Heart of the Mountain, Frankie Love and C.M. Seabrook

I wanted so much to like this story.  A heroine who is putting her life on the line for a baby, a celibate (virgin in this case) hero, and a rugged mountain setting...should be amazing, right?  If only.  If only they lived up to the idea I had of them before I started reading.

I just had a really hard time with the heroine's knee-jerk reactions that constantly put her in worse danger.  Her courage was admirable, but she made things worse on multiple occasions and that didn't sit well with me.  There were so many other things she could have done, that he could have done, but once again, we're all victims of their inability to communicate and think before acting.  Which totally bites because I wanted to like this book!!  The big conflict just didn't work for me either.  A lot of build up and a whole lot of crazy that seemed more like a rushed resolution.

According to the Amazon reviews pouring in, it appears that I am in the minority.  I usually love the author's work and snag almost every book she writes, but this story just did not live up to her usual standard, in my opinion.

*99¢ on Amazon

An angel.
It's the worst rainstorm in history when I find her unconscious in the woods.
Sent from heaven.
She's lost and alone, a newborn baby in her arms.
I will protect them. My cabin is their shelter from the storm. Under my care, no one can hurt them.
Whatever the cost. But I'm not who she thinks I am.
And if she finds out, she'll keep on running.
My home is her home, my heart her heart. And I sure as hell don't want to break it.

Gravity: Savages and Saints Book 2, C.M. Seabrook

The broken pieces of him matched the broken pieces of her.  While it's always our hope and intent to be whole by ourselves, for some of us it takes help, companionship, love.  Someone to fill our voids and help us achieve what we couldn't on our own.  Kade and Sophie are both aching but if they can let go of their fear and insecurities they can find a new happiness they were too grief-stricken to imagine before.

With Kade being big, broody, gorgeous, and celibate, I was almost expecting more intensity and misplaced frustration.  But what we got was a soft, feeling man with a heart so big and so fragile that I was almost nervous that Sophie wouldn't live up to my hopes for her.

She did, though.  Sophie was all kinds of fragile herself and it was her misplaced guilt that was breaking her the hardest.  The steel in her spine regarding her ex wasn't always apparent but the evidence of it was in her courage to leave, courage to stay with Kade, and courage to save the ones she could.  Her penchant for running often hid that strength but sometimes there's wisdom in getting away.  Unfortunately her past can run just as fast and far as she can.

The drama in the story was angsty and full of intimations of the deeper darkness in everyone so we're nowhere near the end of everyone's redemption and healing but we're making slow, steady progress.  Kade and Sophie both had to face up to their grief and pain as individuals but also together.  They each brought about that confrontation but also provided the balm necessary to soothe one another.  With the sweet, sappy, and childish (in all the best ways) ending I'm so full of feels for them, their journey, and the future they're building.  Such a fantastic story!

*$3.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU!

Torment: Savages and Saints Book 1, C.M. Seabrook

Quinn has loved Zee her whole life and despite the hurt and the six-year separation, she can't seem to shake her feelings.  No man she dates can measure up, no man tears her up or torments her heart the same way.  And when she finds him in her bed one night she can't deny that despite him making her crazy, she'd like to keep him there.

Zee knows Quinn has had a crush on him for most of their lives and somewhere deep inside he knows that it's her adoration that lights his heart.  But he also knows that the darkness eclipses everything and ruins everyone he touches.  His penchant for running away is the only thing that can truly break her heart and he'll do it because the one thing he knows above all else is that he's unworthy of love.

They've led a long life together but always on the periphery of one another.  With the two families intricately connected it was inevitable, but what wasn't was the fallout after the St. James patriarch's death.  Zee doesn't handle it well and his mistakes are all catching up with him.  Even after six years of being gone there's nowhere else he can run without trying to make it up to everyone he's hurt.  Except no matter how hard he tries he seems to only be successful at mucking it all up and then pulling a runner.

If it weren't for Quinn he'd be out the door right away but there's something about her that keeps him there.  He won't admit that he yearns for her but with her permission he'll give her all the passion she craves with the caveat that it can't be permanent.  Quinn accepts because she'll take anything she can get from the man who could very easily become her whole world.

I liked these people.  Quinn was full of sass and stubborn as an ox but so very full of love.  Through everything it's her love and willingness to see beyond the pain that makes me love her.  She's immature at times but that kind of adds to her charm.  Zee is such a martyr.  But he doesn't even martyr well.  He's full of self-loathing and a lot of it is with good reason.  He needs a lot of help to work beyond all that to right his wrongs.  I like him because he's redeemable and the way he is with Quinn when he's not being a prick is so tender and full of hope.  I'm looking forward to seeing them on the periphery of the rest of the series.  As the first coupling from these families they've brought together the Savages and Saints in a way that will provide fodder, angst, and incredible feels throughout the subsequent books.

*99¢ on Amazon or FREE on KU!

Taming Irish: Wild Irish Book 3, C.M. Seabrook

Absorbing, compelling, captivating, sizzling from the first page to the last.  Two people determined to avoid commitment but for very different reasons.  Shane wants to make women sing, but only in bed.  Makena wants to hide, preferably in bed, but alone.  When an unintentional airplane encounter and an equally surprising knock on the door bring them into one another's orbit there's little they can do to escape from the passion and interest drawing them together.  Until their respective pasts show up and threaten the tenuous relationship they've been building.

Shane, the sexy bachelor drummer of the band Wild Irish, is restless.  He wishes he were on tour and is beginning to resent the other members of Wild Irish and the domesticity they've found with their spouses.  Believing that there's nothing missing in his life, he's certain none of his vices are fillers for some kind of emptiness in his soul.  At least, not like Cillian and Owen had before they found love.  He's perfectly happy and content with bedding every interested woman he comes across.  He doesn't need anything more than a drink, his music, and a willing woman.  But with one random encounter with a skittish yet gorgeous American, he's headed straight for happily ever after and he doesn't even know it.

Makena has been hurt, degraded, shamed by the person she thought would love her forever.  Vows apparently meant nothing to her celebrity ex and she has absolutely zero interest in getting involved with another celebrity again, even if the one both flirting with and annoying her is as sexy a man as she's ever seen.  Not knowing who Shane really is, she's caught off guard with everything she learns of him as they get to know one another.  Before she knows it she's falling hard and fast until her past and the tabloids catch up with them and she's ready to abandon her budding feelings in favor of the safety of hiding in anonymity.

He's determined to get her into bed, she's determined to stay out of it.  It's inevitable with their chemistry that Shane's more likely to get what he wants than Makena, but what he wasn't counting on was catching his own feelings for her.  They're explosive together but also amazingly tender.  It feels so genuine, natural, organic how their relationship progresses.  The timeline is quick, yes, but when you know, you just know.  With family and friends supporting them through their courtship they see that a future between them is actually possible.

The drama that followed Shane threatened to ruin everything between him and Makena.  I was predicting a reveal in the worst way and for her to jet back to America or at least break things off in a way that made him run and avoid her for a while until she came back to her senses and approached him, but what happened was immensely better than that.  There were a ton of ways it could have happened but the way it came out had both predictable reactions and unexpected ones too.  I liked how things worked out, that circumstances saved Makena from jumping to conclusions and kept Shane from botching the delivery too badly.

Speaking of circumstances, the issue with Shane's drama ended up being quite intense and absolutely unexpected.  It was also short and resolved fairly quickly so it didn't draw too much focus away from the MC's and the relationship unfolding in the story.  A flash of crazy amidst a bit of angst and a whole lot of tender revelations, sweet confessions, and hopeful promises.

I loved this story.  Makena's struggles were realistic and her panicked confession that brought out Shane's offer was painfully honest and endearing.  Her vulnerability spoke to Shane in a way he was never expecting.  Shane was all kinds of hotness and temptation but his heart is so very good.  His devotion to family and music drew him to the beauty of Makena's soul.  They were such a good pair for one another.  The events in the story ranged from sweet to sexy and back again so many times that when the absolutely incredible epilogue rolled around I was so in love with them that I wasn't sure I could fall any deeper.  I was wrong.  The epilogue brought everyone together in a way that was incredibly uplifting and the perfect way to draw all three couples' story to a stunning close.

*$3.21 on Amazon or FREE on KU!

*Fall for each of the men of Wild Irish 

along with their women on the verdant hills of Ireland...