Showing posts with label Shannon Stacey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shannon Stacey. Show all posts

Friday, February 21, 2014

All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey

Image linked from Goodreads
Another common romance trope (friends-to-lovers) with another common theme (Wha-huh? My best friend is a girl?) that Stacey manages to breathe some new life into.
Josh Kowalski is anxious to get out of town. He was the default caretaker for his family's lodge and finally admitted to them that he wants his own life, not the one that was left to him.
Katie Davis grew up alongside the Kowalski's. Her mother was their longtime housekeeper and default mother when their own died. She's been in love with Josh since they were kids. And everyone knows it. Except, of course, for Josh. But when Katie's mom falls ill and she moves back to the lodge, it might finally be time for Josh to open up his eyes and see what's been right in front of him all along.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

All He Ever Desired by Shannon Stacey

Image linked from Goodreads
We've met both Ryan Kowalski and Lauren Carpenter in earlier Kowalski books and we also know that there is some "mystery" in their past that causes Ryan to avoid Lauren as much as he can whenever he returns to their hometown.
Well, it turns out that Ryan has always loved Lauren, even when she was married to his best friend. And he betrayed his best friend by asking Lauren to run away with him (it's in the first part of the book, not exactly a spoiler).
So... awkward. Right? And it's worked out for the two to avoid each other. But they can't now because Lauren's teenage son has caused some major damage at Ryan's family home and now he needs to work it off. Which mean the Lauren and Ryan will be seeing a lot more of each other. (heh)
I loved that conflicts were solved so fast because the damn characters talked to each other. Does that happen in romance novels? Not often. And Stacey made it work! Love it. That was what really bumped this book from a three to a four for me.

Friday, February 7, 2014

All He Ever Needed by Shannon Stacey

Image linked to Goodreads
I was on quite a Shannon Stacey roll and this book really helped to keep it going.
Mitch Kowalski is in town to help out at the family lodge while his brother recuperates from a broken leg. He left town to evade the gossip and the past that everyone thinks they know about him. But, as long as he's back, he might as well scout out the fresh meat (my terms, Stacey's words are much classier.)
Paige Sullivan has been in town for two years and has finally set down the roots that were missing during her nomadic youth. She's not really interested in a fling with Mitch (though most of the rest of town thinks that she should definitely go for it, and they tell her).
I liked the secondary characters in this book. Yes, they're almost all sequel bait, but their stories are in the background with just enough setup to get a feeling for who they are without taking away from Paige and Mitch's story.
I love the Stacey's books avoid the Big Misunderstanding. When Mitch or Paige has the feels, they tell each other. There is no drawn out, "Oh, he'll change his mind and love me soon..."

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey

Image linked from Goodreads
In her first two books (Exclusively Yours and Undeniably Yours , Shannon Stacey took some of the regular romance tropes and straightened out many of the problems most authors have when using those tropes. This book presents the well-trod "Fake Fiance" path. Is she again successful? It's an okay book, but not as good as the first two.
Sean Kowalski is just back from the war. And it appears that he's acquired a fiancee in the form of a woman he's never met. Apparently, Emma Shaw was trying to convince her grandmother that she was doing-just-fine-thank-you-very-much and decided a fake fiance was the way to go. Of course, Emma had just been talking to her best friend earlier in the day and Sean's name had come up so she just blurted it out. Since then, she's had pictures photoshopped of the two of them together and expanded on the storyline. Now her grandmother's coming back up to visit and Emma needs a savior. Sean isn't cool with that. But then his family sort of guilts him into it so he goes along. 
Neither is interested in a complete relationship, but the more they fake it, the more they wonder if this thing could really work...

Friday, January 24, 2014

Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey

Image linked from Goodreads 
We met Kevin Kowalski in Exclusively Yours as the brother of the hero. In this book, he gets his own HEA. Beth Hansen is a floater. She moves through life on her own terms, not setting down roots anywhere. Which is why it is a shock to come up pregnant after a one-night stand where protection was used. A one-night stand where she believed he was a player.
Kevin immediately jumps into protective mode. He just wants to make sure that Beth is taken care of. None of her jobs provide insurance and her apartment has... issues. So she moves in across from Kevin.
I loved that this story took place over a year. Kevin learned from his brother's mistake. Don't marry just because of the baby. Insurance wouldn't cover it anyway. But he thinks he's falling in love. It's sort of insta-love but we actually get to see that it sticks around.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey

I've read the excerpt for this book several times and thought, "I might like this." And I was right.
Keri Daniels had a forever-kind-of-love with her high school boyfriend Joe Kowalski. These days, she's a Hollywood gossip reporter and he's a famously reclusive horror/mystery writer. When her boss finds out that Keri knows Joe, like KNOWS Joe, she's given an ultimatum, get a story on Joe or else.
8417155Joe pretty much figures out that Keri is doing this story under duress but he decides to screw with her anyway. Loved that there was no deception. He's just up front about the fact that he wants to mess with her and that's why she'll be spending two weeks with his family on their "Kowalski Vacation of Doom" (or something close to that) without electronics of any kind and, in return, she'll get one question a day which he will answer.
There are several subplots, most prominent is with Joe's twin sister, Terry, who is having some serious issues with her husband and taking them out on her former BFF, Keri.
Why no five stars? I didn't love that Keri's life-long goals were just supplanted by falling in love. It wasn't Joe's super-wang but it still sort of rubbed me the wrong way.