Review - The Promise

The Promise by Amanda McIntyre

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32861935-the-promise

2 stars
⭐⭐

My first problem with this book comes in the beginning, where the author states that they are in an open carriage, yet later on she states that the girl is looking out the window. As I understand carriages, open carriages don't have windows. Maybe the author didn't understand that.

While this book is a cute, short romance book, and a sweet clean romance; it's not a well put together story. It has problems.

The storyline would work better in in modern-day times than in the time period that it is set in. It seems that people of this generation don't get the class distinctions and differences of older time periods. A guy like him, an immigrant just off the boat from Ireland, without  a penny to his name, would not end up with a girl like her.

She would not go to his place of work to talk to him with only a male servant standing outside. That would've been considered highly improper in that day and age.

If she were also poor, or maybe her father had a smaller business and they didn't have a carriage, then maybe they might've got together.

Also, they've come back from a trip overseas, a pleasure trip. They wouldn't be coming through Ellis Island. She and her father would've got off somewhere else besides Ellis Island, because they were obviously residents and not immigrants.

Plus, Ellis Island is an island, so someone wouldn't take a carriage from there. They would have had to take a boat to the mainland and then picked up their carriage.

I read the story because the characters are likable and it was a short story, but the whole premise of it just was not believable. I'm sorry, it was just not believable, and it was not well executed . Even though it is a sweet, clean, happily ever after story, I only give it two stars because I feel like the author failed in executing the storyline itself.

If you're going to write historical romance then immerse yourself in that time and what it was like to live in that time. Too many people today fail to understand how different things were. They just don't get it . They try to put modern-day ways and situations on historical romance stories, and that just does not work. I like historical romance, but I like it to be well done by someone with the understanding of the time period. This author just did not have a good grasp on that time period.

Review - The Fearless Highlander

The Fearless Highlander (Highland Defender, #1)
by Amy Jarecki

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29351322-the-fearless-highlander

two stars
⭐⭐

This is a very violent book, and it is pretty much awash in blood during the whole middle part of the book. It is horrible, horrible violence too. This book has pretty much turned me against the highlander type historical romance books. I am tired of the inherent violence found in this genre of books. This was had exceptionally disturbing violent scenes in it. The book is well written and seems to be well edited. The characters are interesting. But the level of violence is truly appalling.

Yes, there are some sex scenes in the book.
The violence level in this book is extremely high due to the graphic nature of some of the scenes in the middle part of the book.
No, I wouldn't recommend this book.

Review - Small Town Beginnings

Small Town Beginnings: A 3-Book Sweet Romance Collection
by Melissa Storm 

3 stars
⭐⭐⭐

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40618450-small-town-beginnings

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DSMK68D/



Well, there are 3 books in this introductory set from this author. I didn't like the first book at all, and only skimmed through it. It was a very depressing story with characters I didn't really like. Suffice it to say, I didn't like it at all. But, happily, books 2 and 3 were much better. I loved both of those and enjoyed reading them very much. They were both romance stories set in Alaska, amid sled dogs. They were both fun to read. The second book got off on a slightly downer note in the first chapter, but the author quickly moves on from that, and it is a key element in the story. But in the first book, the down elements were in the characters, the total tone of the story, and it made for a depressing read. I read books to have fun and lift my spirits, and that first book did neither of those.

There aren't any sex scenes in the books.
No violence either.
I would recommend the set for the second and third books, but not for the first book.

Review: Flash Gold

Flash Gold by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I didn't get much past the beginning of the book. It just didn't click with me. I checked out the other books in the series, and it sounded kind of boring and was obviously continued. I don't like continued books, especially when I don't really intend to read the other books. This whole series seemed to constantly revolve around her getting away from where she was at. According to the blurbs, she spending the whole series trying to do that. Maybe it rings other people's bells, but it just didn't work for me.

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Review: A Diamond for a Duke

A Diamond for a Duke by Collette Cameron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's a nice little historical romance - short, sweet, no violence, no sex scenes. It's a pleasant, enjoyable book, with good characters. It starts off slow, but picks up toward the middle of the book, and at the end, and has a very good ending. It seems to be a Cinderella book.


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Review of Nothing But a Hound Dog

Nothing But a Hound Dog (Klein's K9s #3)
by Marcia James

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30344840-nothing-but-a-hound-dog

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GIPMVFM/

5 enthusiastic stars
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Well, this writer has done it again! She's written another totally charming romance involving a hunky guy and a cute doggie. This book involves Ryan, and Cindi, and a tiny basset hound puppy named Buddy. 

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! When Ryan visits his hometown and his old friend, Tom, after the rodeo, he indulges too much with some other cowboys and ends up in front of a judge, who sentences him to community service at the local animal shelter. 

She's never forgotten him, and unbeknownst to her, he's never forgotten her either. The whole combination makes for a wonderful story that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It's darling, reading about this hunky guy nursing this tiny puppy. 

This is a book you should put on your must read list. Actually, you should put the whole series on your must read list! I've read 3 books in this series so far, and loved each one. The writer has a unique gift for including animals in her books, and for writing wonderful romance stories.

Yes! This is a totally charming romance novel.
And yes! I would heartily recommend this book.

Review - Promised at the Moon

Promised at the Moon (Wolf River Book 1)
by Rebekah R. Ganiere 

https://www.amazon.com/Promised-Moon-Wolf-River-Book-ebook/dp/B01JUYJ5I4/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36420852-promised-at-the-moon

3 stars ⭐⭐⭐

I usually like paranormal romance novels, but this one just never did click with me. I felt that the woman was rather weak and made bad decisions throughout the book. The guy is all right, but that's it. The storyline seemed pretty simplistic to me. Plus, there were several typos too.

The book is interesting, but it's not a page turner book. The main characters in this book, Liam and Natasha, both come off as very weak characters to me. Liam doesn't strike me as an alpha either, and a lone wolf alpha at that?

I don't like Natasha's character at all. Given all that she's set up as having been through, she seems to be making some very bad choices. It strikes me that her character would instead be more cautious and reserved. But she seems willing to trust people too readily that she doesn't even know at all.

I like Liam's character better than hers. He comes off as knowing himself better than she does. And then there is the character of Cara, who is sort of a footnote character, barely seen and not known very well. As for the mystical character of Daniel, we see him in a very violent scene at the beginning of the book and involved in more violence at the end.

The whole storyline just doesn't make very good sense, in that her uncle is the alpha of her pack and her father is it's beta, yet she has to run away from home to escape this Daniel. And it is three-fourths of the way through the book before anybody back home is beginning to question what is happened to her father and mother and her. The whole basic storyline of the book just doesn't work for me.

Yes, there is one or two sex scenes in the book.
Yes, there is definite violence in the book.
No, I'm sorry but I wouldn't recommend this book.