Cricket Under Fire by Natasza Waters

Cricket Under Fire rocketed its way to my most favorite bookshelf. It blends the anticipation of new adventures with some comfort of previous characters (from her Warriors Challenge series), setting this first story in her spin off series with a blast!

I quickly connected to Rayne in several ways which drew me all the deeper into the story. I couldn't be an analyst like her, but in all the ways that truly matter, I identified with her softer strength, her trusting spirit, her innocent nature. She gave off this vibe of needing to be protected, but yet, also had a gentle confidence and ability around her that gave her the strength she needed to stand on her own.

And who better to match up a girl like that than an alpha warrior who's lifeblood demands he protects. Some men need that sweetly soft girl in their life to give them balance and purpose - Elijah was such a man. He knew Rayne was special from the moment he ran across her, and understood just how much her presence in his life could and would change him. He respected her but didn't let her hide away, and he protected her so she could stay the woman he needed. He was a leader of men, honorable, but stubborn and bossy.

Cricket Under Fire fed my reader soul bountifully. The heart-pounding moments, the swoony-sweet memories, the intense chemistry - all combined to build the anticipation and provides laughs, heat, and anxiety.

If you're a fan of military romance with suspense and adventure thrown in, this is your story. While it is written to be enjoyed as a stand-alone, readers of the Warrior Challenge series will be delighted by the presence of several beloved characters. I definitely recommend reading those stories as well, and am anxiously awaiting what's to come.

A Gift of Christmas Hope by Kaye Spencer

This is a delightful and steamy little Christmas tale to warm you up on the cold winter night!

I adored the history/connection between Mara and Neal, which provides the perfect set up to deepen their re-connection. Their banter and tenacity with each other kept me entertained.

Mixing in some treasure and some Christmas hope, this short story sweetly satisfies.

The Savior by Cristin Harber

Nov 2019 reread
I don't know exactly what it is that keeps me coming back to this story over and over again, but each time I finish I fall in love just a little bit harder and walk away with something new touching my heart, besides just soaking in the hard fought for happily ever after.

............
Omgoodness y'all. Be prepared. The Savior will capture your heart, wring it empty of every little drop of emotion, then fill it to overflowing with breath-stealing goodness!

Liam and Chelsea's story start out with their world being shattered and learning how to keep living through intense grief. Their intense pain and struggle with healing from that loss mixed with conflict from work related situations that have some scary real-life-threatening consequences just seem like it's too much to deal with, and you find yourself holding your breath waiting for the next shoe to drop.

Liam rocked my world with how much he felt, how deeply he loved, how intensely and deliberately he lived life. Chelsea won me over with her compassion, realness, devotion, and her spirit. Together they find healing, trust, and a crazy fun and treasured love.

Throw in some spec ops missions, shocking revelations, frustrating word games, and a quirky cute lesson in romance and you have a high-charged action adventure along with a captivating love story. Oh, and you can't forget the Titan-esque moments that make you secretly giddy.

Hidden within the pages of this story are several nuggets of truth and tough love and grace. They translate perfectly from the story into the reader's head, settling there and showing the beauty behind the life lessons, and hopefully sinking deep to acceptance.

I was shaken by how viscerally I reacted to this story, soaking up all the emotions and feeling like I was living their journey with them. Words have a power to them, and if allowed, can embed and overflow -- which The Savior did for me.

So, basically -- get this book, buckle in, remember to breathe, turn the page and hang on for an intense ride. You won't regret it.

Luke by Kimberly Lewis

Luke and Karlie's story provided a much enjoyed easy and light-hearted read, with just enough drama to keep things moving. I loved Karlie's confidence and her flirty fun attitude. I adored Luke's protective instincts and how when he fell for Karlie, he fell hard and it didn't matter what his past was, he was all in. The family bonds and interactions provided some hilarious comic relief.

And I gotta say, this story made me want to go out and find a horse to pet and ride.

This was my first book (audio) by Kimberly Lewis and I'm looking forward to backtracking some and getting the other McKade's stories when looking for a palette cleanser story.

btw, the narrator on this book - absolutely terrific!!

The Will by Kristen Ashley

love love LOVE Josie and Jake's story! Add in the awesome kids and poof! My heart is gone!

I adore how Josie and Jake get involved and grow their relationship. Mix in the rest of the crew/town/friends and Jake gettin' all alpha and then his fights? Yup, Jake owns my heart, no doubt!

One of my top fav KA books (shoot, aren't they all almost like that!)

Nov 2019 cover to cover reread. ...... Still absolutely in love with this story. Every emotion felt deep down and bubbled over. Was rereading parts before finishing it up.

Veils by Brynne Asher

Veils delivers all the heart racing and pounding adventure mixed in with sweetly beautiful moments I've come to expect from the Killers series.

Gracie and Noah's story became so much more than what I was hoping and expecting to get, which absolutely delighted me and kept me riveted to my kindle, fighting between wanting to read faster to see what happens next and wanting to slow down so it wouldn't end yet.

I loved the match of healer Gracie combined with killer Noah, and how each had exactly what the other desperately needed. There's something swoon-worthy about a man who knows what he wants and doesn't allow anything to get in his way.... anything! And then having the girl be the soft that helps to smooth out her man's rough edges? Add in the beauty that comes from friendships and family, and the intense way that love is shown, magic is created.

As with all the other stories in the Killers series, Veils quickly became a favorite and I'm looking forward to what the future holds for this story-world.

Gunslinger by Cynthia Breeding

This was a fun twist on the usual gunslinger stories. Mixing a bit of insta-connection/attraction with slow burn, and a bit of mystery with intrigue, the Gunslinger provides a light-hearted but attention grabbing story.

I enjoyed getting to be in both Luke and Abigail's heads at they tried to figure the other out, keep secrets hidden, fight their attraction, and find their new place in life. Luke, while having a pretty tragic event in his past, didn't seem overly wounded or hardened (which is what you kinda expect for a gunslinger, or maybe what I've been conditioned to expect) - in fact, he proved himself to be quite put together and teasingly charming. I loved the moments where his protective instincts overflowed and he didn't back down - and the other moments where he refused to give in and kept pursuing what he (and Abigail) needed. Abigail was endearing in her street-smarts, her determination to leave her past and turn over a new leaf, and her sweet (but at times surprisingly confident) innocence despite her past. There was a moment of deja vu in the story, and I loved how the actions played out organically provided the confirmation Luke and Abigail needed in their relationship.

If you're looking for a easy to read story that provides some spice and mystery with a sweet love story, this would work!

Fast Lane by Kristen Ashley

This story stuck with me and gave me quite the hangover, to where I needed some time to process it.

I loved the way it felt like I was watching a VH1 behind-the-music documentary, and how it made me believe the band was really REAL and this wasn't a fictional story I was reading. I enjoyed seeing the story unfold through Jesse's pov/interviews mostly (even if I kinda do wish we'd have gotten to hear more about some of Jesse's personal journey and kinda feel jipped we didn't). Fast Lane kept with KA's usual format, where it was not just a couple's love story, but the band's story and a love story of friends/brothers-of-the-heart. While I do kinda wish we had gotten some more time either interviewing Preacher or getting the story from his pov, I'm not sure if I could have handled always being in Lyla or Preacher's head with some things that happened - so after I got into the rhythm of the story, it totally worked for me hearing it mostly from Jesse.

I hurt (horrifically badly) with some moments, choices, and some aspects of the story (but I'll admit, a few threads did "fit" with the rock'n'roll band part of the story, even if they're things I try to avoid exposure to), to where while I deeply enjoyed the story overall, not sure if I can reread this book (after all my initial rereads the day after I finished just to help process the hangover). Just me personally. :)

I also wish that we've have gotten some lyrics to the songs that the band wrote (although I see that KA has a website for readers to submit lyrics, so... (shrug)) - just felt like that was missing. Not even the entire song, but a few lines would have been a sweet touch. And sometimes I felt kinda overwhelmed with the music choices included... idk.

Another reviewer mentioned it was nice that there was more story and not so much intimate time detailed out (after some of the extremes of several recent releases), and I have to agree, I appreciated that as well. I have pointed out to several people before that some of my favorite KA intimate times ended up being 3-5 lines of innocent words that because of the build up before almost became hotter than the 2-3 pages of details (but there were alot of good longer moments mixed in there too).

Otherwise, Preacher rocked (well, except for a couple of choices/words/events that just.....), Lyla was adorable, Jesse was awesome, and this was quite the book to fall into and experience.

Wildest Dreams by Rosanne Bittner

Oct 2019 reread

It's been a few years since I last visited Wildest Dreams, and what started as a "read a few favorite scenes to get over a Rosanne Bittner hangover from reading Ride the High Lonesome" idea quickly changed to where I was lost in the story and had to keep going till the end. I had forgotten so much to where in some ways it felt like a new to me read, but at the same time, I felt the comfort of a long-lost friend.

Luke and Lettie's story remains high on my favorite shelf. There's just something about reading a couple's story where they fall in love and start building a family together from early on in the book and we get to experience their life together -- raising their family, surviving the tragedies, rejoicing in the triumphs, dreaming, pursuing, changing, growing.... living. There's such beauty in watching the bond deepen between Luke and Lettie through the decades and how that flows down to their children.

This family saga delivers what feels like a several book series into one volume - we get plenty of details and focused attention on events, but are also able to move forward through time smoothly and not feeling like anything was left out.

Wildest Dreams is an epic story that will sweep you away and consume your thoughts.

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2013 review

I'm loving that Rosanne Bittner is starting to put her older novels out in kindle format - and I hope she continues because she writes some of the best historical romance novels I've found! I only read a couple of her books way back when and it wasn't until this year that I rediscovered her and was thrilled to read Wildest Dreams!

One reviewer mentioned that this wasn't much of a romance novel - and I'd have to disagree. Yes, it isn't the typical story where most of the book is dedicated to the falling in love part and ends at the wedding with an epilogue glimpse into the future. You do get to experience the falling-in-love part, however, this book spends most of the time focusing on their lives from the wedding on - and the romance and how their love grows through the years. Trust me, the romance is there and honestly, I enjoy experiencing books where the story continues way past the wedding. That's where true love is forged in steel and where romance blooms to it's fullest. Luke and Lettie are two of my favorite RB characters and this book will always remain on my keeper shelf! How they work together to build their family and cattle-empire and what they face to make those dreams come true will keep you enthralled from the first sentence to the last page!

Ride the High Lonesome by Rosanne Bittner

Raw and poignant, Ride the High Lonesome seizes your attention from the start and keeps you spellbound until the end.

Fate intertwines Kate with Luke, at first simply for survival, and then as time goes on, as a peaceful solace to their hearts. In a time and place where surviving was a constant challenge, they provided motivation and strength to each other, quickly becoming the ideal match for each other. While both had a past that created mental wounds in desperate need of healing, that vulnerability left them open to the beauty they could find together. The trials encountered built the solid foundation and trust needed to heal and move forward, claiming the good out of life they both needed and desired.

I adored being there as Kate found her strength again, let go of her loneliness and fears, and settled into the love and security Luke provided. I think she's alot like most women out there - stronger and braver than she realized, and just needed the right encouragement and time to claim that for herself. I loved Luke's deep sense of honor, respect, protectiveness, and determination. He carried a heavy burden and had some dark demons messing with him, but he dug deep and didn't allow them to destroy the good he found in his Kate. Luke had his moments of larger-than-life virility, but it was perfectly woven in with moments of vulnerability and a touch of [make you wanna growl at him], keeping him real-to-life.

This story quickly became one of my top favorite Rosanne Bittner tales, with the emotional impact, epic story-telling, and the charm of an captivating love story. Bringing the wild vastness of Wyoming to life around me, I felt transported back in time and became lost in a different reality. I took my time reading this book just because I wanted to soak up every moment spent with Luke and Kate and didn't want it to end. And when it was over, after I took a few moments to soak it all in, I jumped back in to reread favorite parts... and I can't wait to revisit them again and again!

Sioux Splendor by Rosanne Bittner

It's interesting how a almost 30yr old story read 6 years after the first initial reading resonates so differently. Interesting how life experiences draw you to certain stories again and feed your readers heart with a whole new understanding.

I intimately experienced Cynthia and Red Wolf's soul deep attraction and connection and felt their pain at being ripped apart and trying to just keep surviving each day. And then the joyous REUNION where they discovered just how much they desperately needed the other.... Swept me away.

Loved this book now more than I did before.

It may be an older story, but it still captures attention yet today.



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2013 review
Cynthia and Red Wolf had much to overcome before they could get their hea. Loved how they finally connected - my heart broke when they were torn apart, and I loved watching them finally make it back to each other's arms. Another Native American story that I just loved!