Begin as you meant to go on...

With that in mind, these two series have set a pretty high bar for themselves.

The first is from Skylar Hill, a personal favorite author of mine, and I love where she's going with this.  She's got passion, vulnerability, humility, fun, quirkiness, and serious potential with her MC's both individually and together.  The supporting cast she has created is, as always, a great group surrounding Nora and Luke.  And then there are the casual details that bring all her stories together in the awesome setting that is Portland, Oregon...which happens to be my hometown so I'm a bit biased here...

Second is by Grayson Knight and is a story with a taboo theme of a young man and his step-father.  These kinds of stories are often my guilty pleasure that I read and don't really let anyone know about but since the two MC's aren't actually related in any way and there are extenuating circumstances for the marriage that we're not privy to as yet in the story, I'm not feeling really guilty about this one.

So, without further ado, here's what I thought of each book and my feelings about the series and where it's going...

Six Impossible Things, Skylar Hill

Such an awesome start! Nora is light, sweet, fun, and a bit hurt from her ex-fiancé's infidelity. Luke is intrigued, courteous, eager, and adventurous. His interest in Nora is really great because it promises so much fun, tenderness, and a lot of healing.

From start to finish Nora is cute, quirky, and determined to live life on her own terms after her prick of an ex revealed his cheating and ended their engagement.  She somehow lost sight of herself and is intent on rediscovering herself and all the zest she used to have for life and color.  With the help of her friends Hunter and Margeaux she's being set up on a date with the rich and handsome Luke.

Luke has a troubled past with the loss of his parents and estrangement from his brother.  Having bright, loyal, and kind people in his life like Hunter and Margeaux he's able to reign in his need for extremes and also find happiness.  Well, a measure of it at least.  He didn't know something was missing until he was trapped by a picture of Nora.  Excited for a chance to get to know her beyond her tantalizing smile in the photo he begins their courtship with a crazy idea.  A crazy idea he got from Nora, well, Grandma Nora to be exact.

From here we see the beginning of their courtship adventure and a deepening of affection.

Luke has really pulled out the stops to not just impress Nora, but to fulfill her Grandmother's belief in doing six impossible things before breakfast.  Sharing a laugh and giving the gift of literature he begins.  His creativity is really sweet!  I wasn't expecting their first date to be as thoughtful as it was.  I did expect that he would be creative and to use his wealth for the greater good, but to be so insightful as well as thoughtful I fell in love with him a little bit myself.

This continues exactly from where the first book left off and I was so glad to have the second part at my fingertips as soon as I finished the first.  Where Part 1 left off with a heartwarming feeling this one ends with a door opening on something rather unpleasant.  I wish I had Part 3 right now!  Skylar really knows how to use anticipation to her advantage.  She gives enough details to have us wanting to know more rather than just using a cliffhanger to create that feeling.  The story itself is what will bring us back for more, the cliffhanger just adds to the impatience we feel for the arrival of the next part.  And impatience with all kinds of hopefulness is what I'm filled with...

Six Impossible Things, Part 1

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Six Impossible Things, Part 2

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Novocaine, Grayson Knight

Here we meet Jackson, and 18 year old boy on the cusp of manhood and growing up.  He mostly raised by himself due to an apathetic mother who was more antagonistic than helpful and nurturing.  The one thing she did do right was to introduce Jackson to Cole, her fiancé.  Cole is supportive, involved, and he grows to care for Jackson quite a bit.  Jackson has grown to care for Cole as well, but it has gone beyond simple caring for a father figure in his life and much more than just knowing a responsible adult that could influence him for good.  No, it's a much deeper interest that has captured him.  Jackson has a big ole floating hearts crush on Cole.

Jackson is a young man and yet determined to show Cole what he could have.  He's sure he isn't imagining the tiny little signs of interest from Cole and with no respect for his mother (justified lack of respect, I should add), he puts on a display for the man who has been caught watching through the crack in the door.  This sets things into motion that bring into question all kinds of things:  Cole's level of interest, validity of marriage vows, and events Jackson couldn't have predicted.

Forbidden Lust ends with a jaw dropper.  It's hot yet also a bit of WTF.

With a whole can of worms opened up we pick up where we left off at the end of Forbidden Lust where Cole is off with "mother of the year" for their honeymoon.  Wait, honeymoon?  Yes, you read that correctly, Cole did in fact marry the mother.  I mean, this wouldn't be a taboo story if he didn't, right?  Well not all is as it appears and this book drops a ton of bombs on us.  A drunken reveal and a painful silence both push Jackson to make a decision.  To stay with Cole or go to college and away from the man he's falling for?

No relationship can survive if there is no honesty and this is what Jackson is struggling with the most.  Without revealing what happens in the book I'll just tell you that no matter what happened or didn't, my vote is for college.  I do want Cole to sort out his past and his present and for him to let Jackson into his heart and his vault of secrets where he belongs.  I also want Jackson to have a chance to grow up, mature, experiment, and become the man he is capable of becoming before he and Cole come together for good.

Is that what will happen?  Who knows?  But I am eagerly awaiting to see where the author takes us.

Forbidden Lust

Forbidden Truth