The Arrangement [3-4] by H.M. Ward

The Arrangement [3-4] (Arrangement series) by H.M. Ward ☆☆☆☆☆

You know these books/segments are short when I read both of these in one day.

First and foremost, I hate Ms. Black. That's all I need to say about her. Hate. I get her position, I just don't like her. She has no time for being nice. At the same time, Avery can be so stupid. She didn't have to admit what she did with the money as long as she admitted where the money was, but she didn't do that.

So in these two parts, we're back to Sean not knowing what the hell is going through his head. And Avery going through an emotional whiplash between dealing with him and dealing with her own. She's rattled and rightfully so, but everyone warned her.
 

Sean pushes her away, but when he sees her again he can't help but draw her back. It's like he never realizes what he's missing until she walks off. Which completely explains their interactions in Damaged 2 when he met Peter and Sidney in the restaurant with Avery there. At least there Avery is a little more carefree though. In this segments she's still desperately trying to find that part of herself.

The only problem I have with these sections are problems with point-of-view. This series is in the point-of-view of Avery, yet it says things like "I didn't see the look in his eye." Well then how did she know it was there? She couldn't have. And then it's also set in present tense, so when a chapter ends with, "I didn't know how wrong I was," I get confused and forget it's in present tense suddenly. Not to mention, it's unnecessary, first because it sets up what's going to happen before you can even get there and be surprised, and second because I already suspect without that reminder. As big as New York is they're drawn to each other like freaking magnets. I think Mel was right when she said there are some days she wonders about fate.

And lastly, I'm just going to add that when my mom saw the covers of this series in the carousel of my Kindle she stole it away to ogle them and said she'd read them too if she had the time and a Kindle. Oh, my poor mom.

The Arrangement [1-2] by H.M. Ward

The Arrangement [1-2] (Arrangement series) by H.M. Ward ☆☆☆☆☆

So here's the thing you need to know if you read this series: Don't spend your money. These aren't necessarily books, but more like one big book split into mini books. Each "book" or segment flows straight into the next. While this is great while reading, the problem becomes the purchase. Each of these less than 20,000 word segments costs $2.99. So again, I got my copies for free. But it was well worth reading.

So in terms of these first two parts of the Sean Ferro story... 5 stars to both.

I really love reading about Avery. At first I was a little upset that I couldn't see inside Sean's head and see his point-of-view, but it is well worth not seeing it. It's nice seeing only that one side, feeling that one side. She can still see the changes in mood that flash through his eyes, cold or haunted or warm with joy. Sean has all sides to him.

He is a great guy from the first time she meets him thanks to her crappy car. And when life throws her a loop and puts her in a situation she never believed she do in her desperation, she thinks Sean will be the savior she needs. Not so much.

These two have too many issues going on with them. And it creates a push and pull of it's own between the two. Much different that the push and pull between Sidney and Peter in the first Ferro brothers series. Avery is trying to deal with the two sides of Sean that she knows, while Sean is trying to deal with the two sides of himself on his own and failing miserably. I see this toppling down for everyone.

Frigid by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Frigid (Frigid #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout (J. Lynn) ☆☆☆☆☆

Another hit by Armentrout! After loving the Gamble Brothers series so much I decided to try out another one of her books. I loved this one even more, as evidenced by the 5 star rating.

This book has the classic best friends not admitting their love to themselves or each other, found in the Gamble Brothers series, but it also has some great things. For one, there are a little less typos and a lot less use of the erotica words I can't stand, as mentioned in my Tempting the Best Man post. But most especially, this is the first time in reading all these books back to back that the male character doesn't have stunning blue eyes. He's got warm brown eyes. Swoon. Blue eyes get a little repetitive and unrealistic after awhile.

I really liked the idea of getting stuck in a cabin in a freak snowstorm. Not only does it force them to be together, but it reinforces the title of the book. Syd frequently mentions that a guy once called her frigid and now they're stuck in frigid temperatures. Even more interesting is that this book has a mystery plot going on, someone is attacking their cabin and making their lives hell.

I have some great things highlighted and bookmarked in this book. One being how he woke her up in the morning by the fireplace. You'll have to read the book. And the other most hilarious part is Syd walking into a mailbox while drunk and blaming the mailbox. This was especially funny because her "I'm watching you" chastising of the mailbox reflects the one my best friend and I had while playing pool and getting in an argument with the 7 ball because it refused to go in for either of us.

Great book! I wish my bestie could read it, but she doesn't have a Kindle....yet.

Damaged 2 by H.M. Ward

Damaged 2 (Damaged series) by H.M. Ward ☆☆☆☆

So I had to read the sequel. Again, glad I got a free copy. While it didn't have as many typos and writing issues as the first, I still was wary of spending money on a copy.

Extremely glad I read this one and finished out the series between Sidney and Peter. Their story really needed to continue. While we already learned Sidney's past that she's trying to overcome in the first book, we didn't nearly touch on Peter's enough. In the second book, we find that Peter is hiding SO much more than Sidney or anyone else could bargain for.

I loved the push and pull interaction between the two. One minute he wants her and she doesn't and the next minute she wants him and he doesn't. The dynamics were just great. They were great characters to get to know.

I had some issues with the ending and didn't necessarily like it after all the hard work Sidney put in (no spoilers), but I was happy that their story ended. Extremely looking forward to continuing over to his brother's series and finding out just what goes on inside evil Sean's head.

Damaged by H.M. Ward

Damaged (Damaged #1) by H.M. Ward ☆☆☆

The sample of this book automatically popped up on the Kindle app of my phone. They thought is was a great suggestion for me to read. After reading the sample, I definitely wanted to read more despite the plethora of typos, but Amazon reviews warned me against it. So seeing as how I still wanted to finish it, I got a hold of a free copy.

Why it gets three stars? The same reasons that Amazon reviews will give you. Ward apparently couldn't remember the spelling of her own main character's name through the first couple chapters (Sidney or Sydney). There was also a page where Sidney was wearing a shirt at the beginning of the page, but by the end of the same page she was slipping off a dress. And as another example there is a page toward the end of the book where she starts a sentence, but never ends it. This doesn't even count the numerous amount of typos.

However, I really liked the characters. This was by no means erotica although being labeled as such. There were some make out scenes, but that was about it. It really was just about two characters who are damaged in their own ways and I really like how they developed and attempted to come to terms with those parts of themselves.

What's really interesting to me is the concept. Sidney is a TA in the English department, in Texas no less. As I am, however, she's the undergrad kind of TA that helps the professors grade work. In my Texas University though, our English classes never get big enough to need an undergraduate TA, and the TA's we do have (such as myself) actually serve as instructors, teaching their own classes, for rhetoric and composition, i.e. English 101 and 102. So I found a lot of things in this book that I identified with. Though I promise I'm not sleeping with any of my bosses or instructors ;)

There were some hilarious points as well. "Are you sniffing my couch?" was one of them haha. He always seemed to walk in on the worst possible times with her. But also striking with me is when he gave Sidney chocolate because it totally reminded me of Remus Lupin giving Harry Potter a chocolate bar. And in all, I like the way Ward described a lot of things, like the bear on a pink string that weighs on Sidney's chest.

So if you count all the things I love about the book it'd probably get a 5 star rating. But as a composition instructor AND as a writer myself, I just can't get past the glaring typos and writing issues. Didn't stop me from enjoying the book though, just made me glad I got a free copy instead.

Tempting the Player by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Tempting the Player (Gamble Brothers #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout (J. Lynn) ☆☆☆☆

What can I say? I had to read the sequel to Tempting the Best Man as soon as I saw it pop up on Kindle suggestions. And I definitely wasn't disappointed.

I loved seeing Bridget again and getting more of a sense of her. And I loved seeing Chad's growth as a character and his internal issues with emotions. I have quickly fallen in love with these books where neither one will admit their feelings until it all blows up, and once they do admit their feelings it all blows up again. Bravo!

I honestly think my favorite part of this novel was Chase's face at the very end, but you'll have to read this book and it's predecessor to understand why. It was great!

While the characters weren't over exaggerated as they were in the previous book, they still had some exaggeration of their own. It was missing just a tad bit of realism which is where it lost a start obviously. That and the weight thing. Bridget keeps talking about her weight and curves being an issue and it's one of her worries about Chad when he's always with supermodels. My issue is that it never says exactly where she's at on that scale. Hell, a size 2 could be considered gigantic next to a supermodel, so that hesitation is the other reason it lost that star.

Regardless, totally love it and can't wait to read the next one!

Tempting the Best Man by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Tempting the Best Man by Jennifer L. Armentrout (J. Lynn) ☆☆☆☆

First and foremost, a warning. This book turned out to be erotica (surprised, but not displeased on my part). That being said, my review is probably NSFW because I will bring it up.

With that out of the way, this was an unexpected read for me. Seeing as how I'm already reading three books and once, I would have never thought of starting a fourth. Thing is, I got this book for my Kindle probably over a year ago and just came across it on my cloud last night so I thought I'd give it a try as light reading before bed.

Told myself I'd just read one chapter and that's it because I had to be up early. Next thing I know it's sunrise and I'm already at 51%, so a small nap, errand ran, and I got back to finish the rest as quickly as possible.

As a writer, I know that the first sentence, first paragraph, first page is the most crucial. That's what teaches your reader how to read the book (third person focalized, past tense in this case), but also what catches the readers attention. To tell the truth, I just about gave up after the first page. It seemed a little all over the place and the protagonist, Madison, seemed over dramatic and whiny. However, by the last sentence of the first chapter I was sold. I was a little lost when the next chapter started with a focalization on Chase's point-of-view, but once I got the hang of it, it was really perfect.

I liked the characters a lost, especially the mishaps between them. It's like a game of tag and they each keep missing the other, completely out of sync. Great story line. But I also had a lot of things I didn't like. I still felt Madison was a little over dramatic, but I mean, by the end I was kind of feeling the same way with the events. Most specifically though I had a problem with language.

I already addressed language as a stopper for why I almost didn't finish the first page, but it's more than that even. Towards the end there is also an uneven use of father/dad and mother/mom. It sounds really strange. Calling him Dad and then calling him Father just throws me out of the story. Father is much to formal in a story like this. But that's just a few problems I have.

It wasn't just the flow of the words and story, this book actually included a lot of my idiosyncrasies that drive me nuts. This isn't the first erotica I've read, but so help me if I have to read "her sex" or "his sex" ever again I'll strangle someone. Body parts have names! And "sex" is not it. Sex is an event not a noun. This is especially true, when "erection" is pointed out several times, but then later called "his sex" which drove me nuts. Just get on with the story, we get the idea, no hand holding necessary. That use of language takes me out. Let's also go with the use of "rear" used often in this book when "ass" is also used regularly. Just stick with "ass," the characters are in their twenties and "rear" is very old fashioned and prude. It's the word my grandmother uses.

I really would have liked to see a better ending. Like an explanation of why their signals crossed toward the end. It seemed like it all went out the window and forgot half the climax of the ending (no pun intended). The miscommunication was a big part of the story for the last several chapters and it is glossed over completely in the end. And I kind of want to know what happens after, not just imagine it. I want to see the characters more. Who knows though, Chase's brothers are getting their own books too, so maybe I'll see more of Chase after with those sequels.

Overall, 5 stars for storyline, very pleasurable (again no pun intended) light reading, but a lot taken off for use of language. If you can get past the poor use of language, you'll love this.