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Reviewed by Tabatha
KNOCKOUT – Cari Quinn (4 stars)
I liked this one enough, but I wouldn't really consider this a blue collar story. Yes, one character did construction, but the primary focus of the entire story was on the fighter Emerson. Yeah, Emerson mowed lawns as a side job, but the entire focus was on his fighting career. I did notice some inconsistencies throughout the story, but I did enjoy the heat level between the characters. On the flip side, the interaction between JC and Emerson was just awkward and too fast. I seriously do not believe those two fell in love that fast.
HOT SUMMER NIGHTS – Cathy Clamp (3 stars)
This one was a cute story. I found quite a few errors throughout it that were distracting, but beyond that I did enjoy the story.
MARKED FOR LOVE - Anna J. Stewart (3 1/2 stars)
This was a cute, sweet romance. The story had good bones and I loved the whole family vibe, but it fell together a bit too neatly when it came to the conflict in the story.
KNOTTY MAGIC – Jodi Redford (3 stars)
While I thought this story was cute, the whole paranormal matchmaking tree just didn't work for me.
AGAINST THE WALL – Amie Stuart (1 1/2 stars)
I admired the heroine of this story at first. She had a strong commanding personality in a profession where women are looked down on and treated unfairly. Unfortunately, the author made me dislike her quite fast. I'm all for women embracing their sexuality, but she made the heroine look far too slutty for my liking. It felt kind of like Sex in the City gone completely wrong. The one aspect that I did enjoy was the sexual tension that unfortunately build up to some very lackluster love scenes. I honestly didn't like much about this story in he end.
UNASHAMED — Leah Braemel (4 1/2 stars)
This story was the surprise of this bundle. It was well plotted and paced out well. I enjoyed the dynamics between the three characters, and even though it is a novella it felt complete. The love scenes were scorching hot, and the sexual tension was great. I would have liked to read a bit more of what happened while the trio was separated and the reunion, but I'm sure word count was an issue when it came to that. I always love it when a novella leaves me craving more in a good way. :)
LOVE IN AN ELEVATOR – Chudney Thomas (1 star)
This was a DNF for me. It needed an editor in the worst way possible to the point where I just couldn't read it anymore and gave up. It was far more than just minor errors and, from what I read of the story, it just didn't flow well either.
Overall impressions: There were some cute stories in this bundle and some great steamy ones. I found a definite mixture of heat levels, which I didn't exactly like but dealt with all the same. I also hazard to guess that each author was responsible for handling the editing of their own stories, because there was definitely no consistency. That was rather disappointing to me for the bundle as a whole, because some stories glaring errors overshadowed the others more clean copies. There were some authors I'd love to read again, and some that I'm hesitant to give another chance. I guess that's the way it goes though, but I enjoy how bundles allow me to sample the writing of new to me authors.
I liked this one enough, but I wouldn't really consider this a blue collar story. Yes, one character did construction, but the primary focus of the entire story was on the fighter Emerson. Yeah, Emerson mowed lawns as a side job, but the entire focus was on his fighting career. I did notice some inconsistencies throughout the story, but I did enjoy the heat level between the characters. On the flip side, the interaction between JC and Emerson was just awkward and too fast. I seriously do not believe those two fell in love that fast.
HOT SUMMER NIGHTS – Cathy Clamp (3 stars)
This one was a cute story. I found quite a few errors throughout it that were distracting, but beyond that I did enjoy the story.
MARKED FOR LOVE - Anna J. Stewart (3 1/2 stars)
This was a cute, sweet romance. The story had good bones and I loved the whole family vibe, but it fell together a bit too neatly when it came to the conflict in the story.
KNOTTY MAGIC – Jodi Redford (3 stars)
While I thought this story was cute, the whole paranormal matchmaking tree just didn't work for me.
AGAINST THE WALL – Amie Stuart (1 1/2 stars)
I admired the heroine of this story at first. She had a strong commanding personality in a profession where women are looked down on and treated unfairly. Unfortunately, the author made me dislike her quite fast. I'm all for women embracing their sexuality, but she made the heroine look far too slutty for my liking. It felt kind of like Sex in the City gone completely wrong. The one aspect that I did enjoy was the sexual tension that unfortunately build up to some very lackluster love scenes. I honestly didn't like much about this story in he end.
UNASHAMED — Leah Braemel (4 1/2 stars)
This story was the surprise of this bundle. It was well plotted and paced out well. I enjoyed the dynamics between the three characters, and even though it is a novella it felt complete. The love scenes were scorching hot, and the sexual tension was great. I would have liked to read a bit more of what happened while the trio was separated and the reunion, but I'm sure word count was an issue when it came to that. I always love it when a novella leaves me craving more in a good way. :)
LOVE IN AN ELEVATOR – Chudney Thomas (1 star)
This was a DNF for me. It needed an editor in the worst way possible to the point where I just couldn't read it anymore and gave up. It was far more than just minor errors and, from what I read of the story, it just didn't flow well either.
Overall impressions: There were some cute stories in this bundle and some great steamy ones. I found a definite mixture of heat levels, which I didn't exactly like but dealt with all the same. I also hazard to guess that each author was responsible for handling the editing of their own stories, because there was definitely no consistency. That was rather disappointing to me for the bundle as a whole, because some stories glaring errors overshadowed the others more clean copies. There were some authors I'd love to read again, and some that I'm hesitant to give another chance. I guess that's the way it goes though, but I enjoy how bundles allow me to sample the writing of new to me authors.
