Tag: Welcome to Otter Trail

For Baby and Me (Welcome to Otter Tail: Book 4) by Margaret Watson

On By JolieIn Dragonfly Press, Non ARC5 Comments

3 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: September 12th, 2018

Genre: Romance

Series: Welcome to Otter Tail

An Unlikely Setup—Book 1 (review here)

Can’t Stand the Heat—Book 2 (review here)

Life Rewritten—Book 3 (review here)

For Baby and Me—Book 4

Where you can find For Baby and Me: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads synopsis:

Nick Boone is a brilliant architect, focused completely on his job. In his personal life, he’s a serial dater, with no interest in marriage or even a long-term relationship. And fatherhood? Absolutely not. He has no idea what family even means. 

But even a single-minded boss like Nick can’t abandon his employee Sierra Clark on the night her parents are killed. When her deep distress melts his professional distance, long-simmering attraction takes over and he indulges in a night of comfort and connection. 

He has no idea how deep that connection is going to run.

My review:

I didn’t like For Baby and Me as much as I liked the rest of the books in the Welcome to Otter Tail series. Which made me sad because the other books were so good!!

I thought Nick was a grade A jerk in this book. He was condescending towards Sierra. I couldn’t believe that he thought that throwing money at her would take care of everything. I wanted to smack him upside the head during certain points in the book. I couldn’t believe that he didn’t understand why Sierra was so reserved with him. That whole speech in the hospital made me go “Are you effing kidding me. You put her through hell and then expect her to open her arms and let you in.” Yeah, I was kinda mad about that. But, I do understand where he was coming from. What he went through as a child traumatized him.

I felt awful for Sierra. I couldn’t imagine losing my parents that way. I have also been in her shoes when I saw that stick go pink (my oldest was unplanned). I did think that she had high expectations for what Nick’s reaction was. I also think that her expectations kept getting smashed every time she saw him. I would have acted the same way towards him.

I did find their profession fascinating. I didn’t know that there was so much planning into going into building a house. I also didn’t know that contractors would switch out materials for ones that were not as good and pocket the money. I was fooled by who the person was switching out the material. I thought it was the other guy.

I felt awful for Sierra when she fell and hurt herself. I can relate to the stress she was under at the hospital. Not to feel your baby move is frightening.

I didn’t feel much of a connection between Nick and Sierra. The whole “I don’t want to be a father” vibe killed that romance for me. I will say that they had some pretty hot sex.

I did like the end of For Baby and Me. I loved the epilogue. Love, love, loved it!!!!

I would give For Baby and Me an Adult rating. There is sex (not graphic). There is language. There is mild violence. There are triggers. They would be the death of a parent. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I am on the fence if I would reread For Baby and Me. I am also on the fence if I would recommend it to family and friends.

I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review For Baby and Me.

All opinions stated in this review of For Baby and Me are mine.

Can’t Stand the Heat (Welcome to Otter Tail: Book 2) by Margaret Watson

On By JolieIn book review, Dragonfly Press, Non ARC4 Comments

4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: September 12th, 2018

Genre: Romance

Series: Welcome to Otter Tail

An Unlikely Setup—Book 1 (review here)

Can’t Stand the Heat—Book 2

Life Rewritten—Book 3 (review here)

For Baby and Me—Book 4 (review here)

Where to find Can’t Stand the Heat: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads synopsis:

When Walker Barnes walked into Jen Summers’ catering event, all the shame, guilt and regret for what she’d done to him in high school roared back to life. As well as the feelings she’d once had for him. 

But this Walker isn’t the shy, awkward geek from high school — he’s tough, successful, brilliant, confident… and sexy. And he hasn’t forgotten how she used him. Hasn’t forgiven her, either. This Walker is looking for payback. 

How on earth can she be falling for him all over again? 

My review:

Jen is a hardworking divorced mom of 2 who dreams of opening her own restaurant. When she sees Walker at her friend’s wedding, Jen is filled with regret and shame. What she did snowballed into something that affected 3 lives. It has haunted her for years. How can she make it right? Will there be more fallout from her actions all those years ago?

I loved this book. Honestly, I was expecting it to be a fluff book. You know, a book where the plot is forgettable and the sex is hot. Instead, I got a book with an intriguing plotline and hot sex. I was hooked from the first page.

The plotline of Can’t Stand the Heat was interesting. I thought that the author did a great job at creating a situation where paternity could be questioned. But I didn’t like how Walker made assumptions about things. He saw Nick and assumed that was his son from the first glance. All because of a grin. Then he treated Jen horribly when she got defensive when confronted. Heck, any normal woman would have acted the same way. I know I would have if an ex-fling (technically it was) came back into my life and started making claims that one of my kids were his.

I did feel for Jen. She was put in a hard situation. How does she explain to her ex that Walker might be Nick’s father? And how would she explain that to Nick? It would open up a can of worms that could backfire on her. No wonder she didn’t want to do the DNA test. I didn’t blame her one bit.

I am going to admit that I didn’t like Walker until halfway through the book. I thought he should have left well enough alone. But then came the scenes where he was looking through his mother’s album. I got teary-eyed because his regret over the past was palpable. It was at that point where I started to like him. He redeemed himself in my eyes.

I liked Jen. I thought that she was a sweetheart. Yes, she made mistakes and yes, she paid for them. But she was making an effort to try and move past them. She was a good mother. I loved the scenes where she went all mama bear on Walker. I was doing fist pumps and saying “You go, girl”.

Walker and Jen definitely had some serious chemistry going on in the book. The sexual attraction was there and was kept up until they had sex. Now, talking about the sex scenes, I was actually happy that they weren’t graphic. There is a time and a place for graphic sex scenes and I am glad the author went the less graphic route with this book.

The end of the book was emotional. I am not going to get into it. But I will say that I thought everything was handled perfectly. Also, the epilogue made me smile.

I would give Can’t Stand the Heat an Adult rating. There is sex (not graphic). There is language. There is mild violence. There are no triggers. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Can’t Stand the Heat. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review Can’t Stand the Heat.

All opinions stated in this review of Can’t Stand the Heat are mine.

An Unlikely Setup (Welcome to Otter Trail: Book 1) by Margaret Watson

On By JolieIn book review, Dragonfly Press, Non ARC4 Comments

4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: September 12th, 2018

Genre: Romance

Series: Welcome to Otter Trail

An Unlikely Setup—Book 1

Can’t Stand the Heat—Book 2 (review here)

Life Rewritten—Book 3 (review here)

For Baby and Me—Book 4 (review here)

Where you can find An Unlikely Setup: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads synopsis:

Maddie’s teenage crush humiliated her fifteen years ago. Now Quinn runs the Otter Tail pub that Maddie inherited and needs to sell. Too bad Maddie’s high school crush on Quinn is still alive and kicking. 

Quinn wants to buy the pub, but can’t afford Maddie’s price, so he plays dirty. His smile, bright blue eyes, and broad shoulders are just his first bid. As they get reacquainted, they realize someone else has plans for the pub. Plans that endanger Maddie and Quinn – and the rest of Otter Tail. 

Can Maddie and Quinn save the pub? Can they put their past behind to create a future together?

My review:

Maddie has returned to Otter Tail after leaving 15 years earlier. When her beloved godfather passed away from leukemia, he left her a house and a pub. Otter Trail has no good memories for her and Maddie plans on leaving as soon as the pub and house are sold. But she is forced to face those memories when she learns that Quinn is managing the pub. Quinn is the reason she never returned to Otter Trail. Quinn and Maddie are soon at odds over what will happen to the pub. Can Maddie and Quinn get over the past? Will they have their HEA or will everything blow up in their faces.

I enjoy reading books where the hero and heroine have to overcome the odds to be together. An Unlikely Setup is such a book. Maddie had to overcome what happened in the past to be with Quinn. Quinn had to overcome his anger and grief to be with Maddie. Both had a hard time of overcoming past and current hurts to forge a relationship with each other. I loved it. I loved that it showed how hard it is to overcome the past. Maddie and Quinn struggled with it. Quinn more than Maddie.

I did like Maddie and I did feel bad for her about what happened between her and Quinn in the past. I had some of the same issues that Maddie did when I was a teen. It hurts to be rejected like that. But, dwelling on it for 15 years? That was a bit much. And judging a whole town on how their teenagers treated her 15 years past was a bit much too. I did like that Maddie was able to finally reconcile her hurt feelings when she talked to Quinn about what happened.

I wasn’t too sure about what Quinn wanted with Maddie. I was starting to think that he was only doing things for her because he wanted the pub. And that the attraction he had to her was part of his end game. I hate writing that because he did keep me guessing. But after Maddie’s house got vandalized, I realized that he cared for her. I do wish that his “secret” was addressed sooner in the book. I did kind of figure out what was going on but still. It would have been nice to hear about it upfront.

The sexual attraction between Quinn and Maddie was understated at times but when it flared up, it was red hot. I loved the whole scene when she wore the skirt to work. I loved seeing Quinn getting turned on. I loved knowing that Maddie knew what it was doing to him. The sexual attraction gave away to some amazing sex scenes. I had to fan myself after some of them. Sex on the beach in the moonlight? Thank you very much!!

The plotline involving Maddie, her secret, Quinn and the pub was well written. I was surprised by Quinn’s reaction to the naughty secret (you have to read the book). His reaction to her main secret was what I thought it was going to be.  I mean, how else was he supposed to feel? Happy that he destroyed a teenage Maddie’s confidence. His reaction to Maddie meeting with the store rep was a bit much. But I get it. I would have freaked out too.

The secondary plotlines and characters were as well written as the main plotline. I liked how she merged the secondary plotlines with the main one at the end of the book. Also, I liked how the secondary characters added that extra “Oomph” to the storyline.

The end of the book was amazing. I had a huge smile at how everything ended. It was perfect!!

I gave An Unlikely Setup a 4-star rating. This was a fast-paced romance novel. The plotlines were fantastic. The characters were well written. This was a book that I enjoyed reading. I also cannot wait to read book 2!!

I would give An Unlikely Setup an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is language. There is violence. There are triggers. They would be the death of a parent/parental figure and bullying. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread An Unlikely Setup. I would also recommend this book to family and friends. I would include a note about the triggers, though.

I would like to thank the author and Dragonfly Press for allowing me to read and review An Unlikely Setup.

All opinions stated in this review of An Unlikely Setup are mine.

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

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