Hooking Up by Elsie Young

A female lead who is a fan of Five Guys burgers? Finally, someone I can relate to!! Although…she also seems to have a rather unhealthy obsession with blue cheese. Just when I thought we could be friends, girl!

What’s it About? 

I’m Eiley Murphy and my life is spiraling out of control. I’ve renamed the male lead in my ballet company “Bitcherina,” yes, I’m the principal female dancer, but right now, that’s not going so pretty good. As a matter of fact, I don’t know if I’ll have a job next week. And, the gorgeous distraction to end all distractions has finally noticed me after a year of drooling over him from afar. You’d think that would be a good thing, but Trey, William Cuthbert Layton III – for real – gets around a bit too much, if you know what I mean, and I see nothing but heartbreak in my future. So I obsess, and confess all to my sisters and my BFs, Brett and Valerie. Frankly, everyone’s pretty sick of me right now, so Trey better get himself together since I’m about ten minutes away from doing something even more stupid than usual.

First Impressions

You know, upon first reading the synopsis for this little romance, I mistakenly assumed that we’d be seeing a romance play out between Eiley and her “bitcherina” dance partner in the ballet. As it turns out, this male dancer simply remains a thorn in her side for the majority of the novel as she attempts to find a way to melt his tough exterior. The romantic part of the story involves a guitarist that Eiley has a mildly stalker-like obsession with. While Eiley has obsessed over this musician for the past year, their first one-on-one interaction involves him apologizing before kissing her in front of his band mates. Eiley is rather shocked that all of her dreams are apparently coming true at such an unexpected moment, and is even more surprised after the fact when this guitarist, Trey, asks if she would pretend to be his girlfriend to get an unwanted admirer off his back. As we contemplate whether or not this “fake” romance between Trey and Eiley will develop into something more, I must say I found myself even more entranced by the relationship between Eiley and her “bitcherina”, whose actual name is Basil.

It was such a compelling story to see Basil’s initial animosity towards Eiley eventually transform into a kind of friendship. If we compare the two relationships which were developing side-by-side, we see that in Eiley’s romantic relationship with Trey she does some pretty crazy things at times to try and win his affection. However, when it comes to the friendship which is forming between her and Basil, she discovers that to win his respect she needs to push herself to become a better dancer, and demonstrate her dedication to their art-form. As they slowly become friends, Eiley seems to draw out the softer side of Basil to the point where he’s able to loosen up a bit and enjoy life more. In a way, they both bring out the best in each other. In my opinion, this was where the heart of the story lay, and I found myself perking up a bit in excitement every time we’d encounter a scene involving Eiley and Basil together. If anything, I wanted more of this story line, and the romance involving Trey almost seemed like an interruption! Definitely not what I was expecting at all!

Reading Through Your Fingers

I feel like there are a few different situations we encounter when reading that will make us want to peek through our fingers as the words flow across the page. Sometimes a scene might be particularly scary, sexy, or maybe we just really want to make sure we don’t skim ahead to reveal a major plot twist before we get to it. And then there are the situations that this novel presents us with in abundance…embarrassing ones. Poor Eiley! There are so many scenarios where everything that possibly could go wrong does go wrong for our ballerina, and you can’t help but feel embarrassment on her behalf. Sometimes you sympathize with her blunders and awkward social moments when she apparently can’t get anything right, even though she’s trying her darnedest. And there are those other times when the absurdity of the situation is so unrealistic you can’t help but roll your eyes at her over-the-top antics. I think the problem here was that overall Eiley felt like an extremely relatable character, but during some of these crazy scenes our ability to relate to her on a personal level is almost broken.

One such example involves Eiley crashing a restaurant where she thinks Trey is having dinner with another woman. She gets into an argument with this woman who seems insistent on having Trey all for herself, so Eiley understandably boasts about all the orgasms Trey has given her. Unfortunately she sort of forgot about her surroundings and caught the attention of the other diners. And Trey. And his grandmother. A humorously awkward moment to be sure. But then when Eiley gets so embarrassed she grabs a live lobster from the arms of a passing waiter, holds it out in front of her to make some kind of point with this woman, and then makes an embarrassing exit with said lobster and takes it to a bar before heading home with it still clutched in her hands? You can’t help but wonder when the hell this would ever happen in real life. It was an attempt at humor that sort of takes you out of the scene because it’s so over-the-top.

There was another moment when Eiley and Trey were making out in a car during the middle of the day in a fairly busy parking lot, and some police officers interrupt them thinking that Trey is taking advantage of a teenager due to Eiley’s small stature. Sure, had me giggling for a bit and blushing on behalf of the embarrassment both characters were undoubtedly experiencing. But then to find out the whole situation was recorded by the On-Star setting in her car, and the technician then put it on YouTube, which resulted in it going viral and ending up on a radio show? Um…what? A bit of restraint would have been beneficial. Instead we see that the line from humor to absurdity is constantly being straddled.

A Quirky Family for a Quirky Lady

Family is an important element of this story, and while there were definitely some good moments which highlighted this feature, I felt some aspects could have been tightened up just a bit to really make those familial scenes pop. The weekly dinners involving Eiley and her many sisters at a local diner were quite a hoot. They all have a mutual obsession with bacon, and they play a game each week called “I Hate My Life”, where they go around the table sharing their most embarrassing moment from the past week. The winner doesn’t have to pay for their dinner, and ever since Eiley and Trey started their fake romance she’s been treated to a fair number of free meals. It was a lot of fun to see the sisters go around the table to share their embarrassing tales of woe, and the only issue I had with these many rounds of “I Hate My Life” was that the dinner scenes became somewhat repetitive as the novel progressed. It was also tricky at times to differentiate between all the sisters and their respective lives considering our only interactions with them were during these round table confessionals. I think a few more scenes involving Eiley and her sisters outside of the grease-filled diner world would have helped us get to know them even more.

There are some other familial elements which are introduced fairly late in the book. While some of these were very interesting, it seemed like we didn’t get enough time to explore them all fully, which made it seem as though there were just too many things going on at once. Similar to the shenanigans Eiley constantly finds herself in, some restraint upon introducing so many elements pretty late in the game could have benefited the overall flow of the story. For example, we hear mention throughout the story of Eiley’s crazy aunt Psyche, and while she definitely seems like a neurotically fun character, we don’t actually meet her “in person” until the tale is well under way.

She also introduces some family mystery regarding a long dead Uncle Seamus who hid some kind of family treasure. Upon the urging of her aunt, Eiley sort of takes up the case of finally trying to find out what this treasure might be by referencing old family letters and photographs. Now, I’m not gonna lie, it was probably one of my most favorite side stories that we saw presented in the novel, and one of the most heartbreaking as we hear through one of Seamus’s letters how he lamented over the death of his one true love. However, at the same time I sort of had to question how it fit into the rest of the story involving our ballerina falling for her rock star. In the end Eiley and her sisters have an assumption as to what this hidden treasure might be, but we don’t even see them locate it. If this had been an element which was introduced to strengthen the relationship between Eiley and her sisters I might have understood its presence in the book, but they already had a strong bond. Again, while enjoyable, you can’t help but question what the purpose was.

*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*

Series: Stand-alone for the time being? I could see some future novels involving Eiley’s sisters being fun reads.

Final Impressions: Personally, I wish the setting of Washington, DC had played a somewhat larger role in the story, but…what can I say? As a DC resident I’m slightly biased. There were a lot of different events at play in this novel, and while many were definitely fun and enjoyable, I think some areas could have been fine-tuned to really pull the whole novel together into one cohesive story. The scenes involving Eiley and her temperamental dance partner were probably my favorite. It’s where we witnessed an emotionally honest progression of a relationship, and if anything I would have liked to see more between Eiley and the “bitcherina”. Her evolving relationship with Trey started strong, but it sort of fizzled at the end, which is ironic considering this is when their connection is supposed to be at its highest point. Eiley is quite the quirky character, and she’s definitely over-the-top from time to time, but she’s still a warm-hearted and well-intentioned chica.

Smut Level: Five orgasms in one night? Not too shabby. Unfortunately it also resulted in a few broken bathroom fixtures 🙂

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $3.99 Kindle Price. Boroughs Publishing Group. 271 Pages.

Up Too Close by Andrea K. Stein & Sawyer Stone

“A life without adventure. Or a life with too much adventure?” Which would you choose?

What’s it About?

CeCe Ahlstrom, massage therapist to the rich and famous, is done with men. Her last rich boyfriend tried to kill her on an ill-fated cruise through the Grenadines. Now she’s determined to get on with her life but can’t find the funds to get to her next spa gig in Portugal. Then along comes notorious womanizer Captain René Baudoin. He’s hell on the hearts of women, he can handle any storm at sea, yet he might have met his match in a leaky old boat. He needs a first mate crazy enough to help crew the wreck known as the Tourbillon across the Atlantic. Destiny draws CeCe and René together, but things are not what they seem. He struggles with a family secret that could destroy his future and CeCe will have to face a truth not even she knows yet. Out on the open sea, René and CeCe soon find themselves…UP TOO CLOSE.

First Impression

CeCe and René are determined to cross the Atlantic without any sexual funny business popping up between them. In order to entertain the idea of such an undertaking, René has to constantly remind himself to view CeCe as though she were a six-foot-four hairy Turk. Yeah…we’ll see how long that little mental trick works out 🙂 One of the seemingly principal features of René’s personality is that he is a hell of a flirtatious Frenchman. It’s an aspect that was strikingly clear in the first book, and we see it carry over into this second book as well. His attempts to reign in his flirtatiousness when in CeCe’s presence sometimes proves too difficult to maintain.

However, as CeCe and René develop a more deep and meaningful relationship on their trek throughout the Caribbean we see that René’s flirtatious personality almost disappears entirely. Not gonna lie, I was kind of torn with how I felt about this! I’m not saying I wanted him to flirt with others, but the cute sexual suggestions that he and CeCe would throw back and forth at each other during the start of their journey were really the cornerstone to the comedic aspect of the novel. It’s nice that René matures to realize how important CeCe is to him, and that he no longer has the desire to be the playboy French captain he’s developed a reputation for. I just wish there had been a continuation of his flirty side so that it didn’t feel as though we lost a fun part of what made René, well, René!

A Dog Named “Dog”

Before CeCe and René get too far along in their journey we see them pick up another unexpected passenger, and that would be René’s grandmother’s Portuguese water dog named Chienne. Aka dog. Aka…bitch. While I would identify myself as a cat person, even I would be the first to admit that this dog is freakin’ adorable. Hands down, the standout feature of the book for me. Chienne forms the final piece of this mismatched family in the middle of the ocean. The fact that the dog hates René, yet loves CeCe makes the dynamics between all three characters all the more fun. Of course by the end of the book we see Chienne open up to René, and it just breaks your heart a bit. In a good way though!

The Supplemental Joys of Life

One of the key features of the first book that I absolutely loved was all of the delightful secondary characters. However, it seemed like this element was sort of missing in this novel. Sure, we get an introduction to Rene’s grandmother towards the beginning, and CeCe’s family towards the end, but throughout the majority of the novel we just see this rag tag group of three sailors out on the open ocean. Yes, I’m including Chienne in that sailor count! Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved Chienne, and could probably just read a book about all of his canine adventures, but I think seeing a few more supporting characters throughout the middle of the book could have helped balance out the fun of the novel.

We do get another peek of one of the more elusive and crazy characters from book one, which is Devin Manning. He’s funding this little expedition to Portugal, and is the most intriguing of wannabe James Bond spy characters. Unfortunately we didn’t see as much of him in this novel as I would have liked. The few glimpses we caught of him in book one seemed appropriate, but I felt like as we move along in this series it would be fun to learn just a bit more about him and his background. Instead, he’s probably even more of a mystery now than he was in book one. Hopefully in book three we’ll finally discover some kind of method to his madness. Although I could also see him being a continuous mystery character who pops up whenever he feels like it.

An Unexpected Journey

It was kind of tricky to track how far along our couple was in their journey. True, we are provided with the longitude and latitude of their location at the start of every chapter, but maybe a map image would have helped a bit more to visualize their progress…or lack thereof. There was such build-up to this strenuous journey, and yet the bulk of the novel seemed to involve CeCe and René traipsing throughout the Caribbean. Then all of a sudden they’re in Portugal. With the turn of every page I kept wondering, ok, when are we gonna start the crossing to Portugal? Once we got to the half-way point I actually became convinced that we’d never get there. Imagine my surprise when lo and behold we finally get to the last few chapters and we’re basically transported there in the span of a chapter or two. Is it really that quick? Do I need to take a week off work for a fabulous sailing adventure across the Atlantic? Yeaaaaah…no. Let’s face it, a storm at sea is basically a guarantee.

Unbalanced

There are some humorous features to this novel which will definitely make you chuckle aloud. CeCe’s crazy family reunion in the city of Horta is sort of the climactic event for silliness. We even get a confrontational argument between CeCe and René in the midst of the reunion wherein they both have microphones to confess some of their biggest secrets in a crowded room full of CeCe’s friends and family. Kind of a cheesy scene, and ultimately I wish that more of these silly comedic elements could have been spread out more evenly across the breadth of the book. They’re all sort of reserved towards the end, which lends an unbalanced feeling to the book.

We are introduced to René’s outspoken grandmother near the start of the book, and then we get a mad glimpse of CeCe’s crazy family at the end. The heart and soul of the book involves René and CeCe connecting both physically and emotionally alone in the middle of the ocean. The fact that their moments of romance are book-ended by some rather over-the-top, almost cartoonish characters means that you go through a bit of whiplash in regards to what tone is being set for the novel. I felt like either the other supplemental characters should have been toned down ever so slightly, or maybe we needed one or two additional comedic scenes towards the middle of the book to help with the overall flow of the story.

*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*

Series: Love Overboard, book 2. Just one more book left in this series, and I’m curious to see how it will come together.

Final Impression: Overall I’d have to say I probably enjoyed the first book in the series a bit more than this one. We saw a more well-rounded arch to the story line, and it was a funny read without being too silly. I definitely found myself chuckling with this read, but by the end it sort of crossed the line into being too silly. The premise and set up for this sequel was definitely still a hoot, and the moments where René and CeCe could truly escape from the pressures of their reality by spending alone time together in their romantic bubble on the sea were rather special. Chienne’s boisterous personality might just be the best feature of the series so far.

Smut Level: Sex on a deck in the middle of the ocean. Nothing around but the ocean breeze, lap of water against the hull, and what must be a ton of blisters in the ass. CeCe and René also somehow manage to 69 whilst on this boat. Is it just me, or does that seem like a rather dizzying activity. Probably opens a portal to the Bermuda Triangle or something.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $0.99 Kindle Price. Muirgen Publishing, LLC. 235 Pages.