country scene—and Elle Hart, a hairdresser to the stars, is beginning to think that they’re all total pricks. Elle’s dating choices have been a disaster, but at least she has Tucker. Though he’s easy on the eyes, no one would ever accuse Jason Michael Tucker of being a pretty boy. The humble and handsome sheriff’s deputy from Elle’s hometown has always been there to comfort her—until the evening their friendship unexpectedly leads to the best sex Elle has ever had.

Tucker has been lusting after Elle since they were an item as teens, but he knows that their wild night of passion is a one-time thing. He’s an old friend, nothing more, and they’re too different to become a couple just because they’ve knocked boots. After all, she hates being back in their hometown, and he’s not so fond of the big city. But when Elle comes to Tucker with the news that changes everything, he must help her come to grips with her traumatic past—or risk losing her forever.

My review:

I had waited anxiously for this book to come out and I haunted Loveswept’s NetGalley page until the ARC came up. I was a huge fan of Dream Maker that I had to read this book. I needed to see if Elle got her happy ending. When she appeared in Shane’s story, Elle had caught my interest and I was curious to see who she was going to end up with.

I was pretty happy with who she ended up with. Tucker was the opposite than her in so many ways and to be honest, with her wild child ways, she needed him. He balanced her out. But until that one night, she kept it solely as friends.

When she does have sex with Tucker, it was off the pages hot and very sweet. Of course, the morning after was kind of awkward and they did stop talking to each other for a month because of that. The only reason that they started talking was that one night of passion had unexpected consequences. Elle got knocked up…even with using a condom.

What I liked the most about this book was how real Elle and Tucker were, well for the most part. The whole Las Vegas and Tucker quitting his job were a tad too much. Only for certain events to happen a little later in the book and then Elle change her mind.

The humor in this book got me too. Elle had a mouth on her and I loved her one-liners. I was literally dying laughing on the couch and BK was just looking at me like I had 3 heads. My favorite line was (and this is not an exact quote) “sweating like a hog eating soup in August.” Oh, the images it conjured up for me.

The end of the book was very sweet and the epilog was perfect. The series was ended beautifully and happily!!! A perfect HEA. Oh, and I loved the name Elle and Tucker gave the baby ;).

How many stars will I give Love Taker: 4

Why: This book was great. Had a great storyline, humor and two unforgettable main characters (as well as secondary ones)

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex and language

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Dream Maker (Nashville Nights: Book 2) by Erin McCarthy

On By JolieIn ARC, book review, Loveswept, NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept2 Comments

Dream Maker: A Nashville Nights Novel (Nashville Nights Series Book 2) by [McCarthy, Erin]

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept, Loveswept

Date of publication: October 18th, 2016

Series: Nashville Nights

Heart Breaker – Book 1 

Dream Maker – Book 2

Love Taker – Book 3 (review here)

Genre: Romance

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

The bestselling author of Heart Breaker returns with another sultry Nashville Nights novel of country hits and stolen kisses, as a one-night stand turns into the beginning of an irresistible partnership.

Shane Hart loves the ladies. Like hit records, he can never have too many. Shane swore long ago never to treat a woman the way his abusive father treated his mother, but his traumatic past has kept him from making any solid commitments—even to a fiery redhead like Avery O’Leery. Shane’s happy enough to rescue her from a tight spot, but that’s as far as their connection goes—until their unforgettable liaison has him rethinking his impulse to love ’em and leave ’em.

Avery has big plans: first, shake the dust of small-town Kentucky from her boots; second, become a bona fide songwriter; and third, keep the truth hidden about her birth father  from everyone in Nashville. Nowhere on that list is she supposed to land in bed with a sexy stranger who rescues her off the street at midnight, especially if that stranger is Shane Hart. Avery’s trying not to fall for the dreamy music producer who could make or break her career. But her best-laid plans seem to be no match for a love that feels like destiny.

My review:

Before I write the review, I suggest you guys look at the titles of the author’s book and tell me what song/artist she got the title’s from. I had a clue (the lyrics kept going through my head, but I was drawing a blank on the name of the artist). It wasn’t until I decided to google the lyrics in my head that I got a hit and I was impressed.

Now, let’s get on topic with this review.

I didn’t think I would like this book. It did start on a funny note. The first  two sentences went like this:

Shane Hart never went out of the house with the sole intention of hooking up with women. Getting laid just happened to him.

I giggled when I read that because it set the tone of the first few chapters perfectly. I know I will have people reading what I wrote and go, “What is so funny about a guy who sleeps around. A manwhore?” I have a skewed sense of humor about stuff like that because when the manwhores do fall in love, they fall hard.

Shane is the brother/producer to country star Jolene Hart and her fiance/husband. The night he meets Avery O’Leery, who had been left on the side of the road by her cheating boyfriend, Ben. Shane decides to wait with her while she gets her purse back. The chemistry between them was electric, and I wasn’t surprised when they ended up together. I was surprised that Avery was a virgin when she slept with Shane and Shane was too. I also was surprised that she walked away from her encounter and left him a note that said, “Thanks for being decent.” Of course, he takes it the wrong way.

Fast forward three months later and Avery is doing pretty well for herself. She got her life together within weeks of breaking up with Ben. She landed her dream job as a junior songwriter for a publisher called Rusted Truck. She has fantastic roommates and is pretty happy with herself. But she keeps on thinking about her night with Shane.

She happens to meet Shane again when he stops by Rusted Truck, shopping. They (her boss and Shane) happen to hear her playing a song that she had written and wanted to run it by his sister. While there, he also fuels the rumor mill when he asks her out to dinner. He also asks her if she was pregnant in front of her friend and coworker. I was mentally shaking my head at this point. Avery could get fired because she isn’t supposed to be involved with clients in any way outside of the office.

Avery also has a huge secret that she is keeping. Not going to tell.

Shane has a secret too. His mother was beaten on an almost daily basis by his father, and if Shane got between them, he would get beaten also. He has been affected by what happened (I mean who wouldn’t be) to the point where he doesn’t ever celebrate his birthday. I felt awful for him because he was almost held hostage by what his father did, years ago, and it nearly cost him his relationship with Avery.

The end of the book was pretty explosive. A whole lot of stuff happened and was revealed. But it ended in what I consider a HEA.

How many stars will I give Dream Maker? 3.5/4

Why? A sensual romance that keeps you reading. There was a small lag in the middle of the book but the author did a great job of getting momentum up in the book.

Will I reread? Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends? Yes

Age range: Adult

Why? Lots of hot steamy sex, some violence (which includes a fist fight in a music studio) and language.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**