ARC Review: Cowboy (Busy Bean #2) L.B. Dunbar

 Title: Cowboy (Busy Bean #2) 
Series: World of True North 
Author: L.B. Dunbar
Publisher: HeartEyes Press
Release Date: March 1,2021 

Pregnant at forty-two? Back the cow up...

Harland Bull Eaton has lost many things—his first wife, his beloved mother, those three women he proposed to . . . Oh, and there was that time he almost lost the family dairy farm due to a scandal. He’s losing faith in just about everything, especially love. 

But one night, his friends give him a dare. No commitments. No heartbreak. Just buy that gorgeous redhead a drink. The big-city bombshell he’s set his eyes on swirls him into a tailspin that lands them in bed for a one-night stand he’s pretty sure he’ll never forget. But this time, he swears, he won’t let his heart ride herd on his common sense. 

Recently separated and newly unemployed, Scarlett Russell is at a crossroads. With no other plan than visiting a friend in Vermont, the last thing she expects is a hunky, silver fox offering to buy her a drink. Even less expected is when she raises that offer to “take me to bed, cowboy.” She just wants one night to forget everything gone wrong.

Turns out once won’t be nearly enough. Won’t ever be enough, feeling the way she does. But secrets and an unexpected surprise are a lot to handle . . . unless these two can break a trail to an unexpected happily ever after.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

So this book, this book right here. From the very start I was laughing and enjoying this story. LB Dunbar drew me in from the very first sentence. Bull and Scarlett were a great couple. Seeing both of them being in their 40s and finding their love with each other and the trials that they both had to overcome. Also surprise baby was always worth the read. 

Both of them had so much heartache when they decided to have their one night stand at the very beginning of the book and having never expected to see each other again set everything in motion. Life throws curveballs as both of them quickly learn. Watching them be there for each other no matter what was happening. Both of them deciding that Bull will be part of the baby's life regardless of the situation, the love and respect for one another, was out of this world.

The spicy scenes were well written and the two of them had such great chemistry together both during those moments and the rest of the story in just their interactions with each other and other characters. 

Overall Rating: 4 Stars 

ARC Review - All It Takes - Sadie Munroe

Title: All It Takes
Author: Sadie Munroe
Publisher: Sadie Munroe
Release Date: June 30, 2015
Format: E-ARC
Genre: New Adult
Rating: 3/5
Amazon

Nineteen-year-old Star Collins never intended to return to her hometown, Avenue. That part of her life ended when she was nine years old, and child services took her away from her hoarder mother. Her mother chose her stuff over her daughter. That part of her life was supposed to be in the past.
But her mother has just passed away and Star finds herself giving up her summer to quietly clean out her old home. She just wants to sell it and move on with her life. However, things aren't going the way she planned. With her dyed-black hair and tattoos, she's attracting almost as much attention from the small town residents as Ash Winthrope, the guy who was just released from prison.
All Ash wants is a chance to start over. He screwed up and he knows it, he's going to have to live with the guilt for the rest of his life. But he's stuck in Avenue until his parole ends, and no one, not even his own parents, wants anything to do with him. Nearly out of money and completely out of options, Ash takes the only job he can, helping Star haul stuff out of her mother's house.
Neither of them expects anything to happen between them, or for their lives to change. But sometimes meeting the right person is all it takes.

 Thoughts:

 All It Takes is one debut into the NA world that I enjoyed. The story was unique because I haven't stumbled upon one that involved hoarding and have the plot centered around on how to deal with the aftermath in a case of hoarding. This topic right here was one that I wasn't sure if would have worked or not and in this case it definitely worked. Even the group of characters were unique, I mean yes they followed some of the few stereotypes that are typical with the NA genre and small town scene but it worked.

Star being one of the MCs has to deal with her mother's house after her mother has passed away and her mother having been a hoarder. Star is the type of character who knows she needs help to clear away all the junk but at the same time, she knows that she can't afford to get as much help as she needs, and she doesn't want the town to know. Overall Star is a strong young woman who has managed to overcome a lot in her 19 years and still knows that she has a lot ahead of her.

Ash on the other hand is trying to put his life back together. It was nice for his story to be told because it gave insight into another topic that I don't see much of in books. He too had a lot to overcome after moving back into town himself, after being away in prison for the last 5 years of his life. Both of these characters and the rest of the cast of supporting characters all played their roles in the ways that made sense and at the same time bugged me that some of them could be so self centered and judgmental.

The plot itself was original with all the hoarding and the being in prison, but what really got me was the ending because I didn't see that coming. Throughout the whole book I was thinking that really nothing major was going to happen and then the next thing I know, a major plot twist was thrown in right before the ending and made my brain go into overdrive trying to figure out what happened and what was going to happen.

Overall this was an enjoyable debut into the NA genre and I can't wait to see what Sadie has in store for her next novel.

Stacking the Shelves #1

I was originally starting Stacking the Shelves a couple of months ago but never did so now I'm starting with my first ever Stacking the Shelves out here in California! I'm going to post everything that I've gotten since I arrived out here 3 weeks ago. Before I forget to give credit where it is due Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga over at Tygna's Reviews. 

Without further ado my books since I've arrived:

Won:

Joyride ARC - Thank you Anna Banks!

Gifts:

Ensnared - A.G. Howard (Thank you Renae!)

Purchased: 

The Madman's Daughter - Madman's Daughter Series #1- Megan Shepherd
Her Dark Curiosity - Madman's Daughter Series #2
A Cold Legacy - Madman's Daughter Series #3

The School for Good and Evil - #1- Soman Chainani

Unbreakable - Legion Series #1 - Kami Garcia

Maid of Secrets - Maids of Honor #1 - Jennifer McGowan
The Glass Sentence - S.E. Grove
Mistborn - Mistborn Trilogy #1 - Brandon Sanderson
*All courtesy of the Book Loft in Solvang*
 

Wideacre - Wideacre Trilogy #1 - Philippa Gregory

The Favored Child - Wideacre Trilogy #2 - Philippa Gregory

Meridon - Wideacre Trilogy #3 - Philippa Gregory

*Courtesy of Martin's Used Books in Solvang*

The Selection - Selection Series #1 - Kiera Cass

*Thrift store find*

ARC Review - Stone Faced Angel

Title: Stone Faced Angel
Author: Marie McKean
Publication: February 1, 2015
Format: e-ARC
Stone Faces Series #1

 

*I received an e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Thank you Netgalley and Marie McKean. 

"There are some things I know for sure:
1. I died . . . a long time ago
2. Even in death I was always aware of him.
3. Love has a way of making even angels choose to leave their heaven above."