Review: Damage

Damage by Mia Monroe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ohhhhhhh, how do I explain how much I love this story!!!

“Let’s go back in time to three years ago when I begged you to stay. Or how about when I begged you to let me come. You told me you didn’t want to be in my way. Well, Seppe, you’re in my way now. Go on with your life and leave me out of it. You’re good at that.”

Welcome to the second book from an author who’s becoming one of my autobuys - Damage: A Love in the City Novel is another fantastic read from Mia Monroe and she had me hooked from the first line! The promise of a second chance romance (yes, I love these too!!!) between a chef and a teacher/aspiring author was too strong for me to resist.

I loved the introduction to Nolan Brooks and the town of Beacon at the end of Deviate: A Love in the City Novel. You don’t need to have read it to enjoy Damage but JPK does make an appearance and his lovely other half Quinn is mentioned. I’m guessing this is a series of standalones set in a singular universe - Mia, please correct me if I’m wrong! I’m loving the town and the residents we’ve met so far, so I’m anticipating a fabulous series of stories that prove the only thing that matters is love and that love always wins. It definitely wins when the universe conspires against you!



Nolan Brooks was crushed when Seppe Stilo pushed him aside and took off to teach in Italy for a year. It was a dream chance, he would have never asked him to turn it down - he would have followed Seppe anywhere because he loved him that much. Unbeknownst to Seppe, and Nolan, he felt exactly the same way but somewhere in his thinking and planning for his future he’d never seen meeting the man of his dreams before all that travelling had happened. He didn’t recognize what was right in front of his face in the relationship he had with Nolan -

His hand grips the base of my neck, holding my mouth a prisoner to his, but I’d happily belong to him if he kissed me like this every day. This is more than a kiss. This is an experience. This is a beginning.

They had chemistry, a happy domesticity and yet… When Seppe leaves for Italy, he lets it all crash and burn because he doesn’t want to take Nolan’s dreams of being a Michelin star chef of his own restaurant from him to have him follow along behind him. Worst. Mistake. EVER! Watching them come back from that to find each other? Absolutely beautiful!



Can I just say, I love the friendship between Trina and Nolan? Everyone needs a friend to help them pick up the pieces and move on with life when their hearts get broken - Trina does this for Nolan beautifully. Their banter constantly made me laugh and her advice was touching and on point for someone who knew what Nolan had been like in the aftermath of the breakup.

“Unless you want to try talking to him.”

“I’ve had four shots. Ain’t no talking happening tonight.”

“Then you could angry fuck him.” She giggles. “Then kick him out in the morning. That would be so hot.”

I laugh. “For who?”

“You while it’s happening, and me when you tell me about it.”

There were so many great moments in here for both of them with Trina - that she could be a friend to both men, see that this was the great love of her friend's life and know that Nolan needed to actually deal with the pain and heal from their separation in order to see what they could have together in future was beautiful. She was like their wise woman and their biggest fangirl!

Nolan and Seppe still have a smoldering spark between them and they learn through honest talks and trying to rebuild a friendship first that they were always meant to be. This is a fabulous second chance story for that reason. It's not ignored that Seppe caused him pain when he left - they deal with those ghosts several times throughout their tale and many authors seem to have their characters "get over it" way too quickly. It takes them time to build some trust back and there are moments that shake that trust between them but they work through them by communicating openly and honestly.

I'm so in love with this series, I think you need some of my…

Favourite Lines -

”He was married. I was pissed when I found out. That’s not my style, you know.”

“Husband not cutting it at home?”

“Wife doesn’t have a dick.”

“Ooh.” I scrunch my face. “Hate that shit.”

“You and me both.”

His words may say we’re just friends, but his kiss says we’re so much more.

“Want to come over? Or I’ll come over there.”

“Come to me. Took my bra off. Not putting it back on.”

I laugh. “On my way.”

When the music starts and the first performer comes out, I try to ignore the growing desire to take him home with me tonight. We’re just friends. Who’s brilliant fucking idea was that? Oh, that’s right. It was my dumb ass.

“God, Brooks. Me too. So much. If you ever give me the chance I will blow your mind. I will love you so hard. You deserve nothing less than my entire heart. It’s yours.”

His bottom lip quivers, but he pulls me close and kisses me again. Soft, sweet, sensual kisses. “You’ve owned me since the day we met,” he whispers. “I love it, and I hate it.”

Pull up a seat and wait with me for more from this author - and one click this baby today!!!! You need these two in you life, you don't know it yet - BUT YOU DO!!!!



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Review: Falling for His Friend

Falling for His Friend by Jamie June
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a new to me author - I'm coming in at book four of a series people and that's maybe not the best idea I have ever had when in comparison to this one because I felt like I was missing something. So my rating is a 4 star - I want to give it more and I reserve the right to come back to this after I've read the first books in the series and revise it.



Falling for His Friend is the fourth book in Jamie June's Soldier's Support Group series and it's the story of Nicholas, a seemingly straight man who’s going through a wicked divorce from a crazy ex, and Jaren, an out and proud man who is probably the sweetest thing I've ever read, and how they stumble past the line of friendship to the realization that they are meant to be together. Definitely friends to lovers (which I love) and a GFY/OFY story here, and while I loved the story and the writing and the story, there is a little something lacking in the secondary character relationships if you haven't read the other books in the series. I know it made me want to read the others to see how they got to the opening chapter's wedding and how their friendships developed - and their relationships.



And considering what Nicholas is going through, can you imagine starting the chapter being a guest at a wedding while you're in the middle of something cruel and heartbreaking like he was? I turned down numerous wedding invites to some of my closest friends when I was in the middle of my divorce, so I understood that deep loneliness that Nicholas was feeling.

It was a slow, steady, unpleasant cycle: feel bad for yourself that you're alone, get mad at yourself for being jealous, feel bad because you're jealous, rinse, repeat.

How many times did I do the same? His feelings of failure and moments where utter worthlessness crept into his soul really struck a chord with me. I know I went through that cycle every time someone posted something slightly happy on social media with their significant other, why would being present at a wedding be any different?

Normally, I would give you my favourite lines and they'd be hilarious - these ones made me feel as well as some of them making me laugh…

Favourite Lines -

"Champagne's the kind if drink I feel like I can drink alone," I told him catching his attention again. I leaned in just a little, to keep the conversation between friends. "It's not everyday like beer is or as hard as, say, and sophisticated in a kind of Audrey-Hepburn-living-alone-in-the-city way."

He snorted but didn't smile outright. "Jaren, that's literally the gayest thing I've ever heard."

I nudged him again, getting just a bit closer.

"It's not weird to be, like… you know."

Okay, maybe not my finest speech.

He was always handsome, always sweet, always there.

It's always the friends, in all the romcoms. It's always the one right in front of you./blockquote>

In a feat only achieved by intense need and lust, I managed to open my front door with my back to it and without looking at the lock. That's skill right there.

Lingering Questions -

1) What the hell came before this one?!?! I need the other books to know the backstories --
ASAP!
2) I wanna see what's happening with Ian!!!! How long are we waiting?????



Pick this one up and give it chance while I go back and read all about the side characters - you don’t really need to have read the rest, but I felt like I was missing something so I think this should probably be read in order.



One-click this baby today!

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Review: Kaden

Kaden by R.J. Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Love. How the hell had that happened? How was it that pretending to be in love had become so much more than that?

Oh, this book! THIS BOOK!!!! This story was so much more than I was prepared for, and I don't know if I can even do the story justice in my review.

Kaden is a boyfriend for hire story - a fake relationship with a little bit of forced proximity where the acting becomes more than just acting in which Kaden and Ryan find a way to heal the hurts that the past has left behind for both of them. I think I've found a new favourite for this trope! It makes me want to rewind and read Darcy to get the full feeling of the series! Yes, this is the second in the Boyfriend for Hire series but it can totally be read as a standalone because that's what I just did!!



I wasn't expecting this book to be so hard for me to read - please don't get me wrong, it wasn't because this was a bad story! Look at my rating, this was an excellent story on par with what I expect when I read a book that has R.J. Scott's name attached to it. The reason it was so hard was because of Ryan's history with his ex - because I lived that kind of relationship. I've been there, got the t-shirt and all the PTSD and trust issues to prove it.

Where Kaden's issues came to his family life and how he was raised, Ryan's with an emotionally (and implied physically) abusive ex. What was worse was how Ryan was stuck in a cycle of pain because of a damning viral video that was leaked to the media that threatens to turn his skyrocketing career into flaming wreckage because of that relationship. I won't spoil exactly who leaked the video, or even who filmed it because both are an integral part of the story that brings him to his moment of healing when he could stand up and say Me Too without complete embarrassment and fear. That was the most beautiful part of this whole story - just seeing Ryan make those steps towards the long road to healing his soul and finally taking a chance on loving someone else and giving them the trust required to hold his heart in their hands. I can't say I'm completely there yet myself, but I don't shy away from the fact that I've lived it. I've accepted that there was no fault in me that made those things happen. That wasn't love, and I didn't deserve the treatment I received and it was something beautiful to see Ryan feel safe, to be honest with the world and let his story be heard.

Normally, I would give you my favourite lines - but so many of them are spoilery this time that I can't do as many as I usually would. So here are the few that stuck with me…

Favourite Lines -

"I should have stayed on Destiny Cove; it was easier there."

Carmen smiled, then said, "You were lucky to get out before the alien dinosaur baby storyline, which you know would have deteriorated into Dino-porn, where you'd forever be known as the T-Rex of handjobs."

That kiss. That had been everything he'd ever wanted. The taste of it, the confidence, the experience - it was all the things that he'd never had with anyone else.

I want more.

I can't have more. Not for real.

Trust was fragile, like a thin layer of ice over water, and he didn't want to endure the heart-rending chill of the freezing waters below, not again.

Seriously, people, you need to read this book. Read it for the beauty that R.J. Scott and Meredith Russell have brought the world shining a light on what love and relationships look like when you are a survivor of an abusive relationship. One click this baby today! You’re going to love it!!!



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