Author: Dirty Girl Anne

It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis – A Duel Review

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

It Had to Be You (Lucky Harbor, #7)

Grade: C+/B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Lucky Harbor #7
Reviewed by Anne and Kate
266 pages

Anne and Kate had differing views on this book, so we decided to present their reviews together.  Dueling reviews!

Anne:
Ali works at a flower shop in Lucky Harbor.  She’s a fairly new resident of the small town, but very much loved by all, especially due to her work with the senior citizens of the community.  Luke grew up in Lucky Harbor, but has been gone for years – since his grandmother passed away.  Since her death, and because of a time when he feels he let his sister down, Luke has decided to focus on his career and stay away from relationships.  After a rough spell at work (he’s a policeman) he takes a two week vacation and returns to Lucky Harbor to get away from an investigation gone wrong.  When Ali is accused of stealing money for the town’s new Senior Center, Luke is the only one who believes she couldn’t possibly have done it. And their adventure begins…
 
I’m a Lucky Harbor fan and I’ve read the six books that come before this one.  I liked them, and I liked this one, too, but it wasn’t my favorite of the bunch.  I love that with each new trilogy Shalvis starts in Lucky Harbor she sets the books apart from the trilogy before.  So in this case we hear about other characters, and even have scenes with Sawyer, but we don’t have a cameo from every character we’ve ever met.  I thought that was very well handled.  I love the people of Lucky Harbor. The Senior Center folks are fun.  The fact that Lucille has a Pinterest page made my day.  (In my opinion, Lucille is the one Lucky Harbor resident who MUST appear in every book.  She’s awesome!)  I really liked Luke and Ali, too, but I thought their relationship was weak.

A low conflict romance is one of my favorite reads, and this one IS a low conflict romance.  There is a story line where Ali is accused of stealing some money, but that doesn’t really color their relationship, other than providing a practical reason for them to be together.  Luke never thinks even for a moment that Ali took the money.  So, despite the mystery, this was a low conflict romance for me.  The thing that I missed was the relationship development.  They seemed to magically get to know one another.  I don’t know if it happened off page or what, but every once in a while I’d come across a line like this:  (Luke is thinking about Ali)
 

“He knew damn well that being with a man meant something to her. Lots of things meant something to her.” p.132

And such thoughts would leave me thinking “How does he know this?  He seems so sure she wouldn’t just have casual sex.  Why is he so sure?”  This kind of thing happened a few times and it bothered me.  
 
The book was still enjoyable, though, and sequel bait for the next book has me sure I’ll keep reading.  


Kate:
See, I didn’t come away with the same feeling. I really liked this one a lot. Probably my second favorite (after Tara and Ford’s story). And while there wasn’t a lot of struggle in Ali and Luke getting together, I got it. He was very up front about what he wanted and didn’t want in their relationship (read: nothing long term). She is definitely a wear-your-heart-in-your-sleeve kind of gal. So it didn’t bother me that he knew what she was thinking, because I think she was telegraphing it.
 
 
There are some authors’ books that I don’t hesitate to shell out money for. I feel I’m almost guaranteed a good read. Jill Shalvis is one of those authors. At the same time there are some series that grow tiresome after a while. It seems like the characters are simply given different names in each installment. Lucky Harbor is not one of those series. Since the first book, I have looked forward to the next book, and the next, and the next…but I was skeptical that this seventh book would be able to his my interest the way the last six have. I was proven wrong.

Things I liked:

  • I liked that Ali seemed so sure if her path in life. Even when things weren’t going her way, she was a keep on keeping on kind of gal.
  • I liked that Luke was the one who was more unsure in their relationship, Ali was the stronger on the two in that aspect.
  • I liked Luke’s grandpa Edward and how he became a sounding board for Luke.
  • I liked that the characters we’ve come to know through the other books didn’t begin to overshadow the relationship of Ali and Luke.
  • I liked that I wasn’t able to guess who-dunnit. In fact I was way off base (I thought it was Ali’s boss Russell) but it was still believable.
  • I liked that Ali was the glue that held her sister and mother together.


Things I didn’t like:

  • Why didn’t anyone tell Ali to keep her nose out of police business? Seriously. And Sawyer seemed a little too willing to share info with Luke.
  • I didn’t like that Luke felt responsible for everything in his past (couldn’t someone just smack him upside the head already?).
  • The beginning went kind of slow for me. Although I think a lot of that had to do with being re-introduced to Lucky Harbor and its inhabitants. Kind of like the old Baby-Sitters Club books, I just wanted to skip the intro part and get right to the story.



Anne:
Of course you’ve worked a BSC reference in.  I remember those books well!  It’s interesting that we had pretty opposite experiences reading this book. Honestly, when I look at your list of what you liked, I totally agree.  When I look at what you didn’t like, I totally agree.  But my overall experience was just meh, and it was one of your favs of the series.  Go figure.

Against The Wall by Rebecca Zanetti

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Against the Wall (Maverick Montana, #1)
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-Maverick Montana #1
Reviewed by Kay

I freely admit it, I read this book for the cover! I know, I know, I deserve to get what I get, but look at the cover! It called to me and I answered. Honestly, what I got wasn’t so bad.

Sophie Smith is a landscape architect that specializes in golf course design. I can’t help but think that’s kind of cool. Her company wants to build a housing addition with a golf course in Maverick, Montana near Mineral Lake. The town has a pretty good size Native American population that doesn’t want it done because the land doesn’t want it. I’m not gonna argue the rationale of that statement, I just thought since that is what the book said, I told you. She is sent in to try and change the minds of not only the tribe but the town council and a “concerned citizens” group.

Jack Lodge is a tribe member and their lawyer. He also helps his family on their land as almost a foreman on a ranch would. He has to go toe to toe with Sophie and her development company to keep this from happening. He has two brothers and a sister that have good sized parts in this novel also.

I liked these two characters a lot and the secondary characters also. The plot was okay for me too. The love scenes were on fire, which also helps in my opinion.. What I didn’t care for was the speed in which the town accepted her as their own. I couldn’t buy in to it. Jake and his family latched on to her so quick, it was a little unsettling. Using a nickname for her the first time he met her? No! I would consider this a low conflict love story and I like a conflict in my love stories. This was my first novel by Rebecca Zanetti and I liked it but it didn’t blow my socks off.

Fever by Maya Banks

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Fever (Breathless, #2)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-High
Series-Breathless #2
Reviewed by Kay

This installment of Maya Banks’ Breathless trilogy is my favorite so far. I really enjoyed it. Great heroine, pretty good hero. Good supporting cast also. I’ll let you know what I liked and disliked in just a moment. Let me summarize first.

Jace Crestwell  sees Bethany Willis across the room at his sister’s engagement party and something happens. The world shifts on it’s axis and he is almost overcome with a sense of possessiveness. He’s never had that kind of reaction to a woman before. And he’s had plenty of women. Plenty. He knows he wants her but he usually has his best friend, Ash along for the ride(pun intended). Bethany is different. She’s special and he can’t understand how she can be since he has just seen her. Ash sees his interest and against Jace’s wishes approaches her and propositions her.

Bethany is taken aback at first but due to the attraction she feels for both of them but Jace especially, she agrees. She does negotiate dinner in the deal though. The reason I bring that up is that Bethany is homeless and works odd jobs when she can find them. She’s part of the wait staff at this engagement party. She feels a little at odds with her decision to go home with them but takes the chance. They spend the night together and she ditches them in the morning.

This encounter has changed everything for Jace, Bethany and Ash. Jace has met the woman for him, Bethany has possibly met someone who will have her back and Ash realizes that his best friend’s priorities have changed. There is a lot of emotions in this book. Relationship evaluation too. What place you play in different people’s lives.

What I did like: Jace’s immediate realization that Bethany was his. His acceptance of this and of her and her past. Bethany as a character. I love the tortured heroine trope. Life was never kind to her but she always came out swinging. Ash’s acceptance of how things should be.

What I didn’t like: Jace’s extreme BDSM stuff but that’s more of a personal preference. His numerous doubts of trust with the people he was supposed to love. Jack pretty much was annoying and useless.

You got a small glimmer of life on the streets and a bad example of the foster care system. I know that not all examples of the foster care system are bad and that needs to be pointed out. This was a solid addition to the series and I eagerly wait Ash’s book. I want it NOW!