No One Crosses the Wolf by Lisa Nikolidakis

This is a memoir about a troubled childhood full of abuse and neglect. It’s not an easy read and I wasn’t looking for one. It follows her growing up years with her brother and parents and all the trauma you can imagine.

Her father is a piece of crap, to put it lightly. He is an alcoholic that spends most of his at-home hours terrorizing his family. When he isn’t home, they dread his coming home so they are never truly free of him. After reading her recollections of him, I can understand that fear.

And her mother isn’t much better in comparison. She doesn’t abuse the kids but she doesn’t stop the abuse either. She puts her head in the clouds and pretends that everything is just fine. Domestic violence doesn’t go away because you want it to, you have to stop it! Her mother failed them all.

When her father finally snaps, I expected more somehow. More untangling the emotional threads of her life. More in-depth onion peeling. I wanted to see her do the hard work to undo all the lessons that her upbringing taught at such high prices. But she did none of it. She drank, slept around, and went to Greece. I’m healed!!! The end. What?? Yeah, I’m confused too.

My first inclination was to give this a 2-star review. I mulled it over though, for several days I might add. Three is as high as I can go. She writes well. She knows how to create an atmosphere and add texture and shade to a story but in the end, there’s no story. There’s no healing final chapter. There’s no Oprah “Aha!” moment. And that is a true letdown.

⭐⭐⭐ /⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Stealing Iris by Sahara Roberts

Iris isn’t exactly living on Easy Street, but she’s making the best of her situation. She works in her father’s grocery store and has a good friend. Unfortunately she also has two people in her life that want to bring her down and are slowly winning that fight. Her past has made her strong and resilient and she will need that everyday.

Dante has his hands full running what appears to be a criminal enterprise. He has a team of people at his beck and call but no one special to share his life and bed. One look at Iris and his mind dreams up all kinds of filthy scenarios and he soon acts on them. When trouble comes knocking he will need his team and their special skill set.

Fate and literal pain brings them together when Iris needs him most. Things have gotten continually worse and now it looks like the end of the road. She has known that it would happen and is resigned to her fate. Will Dante be able to save her in time? Will he want to?

The romance isn’t a slow build up; it’s a surprise threesome in a hotel room. That pulled me out of the book and made me rethink reading it. I soldiered on, hoping for more meat on the bones. Instead, she had his meat in her mouth and another one in her ass. Speaking of the sausage, his is huge of course. It even causes the other participant to comment. She deep throats even though she’s apparently never done this. An innate sex goddess apparently.

From there, Iris gets a better backstory. Dante never does and the story lacks for it. It feels uneven in the end. One or two pages compared to her 100 feels heavy handed. Maybe we get more of his story in the next installment? The constant cryptic hints at the exact nature of his business did start to get wearing but I held on because the writing flowed well.

The sex scenes happen throughout the book but they aren’t breeding like bunnies. The actual scenes could be spicier and a bit more well described. Sometimes trying to picture it got jumbled with positions of hands and naughty bits. As is, they are vanilla in a bowl, lacking jalapeno but fine. Hot sauce isn’t for everyone and I feel like this author kept it tame to appeal to a broader audience.

The action is short lived but the drama isn’t. There is plenty to keep a reader flipping pages if only to see how it wraps up in the end. Just in time for Christmas, there is a dead mother, a missing father, a slutty girlfriend, and a sleazy wannabe. Add in a partridge in a pear tree and it could be the new Christmas story. Now that I think about it, she does kind of resemble the character Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol. Her best friend is named Carol…? Coincidence? You be the judge!

Overall, a decent time passer on a rainy day. I’m not usually a huge fan of novella length books but I would buy the next book. It’s his bodyguard’s story and I really liked him in this book. He was so human and protective! I actually adored him and want the next book immediately. Yummy!!

The author will be publishing a third in the series next year so stay tuned for another review. I received this one for an honest review and my opinion is my own.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Brothers Best Friend by Natasha L. Black

ARC REVIEW

Cole left behind his family money and became a self made man. He worked hard and established his own good name. He started two businesses and rehabbed a old Victorian. He has a loyal best friend and life is good good for him until…

His sister Susie chose a different path and it took her down some dark corridors. Her decisions didn’t just affect her though. She had a darling little girl named Millie. Unfortunately she dragged her along in her more perilous pursuits. When Cole is forced to stand in as a parent, life changes fast for everyone involved.

Millie might be a little girl but she’s seen more than most and bears the scars. She bursts on the scene and wraps everyone around her little finger in record time. She’s a big personality stuffed into a tiny body and makes her presence felt on nearly every page.

Layla has a cozy life with her students and her dog. She’s close to her family and has good friends. Her life is a perfect except that she hasn’t moved on from a personal tragedy. She’s moving forward but not really. Her best friend thinks she knows why, but does Layla?

Lance is Layla’s older brother and best friends with Cole. They are as close as he is with Layla. They have always been there for each other through everything. As adults, that hasn’t changed. He steps up to the plate when Cole needs him but is shocked when Lance reveals something that will change the dynamics of their relationship to each other and to Layla.

This is an ARC so even though I found some minor errors I won’t be detracting points or detailing them here. It will be further polished before publishing I’m sure. I did find some other issues however and will be discussing them below.

The story starts off a bit slow but rolls along in a pleasurable enough way to keep reading. There isn’t a ton of angst and drama so you really shouldn’t read it for that. It’s a lighthearted read despite some of the heavier stuff in the book.

It has broad appeal. I mean, a sexy man, a cute little girl, an overprotective brother, a somewhat clueless woman, a meddling family and two Dachshunds. What more can you ask for in a book?

My major complaint is simple. I haven’t verified this by going back to the book but I would say up to about 60% of the book Layla comes off almost prudish. (You’d expect that from a schoolteacher of small children so cool, right?) After that point she becomes some sort of a femme fatale and is like a foul mouthed bombshell. (She’s had two chaste kisses and suddenly she’s asking for shower sex as a first time between them?) It felt rushed, and very uncharacteristic and threw me out of the story.

I never really bought this new side of her character so I enjoyed the last part of the book less than the beginning. The whole thing with Holly and all that follows just made me read it to get done, not because I was actually rooting for them anymore. That honestly breaks my heart. (Yes, I have one!)

As for the sex. it wasn’t unnecessarily acrobatic and it didn’t make me giggle but it definitely didn’t make my Kindle catch on fire either. More’s the pity.

Can I recommend this book? My first inclination was three stars. However, after some thought as to the subject matter and careful consideration of the whole story, I had to give it four.

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Aedan: A Hitman Romance (Russo Mafia) by Kathryn Thomas

Aedan is an Irishman by birth and a hitman by birthright. He’s the bastard son of the head of the Irish mob. He’s skilled at his job, and big enough to be intimidating. He’s been sent by his father to broker a truce with the head of the Italian mob. It’s a necessary function as they now have a common enemy. He doesn’t count on finding a sexy woman working as the secretary to the Italian Don.

Livia has led the suitably sheltered life of a mafia princess. She knows tragedy though. She lost her twin to mob violence and can’t seem to get past it. The hate she feels is ever present and foremost in her mind. Her father has taught her the family business and she’s good at it. What she isn’t good at is keeping her feelings in control after meeting Aedan.

I love a good mob hitman book. This isn’t one of them. It’s not because of word usage or visual imagery. It’s just dull and boring. It’s also full of slurs. She is constantly calling him dirty fucking Irish and dog. It grated on my nerves fast. I hung in there thinking the romance might save an otherwise lackluster book. Nope. It got worse. I caught myself skimming and finally at 50 percent I gave up and deleted it. I also deleted another by this same author after giving it a try. I don’t think I’m going to bother to try her again.

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The Baby: Book 4 of the Bride Series by S. Doyle

Okay, I must confess! I caved. I downloaded the next book. Sigh!! Her writing is addictive. I’m hopeless. I’m also one very nosy bish and I needed to know what happens next. So…without further ado!

Ellie is pregnant throughout and struggling with all of it. The emotions, the fears, the physical nature of pregnancy. It’s pushing her to the brink and to make matters worse, she’s shutting Jake out of all of it. Their relationship is tumultuous and sometimes angry. It’s not an easy transition into parenthood for them. Can Ellie push away the fear and let him in? Can she banish the negative thoughts that aren’t leaving any room for happiness? Will their bond strengthen as her pregnancy progresses or will this be what finishes them for good?

This is more of the same funny, conversational writing that drew me in from the beginning. I have noticed a few more typos and misusage but nothing horrifying.

The pregnancy and the hormonal fluctuations and the fears are all real and felt perfect. The tone of the relationship has never changed. Ellie and Jake against the world. Except when Ellie screws up. She does that alot. Even in this book, where she majorly screws up. That was horrifying. Jake reacts in a very typical man fashion and made me love him even more. Seriously, I’d cut a girl over Jake.

Since this is a very short novella I was able to read it in less than an hour. That breaks an egg. It’s a rule. Also I felt like Jake was a little absent in this one but since it’s about the pregnancy I could almost let that slide, until that absentism pushed Ellie into fear hyper-drive and allowed her to do something collosally stupid. Another egg broken. But then Jake redeemed himself and I gave them another egg. Read the book to see what I mean. Seriously though, read them in order. Don’t be heathen!

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