Mini Reviews - Torch & Daring the Bad Boy

Title: Torch (Wildwood #3)

Author: Karen Erickson

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Release Date: August 16, 2016

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

Tate Warren has never met a woman he couldn’t charm—until now.

Wren Gallagher won’t give him the time of day and it’s making him crazy.

But he won’t give up without a fight…because there’s one thing he knows for sure:

Enemies make the best lovers.

Most women swoon over Tate’s devilish grin and firefighter uniform. But Wren couldn’t be less impressed by his good looks and flirtatious banter—in fact, she seems to downright despise him. She thinks he’s a player, but his attraction to her is no game. Wren is unlike anyone he’s ever known and he isn’t about to let the feisty, gorgeous woman slip through his fingers.

Wooing Wren would be so much easier if she didn’t hate him…

Or does she?

I've really enjoyed reading Karen Erickson's Wildwood series over the last few months and I was definitely excited to read about Wren and Tate in Torch. Both were characters I'd been dying to find out more about while reading the previous books and I was happy to finally get my fill of them. Though if I'm being completely honest, I wouldn't have minded all that much of Torch had been twice as long if only so I could have spent more time with Tate and Wren. I just loved the dynamic between the two of them - the way they seemed to know just how to push the other's buttons and took pleasure in doing so. But at the same time, I just knew that the reason they got under each other's skin so much was because they were clearly meant to be together. And though I liked them before, I loved them when they finally gave in to what was there. Tate was exactly what Wren needed with everything going on, and Wren was great at calling Tate out on his crap which just worked out perfectly for them. All in all, Torch was a great story, one that I really enjoyed reading. My only hope is that there are more Wildwood books to come because I NEED to know who is behind all of those fires. That, and I wouldn't mind getting to see more of all these couples I've gotten to know in the series so far. And maybe more about Holden, the youngest of the Gallagher sibling since I feel like I've only just gotten glimpses of him so far. Okay, so I guess I have more than one hope where this series is concerned, but that's just because the stories are so great. 

Title: Daring the Bad Boy

Author: Monica Murphy

Publisher: Entangled CRUSH

Release Date: August 22, 2016

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

Truth or Dare was never this much fun…

Annie McFarland is sick of being a shy nobody. A session at summer camp seems like the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself—gain some confidence, kiss a boy, be whoever she wants to be. A few days in, she’s already set her sights on über-hottie Kyle. Too bad her fear of water keeps her away from the lake, where Kyle is always hanging out.

Jacob Fazio is at Camp Pine Ridge after one too many screw-ups. Junior counseling seems like punishment enough, but the rigid no-fraternizing-with-campers rules harsh his chill. When a night of Truth or Dare gets him roped into teaching Annie how to swim, she begs him to also teach her how to snag Kyle.

Late-night swim-sessions turn into late-night kissing sessions…but there’s more on the line than just their hearts. If they get caught, Jake’s headed straight to juvie, but Annie’s more than ready to dare him to reveal the truth.

Until Daring the Bad Boy all the Monica Murphy books I had read were either new adult or straight up contemporary romance. But her latest is YA and has me wishing that she would write all the contemporary YA books. Because Daring the Bad Boy? It was absolutely awesome. For real, I can’t remember the last time I smiled so much while reading a book. Because that’s totally what happened here. Sure, Daring the Bad Boy dealt with some more serious topics, but at its core it was a sweet summer-time romance set at a summer camp. And what’s not to love about that? Besides the setting and premise (which I am a total sucker for), Daring the Bad Boy also featured characters that charmed me right from the beginning of the story. Annie had this endearing quality about her and I couldn’t help but admire her for wanting to be brave and conquer her fears no matter how much those fears terrified her. Any time she did something brave, I wanted to cheer for her, much like Jake did. And Jake wasn’t the bad boy everyone, including himself, made him out to be. I loved seeing him gradually come to realize that he didn’t have to act the way he was acting and he could just be himself (well, after some not-so-easy conversations with some of the people in his life). Through it all, seeing Annie and Jake come together over the course of the story is what made me love Daring the Bad Boy as much as I did. Because sometimes, all you really want is for the summer romance to work out in the end. 

Mini Reviews - Ignite & Smolder by Karen Erickson

Title: Ignite (Wildwood #1)

Author: Karen Erickson

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Release Date: March 15, 2016

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Kobo

Weston Gallagher is falling hard for the wrong woman.

One night of passion has haunted him for years.

Now he's got a second chance to get the girl of his dreams but there's just one problem:

She hates him.

Eight years after he stormed out of Wildwood, California, West has returned to his hometown as a firefighter. His friends and family are thrilled he's back with the exception of Harper Hill. His sister's best friend is all grown up and in all the right ways. He knows she's going to do everything she can to protect her heart and keep him at arm's length, but West has other ideas.

He will win the girl that got away. No matter what it takes.

Saying that Ignite was the first book of Karen Erickson's that I've read is both true and a lie. Because Karen Erickson also writes under the name Monica Murphy, and if you know me, you know that I've read and loved many of her books. But until a couple weeks ago, I hadn't picked up any of her Karen Erickson titles. And that was a mistake because Ignite completely hooked me. I got completely sucked in to West and Harper's stories, as well as life in Wildwood in general. I'm more of a big city person myself, but I always find it fascinating to read about small towns where everyone knows everyone and everyone has a shared past with most people in that town. And that was definitely the case with West and Harper. I mean, Harper has been crushing on West for most of her life but never thought West felt the same way about her, what with the whole him leaving town the day after the one and only time they kissed. Meanwhile, now that he's back in town, West can't help but wonder if he screwed everything up with Harper after that one kiss years ago. So yeah, West and Harper definitely had some stuff to work through and I loved seeing them work through it and come together over the course of the story. Needless to say that after reading Ignite I was definitely looking forward to what was to come in the Wildwood series (and it reminded me that I have lots of Karen Erickson books I to catch up on).

Title: Smolder (Wildwood #2)

Author: Karen Erickson

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Release Date: June 21, 2016

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Kobo

Lane Gallagher wants Delilah Moore--bad.

He's imagine the sexy brunette in his bed more times than he can count.

She's everything he's ever wanted, but the only problem is...

She's his brother's ex.

For years, the stoic sheriff's deputy has fantasized about the sweet, bubbly dance teacher who stirs his deepest desires. But Lane's too loyal to ever move in on forbidden territory and he knows that while he can look, he definitely can't touch. Fighting his attraction to Delilah is nearly impossible, but the infuriating--and incredibly sexy--woman seems determined to drive him crazy.

And she's bringing him to his knees. One smoldering kiss at a time.

After reading Ignite, I was definitely excited to read Smolder. The fact that I practically read them back to back only served to make me more excited about the books and this story. After reading the first book, I had gotten curious about Delilah and Lane. It was clear that their was something going on there even if both of them were in total denial about it. Or even if they weren't in denial, they certainly weren't acknowledging it. I loved getting to explore their relationship and their history some more in Smolder. And that history they share is definitely a complicated one. I mean, how exactly do you go about dealing with the fact that you're in love with your brother's ex if you're Lane or that you're in love with your ex's older brother if you're Delilah? That's not complicated at all, right? I wouldn't even know where to begin dealing with that one if I were them. But over the course of the story, Lane and Delilah figured it out and I loved seeing them work through it all. Because right from the beginning, I knew they were perfect together. They just needed to wade through all their baggage. I also want to mention the whole firefighter/law enforcement aspect of these books. The Gallagher family is a family of cops and firefighters and I love seeing that play out in the story. And I'm curious to see if the mystery behind all the fires is going to be resolved in the next book.