ARC Review: Bad Boys Do by Victoria Dahl

Bad Boys Do

by Victoria Dahl

(Donovan Brothers Brewery)

Contemporary Romance

There aren't many things sexier than a hot young man, with blondish hair, a wicked grin, a sexy mouth, a beer at the ready.... and a kilt! Jamie Donovan is sex on a stick, or as I said before, sex on a kilt with construction boots. He is the bad boy, the black sheep of the family, the "irresponsible" Donovan brother, who works at the brewery as the bartender and public face of the brewery, flirts with anything female, and has a reputation for sleeping around (and being damn good at it!)

But there's a whole other side to him and it was so sweet to see that he is actually looking for recognition, looking to belong and feel comfortable. He loves his family and wants to prove to them that he is not the fuck-up they see him as. But he has a hard time of proving this to his brother! They had a lot of family conflict in this book, which at times was almost too much to read and maybe one of the reasons why this wasn't a 5 star read for me.

Now onto the romance. I'm sooooo happy I was confused and wrong about who was Jamie's HEA. I actually thought he would end up with Monica (from book 1) and I really couldn't see how that would work out, being that she had betrayed his family. But I'm happy to report it's not her! We meet Olivia Bishop when she first goes into the brewery with her book club friends and they are all drooling over Jamie, especially when he bends over with his kilt *sigh* where was I? Oh yeah! So she's divorced, her ex is totally crazy and stalkerish in a way, and she hasn't been able to get back in the dating game.

So when Jamie ends up as her student on one of her college classes about restaurant development and has a proposition for her, she can't refuse. She will help him with his plans for the Brewery and she will get some no strings attached fun!

And let me tell you, Jamie knows how to show a girl a good time! He can melt the panties off ANY girl! I have one complaint though... after all the drooling we get to do over his kilt, the one time they have sex with him wearing it, it's a "fade to black" moment. I feel cheated!!!! LOL

This book was scorching hot, yes more than book one. A LOT of family drama, the investigation into the brewery break-in continues. Jamie has a lot to prove to himself, to his family and to Olivia. But he definetely got to my heart!!!

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ARC Review: Good Girls Don't by Victoria Dahl

4.5 Feathers
Good Girls Don't

(Donovan Brothers Brewery # 1)

by Victoria Dahl

(Contemporary Romance)

First of all... I'm so excited that I got an ARC of this book! I've had it on my list since I heard about the new series coming out. So of course before I started reading this book, I loved Victoria Dahl's writing. Now after reading the book, I LOVE VICTORIA DAHL'S WRITING! Yeah, excuse the fan girl moment. But I'll explain to you why. Ms. Dahl manages to create interesting worlds where the storylines are believable and fun, the characters are likeable and you are actually glued to the pages because you care about what happens to them! At least, that's my opinion. I haven't read a book by her that I don't feel like that.

Good Girls Don't is the first book in the Donovan Brewery series. If you read the prequel in The Guy Next Door (and I think you should because it does give you a little bit of background info into the storyline) you'll notice that the characters featured in book 1 are NOT the characters in the prequel. Some people are a bit upset about that. I personally didn't mind at all because this book is about the only sister in the Donovan Brewery, Tessa Donovan, and she is the coolest chick around. I loved her! Yes, she has a few immature moments, but she's young and only wants her family to be together and live happily ever after.

Tessa was just a lot of fun! She even tweets just to torment her brother Jamie, which I thought was hilarious. She is kind of put in a place where she has to save a very big contract for the brewery and she tries to do this all by herself. But a girl needs to have some fun in the meantime right? So lets bring in sexy small town cop Luke Asher. Hold on, let me wipe the drool off the keyboard. He is HAWT! Tortured hero, not good at relationships, thinks he's too damaged to be dating material, especially for such a sweet girl. But Tessa knows just how to tease him and he just melts in her hands!

The romance was really cute, you can feel the chemistry and see the sparks flying from the first moment. And I do like that Luke doesn't try to act all tough and fight it, he actually goes to her against his better judgement. I think she's just the type of girl he needed.

There still a bit of drama with solving a crime (someone broke into the brewery) which is where Luke comes in, and how this affects the business-deal-about-to-go-bad (all thanks to Jamie's playboy ways) which gives this book the perfect backdrop to the story. We do get a good view as to what happens in the day to day lives of a lot of the characters in the story. And I love how Beth's character from the prequel is weaved in at a few points. I do think those two need the time she's giving their story to develop.

Now onto Jamie... His book is next and I'M WORRIED. Especially not knowing exactly what already went down in this book between him and Olivia. But I'm definitely curious to see it all play out. And of course to see more of sexy Jamie in his kilt. 

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Review: The Guy Next Door by Lori Foster, Susan Donovan and Victoria Dahl

The Guy Next Door

by Lori Foster, Susan Donovan and Victoria Dahl

(Men Who Walk The Edge of Honor # 0.5)

(Donovan Brothers Brewery # 0.5)

Contemporary Romance

Ready, Set, Jett by Lori Foster
3 Feathers

This story is the prequel of a new series by Lori Foster called Men Who Walk The Edge of Honor. First of all, the whole concept of the series is very appealing to me, so I was very excited to start it by reading this story. AND this is my first time EVER reading Lori Foster. I have heard such great things about her writing and that just made my expectations higher.

And, quite frankly, I was disappointed! So disappointed with this short story. First of all I think the heroine, Natalie, is just a tad stupid. I mean, she's had issues because she comes from a wealthy family, where there was no concept of family at all, no values, and no love. And on top of that every man that has ever wanted anything to do with her was to get her money. So, ok I get it. She has to be very careful. But in this case, she just doesn't want anybody to know who she really is, and she feels that she can't EVER have a real relationship, no matter how much she likes the guy. Thaaaaaaat was a bit extreme for me.

So she's living in an apartment complex, and out of the blue, kind of, one thing leads to another and she ends up having a "booty call" affair with her hunky neighbor, Jett. And when I say booty call, that is strictly all she ever does. They don't have conversations other than dirty talk, they are never seen in public together, she leads her life as if nothing was happening between them. Supposedly, this is to protect herself.

But Jett really likes her, and he wants more from her. Since he was injured in the line of duty, he is now a PI of sorts and he does some background checks on her and discovers her past. He then decides that he will push his way into her life and into a relationship.

So, I'm not going to tell you how the story ends, but it just felt that she all of a sudden has a change of heart, on issues that I thought were a little stupid to begin with, and all of a sudden they're going to get married. Hmmmmm

One other thing that I didn't enjoy as much as I thought was the actual writing. I felt it was choppy at times, either something would drag and then all of a sudden it was done. It didn't flow for me as I was expecting. I have seen from other reviews that this is not Ms. Fosters usual style and I'm still very hopeful to read a full book by her. Novellas and short stories can be very difficult to write and still convey the same connection as a full book.

I am interested on how the first book of the series was set up and I can't wait to read it.

Gail's Gone Wild by Susan Donovan
3 Feathers

This story was actually cute, it flowed nicely, it was entertaining at times, but it was one of those stories where you just want to beat the hero with a stick over the head.

Gail is 36, with a 17 year old daughter who's dying to go to the Florida Keys on spring break. Gail is recently divorced, her husband was actually embellishing money from a lot of people and just a lying con artist, so she's been hurt and has been alone for some time. So when her daughter brings up spring break vacation, she decides to go with her to chaperone and at the same time give herself a little much needed fun time.

What she wasn't expecting is the hot cuban who lives next door to her rental, with the salt and pepper hair and earring. She is smitten with Jesse's charm. But Jesse has also been burned before. At 38, he's a very successful author, and he recently had a woman who rented that house whom he became involved with only to find out she wanted to make money off of him, and she had sued him for abuse, accused him of getting her pregnant, in the end a media disaster.

So what does Jesse decide to do? NOT tell her who he really is. She thinks he's a tour guide. She is very straightforward with him, and tells him all about her past and how important honesty is for her. And he keeps going with his lie.

Of course, these two have really good chemistry, and during the course of her vacation they develop feelings for each other, that is until the time he decides to come clean.

This story was cute, it was sweet, but it certainly wasn't compelling me to not put the book down. There wasn't anything that special about it. But as short stories go, I think it's pretty good!

Just One Taste by Victoria Dahl
4.5 Feathers

And this is the reason why I wanted to read this book. I love Victoria Dahl and I can't wait to start on her new series about the Donovan brothers and their brewery. Set in Colorado, the Donovan brothers, and sister, have a pretty successful business and in this prequel, Eric Donovan, the oldest, gets stuck at manning the booth at the local business expo. He is the behind the scenes guy. His youngest brother should be the one doing this, you know serving beer to prospective clients wearing his kilt. But he can't make it and it's up to Eric to take his place, along with trying to make new business contacts to get their beer out to more people.

Except, he almost can't concentrate because all he can do is stare at the hottie in the booth across from him, and its a booth for the sex shop in town nonetheless. She is the last person he should try to get involved with. He's the serious guy. But he can't hide his attraction, and when she comes up to him thinking he is Jamie, he decides "Why not? Jamie would do it."

Beth has a thing for preppy guys. If her friends from work would know she'd be the talk of the town and ridiculed, but that's her ultimate fantasy. But that guy in the Donovan Brewery booth is a preppy God! When she passes the booth she looks at the name tag on the table: Jamie Donovan. She's heard of him, kind of a player reputation. Maybe she could have a fling with him and no one would have to know.

This story was sexy, hot, cute, everything. I loved it. And it has a very open ending which makes me want to rush and read book 1!!!!

Another great story by Ms. Dahl!

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