Until December by Aurora Rose Reynolds

Gareth Black is the package deal. He’s caring, has a smokin’ body, two sons, and an ex with a nasty temper. December has to decide if she’s going to run from it all, or jump in with her whole heart. 

What’s it About? 

Gareth Black is drawn to December Mayson the moment he spots her across the room at her cousin’s wedding. When he approaches the beautiful woman, she captivates him with her shyness and wit, making him crave her.

With a pull so strong it’s impossible to ignore, December knows there’s something between her and Gareth. She just hopes they’re capable of jumping the hurdles ahead of them.

Two boys, an ex, a surprise that will change everything, and a disgruntled co-worker, guarantee these two will have their work cut out for them if they are going to find their happily ever after.

Quick Review

Of all the books in this series so far, this might be the most angst-less of the bunch. If you’re looking for a break from all the drama and kidnappings the Mayson family has presented us with throughout the years, then this just might be the lighter read you’ve been waiting for. Gareth and December catch eyes at each other across the room at a wedding, and while we’re all familiar with the BOOM that draws any member of the Mayson clan to the love of their life, I would say we’re privy to more of a sizzle than the resounding shockwave we’re used to by now. And that’s how I would probably categorize this read as a whole, it’s more of a low simmer from start to finish rather than having any huge bouts of conflict that threaten to tear our lovebirds apart. There is one minor miscommunication that throws a bump to them getting out of the gate at the start when December believes her sister April saw Gareth first, and her “dibs” means he’s off limits. Once that matter is cleared up though, it doesn’t take long at all before this soft-spoken first-grade teacher is going home with her sexy tattoo artist/mechanic, and they don’t encounter any other major foibles along the way.

While every book in this series (and the corresponding Until series) have focused on a lead couple, the developing romance between December and Gareth plays second fiddle to the frontrunning storyline in this read, which highlights the evolving dynamics of a single parent and his children bringing a potential new partner into their bubble. This was the true heart of the story. December slowly starts to mesh into their world, and considering his boys have only known their birth-mother Beth to come and go at every turn, December represents a loving and supportive constant that they need. This is one area of the read where we see some natural complications arise, as Gareth’s mother must also acclimate to another woman coming onto the scene to share the love and attention of her grandsons, while the interactions with Beth are far more hostile in nature. Again, none of this threatens to scare December off, and we not only see her stand up to Beth to claim a place in the boys’ lives, but they too confront their mother about how important December is to them and their father. It’s a beautiful story of building a family, and I would say it rightfully overshadows the romance between our two lead characters. 

Series: Until Him/Her, book 8. Bring on the next one please!

Final Impressions: This book has a lot of emotional heart to it, but rather than being affiliated with the love story of December and Gareth, it instead is linked with the love story evolving as a family. We see what can only be described as a natural progression of this single parent family accepting an outsider into their midst, and while they start out on shaky legs of quiet acceptance, they all start to demonstrate through their actions and words how important they’ve all come to be in each other’s lives. Even the presence of Beth provided us with a window into the complexities of an absentee parent household, and the sad transition which comes upon the children realizing that while a part of them will always love their mother, she doesn’t represent the emotional foothold they need in their lives. The development of this family-building storyline was dang near perfect. The only element that I didn’t feel was necessary was the drama surrounding a disgruntled co-worker at December’s school. It certainly deals with an important issue in society, but it was a potentially triggering plot point that didn’t really evolve the story of December and Gareth’s family in any meaningful way that wasn’t already touched upon by other events. 

Smut Level: From working two jobs as a tattoo artist and mechanic, to dealing with rambunctious first-graders all day long, Gareth and December certainly have their work cut out for them. But rest assured, as soon as they get some alone time from his boys, they have all the energy in the world to rock it all night long. Multiple times. 

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $4.99 Kindle Price. 247 Pages. 

Until Harmony by Aurora Rose Reynolds

This series is all about that BOOM, and this installment just goes to show that if you try to push the BOOM aside, it will come back full force for the ultimate impact. 

What’s it About? 

Harmony Mayson isn’t the kind of girl to take unnecessary risk, but after meeting Harlen MacCabe, she starts to wonder if maybe she should be. The more time she spends with the wild and free biker, the more she starts to crave the freedom he gives her…. And even more, she starts to crave him. 

Harlen lives his life on his own terms. After losing both his parents at an early age to a robbery gone bad, he knows how precious life is, and he’s determined to get as much out of it as he can. When he runs into the beautiful Harmony and finds out she’s moving to town, he knows it’s time to take his shot. 

She thinks he only wants to be friends, but she couldn’t be more wrong. What Harmony and Harlen don’t know is that their time might be cut short. Revenge is in the air, and someone won’t stop until a debt is settled.

First Impressions

For avid readers of the entire Until series, if you’ve made it this far to the sixth book of Until Her/Until Him, believe me when I say you’re going to love it just as much as all the others which have come before. And if you haven’t read any of these books before…then what the heck is wrong with you?! Get on it already. This book presents us with everything we know and love about the series: a sexy and growl-y alpha male, a strong and tenacious female, lovable side characters (both new and beloved old friends), and of course, the BOOM that brings our two love birds together. What I loved so much about this installment was that Harmony and Harlen sort of try to suppress the immediate connection which has brought them together in the first place. 

Our novel opens with a chance meeting in a hospital parking lot after Harmony secures a job as a nurse there, and while Harlen would like nothing more than to throw her on the back of his bike to go celebrate, they both recognize the hesitation that Harmony feels about throwing all caution to the wind. After all, she’s no risk taker, so the idea of giving into her feelings for this seemingly bad-boy biker causes her to pause, an action that Harlen can see clear as day. While she declines his invitation for a joy ride, no matter how much she might want to say yes, this isn’t the end for our main characters. Harlen respects the boundaries of this initial rejection, but he refuses to let this be the end of their story. Throughout the next few chapters we see Harlen slowly try to reignite a connection with Harmony, but he’s almost too slow for his own good as it results in Harmony thinking he just wants to be friends. The more time they spend together as “buddies”, the more our risk-averse heroine contemplates the ultimate risk of laying all of her feelings out on the table. And once she does? Well, there’s no going back after that BOOM. 

The Happily Ever After

I was personally delighted by the subsequent romance which played out between our two lead characters, especially when we consider that Harmony was sort of the one to initiate it by finally acting on her desires for Harlen with a passionate kiss. Sure, she immediately tries to avoid him afterwards from embarrassment at the thought that maybe he didn’t want to be anything more than friends, but he’s more than willing to come after her to prove otherwise. I guess in a way it was a mutual overtaking of desire. The rest of their story is relatively drama free and even-paced as they easily fall into a relationship with each other. Harmony is willing to stand up to her overprotective father, Nico, to convince him that Harlen is the man of her dreams, just as Harlen won’t back down to convince Nico he’ll do anything to protect his beloved daughter. Harlen does indeed epitomize the characteristics of an alpha male, but I also appreciated that Harmony wasn’t afraid to poke the bear every once in a while. 

He demands a kiss before she leaves for work, or else he’ll have fun punishing her later? Well, she cheekily saunters out the door sans kiss to see just what he has in mind, and my goodness does she enjoy her “punishment”. Nothing like being held up against the wall for some sexy fun times, and yet in their post-passion haze we see Harlen put down his alpha wall to openly acknowledge how he does need that kiss from her every morning to make it through his day until he can see her again. And that’s one of the aspects I love about this series. Our alpha males clearly have a sensitive side to them, and we never doubt that the love they feel for their ladies goes deeper than merely a sexual component. There’s heart beneath it all. 

Series: Until Her/Until Him, book 6. It was so much fun diving back into this world. We get a brief introduction towards the end of this read of who the main characters will be for book 7, and I am more than ready to get started!

Final Impressions: This is the perfect kind of beach read. Funny, sexy, heartfelt, with just a smidge of drama to keep things interesting. The primary focus of the read truly is on the evolving relationship between Harlen and Harmony from their BOOM to friends to lovers, but delicately interwoven throughout the novel is an underlying sense of conflict involving a handsy doctor at Harmony’s work. The author does a fantastic job of simultaneously keeping this drama primarily reserved for the background, yet also slowly elevating it throughout the progression of the novel before it ultimately breaks through for a final, suspenseful climax. Be sure to add this one to your TBR pile. 

Smut Level: Harmony might express a bit of timidity when Harlen first expresses an interest in her, but once they finally end up in each other’s arms all sense of hesitancy is thrown right out of the bedroom. 

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $4.99 Kindle Price. 239 Pages.

Until Ashlyn by Aurora Rose Reynolds

You know the old adage that “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?” I think we can all agree that it never holds true in romance novel land. That shit always follows you home.

What’s it About?

Dillon Keck knew Ashlyn Mayson was drunk when she suggested they get married. He knew he should have taken her back to their hotel room and put her to bed. Instead, he did what he had been craving to do since the moment they met. Claim her as his.

Waking up married in Vegas isn’t something Ashlyn Mayson ever thought would happen to her. Having Dillon, her boss, a man she thinks is a dick, insist they stay married is absurd, but every time he touches her, she gets lost in him and wonders if maybe they are meant to be together. But someone isn’t happy for Dillon and Ashlyn and their new found romance, and they’re willing to do anything to keep them apart. Even commit murder.

First Impressions

Alright, when it comes to full on first impression of Dillon, it’s not too hard to come up with a description of his character: the dude is basically a dick. He has taken over the dental practice where Ashlyn works, and upon first meeting he states that he’ll need to re-interview her to ensure she has the necessary skills, as he doesn’t just need a pretty thing to look at every day. Well f*ck you very much your majesty. Sure, meet with her a few times to double check she meets your standards, but don’t imply that just because she’s pretty she can’t be skilled and useful. We do eventually learn that this was his particular take on a classic schoolyard tactic to hide how he really felt about her by acting douchey, but it still doesn’t leave a very good first impression. Strike one against you sir!

Unicorns Left and Right

One feature of this novel which was pretty unique is the fact that when Dillon and Ashlyn finally do the dirty in that Vegas hotel room, it’s revealed that this was actually the first time either of them had had sex. Unfortunately, there’s no real discussion between them about how special this is! Dillon does express that he had never closed the deal with another woman beforehand because it never felt right, but come on! The rarity in this day and age of having two grown adults remain virgins for so long deserved some more attention! There’s another adage out there which compares women who haven’t had sex by a certain age to unicorns, in that they are basically mythological creatures. In this case, we have both a male and female unicorn! I think this feature really deserved a discussion, but instead was kind of glossed over in a one off comment from Dillon.

From Rom Com to Horror Film

The start of this novel truly reads like a romantic comedy; pretty silly and light-hearted. We have two co-workers who hate each other, yet have some underlying sexual tension, so they get drunk and married in Vegas. Because we’re dealing with a novel in the Until series world, we of course have an uber alpha male who refuses to let Ashlyn get away. She too also has an inherent sense of possessiveness when it comes to Dillon. At one point his crazy bitch of an ex tries to weasel her way into the picture, and Ashlyn kind of goes off on her after a fair amount of goading. While Ashlyn didn’t like the jealous person she became in that moment, Dillon was totally into it, as it showed she was just as in love with him as he was with her.

Awwww, isn’t that just the cutest?! Well, flash-forward a bit and things start to take a turn for the bizarre. Someone tries to run Ashlyn down with their car, and two women in this small Tennessee town are found murdered. Suspense. Intrigue! Well, we’re gonna put that on hold for another large section of the book for some more lovey dovey stuff and familial interactions. Until the last 10% of the book of course when it pretty much turns into a full on horror film. I’m talking kidnapping, stabbing, some more murdering. To introduce and resolve all of that murder mystery within the final 10% of the book was just too rushed. Although an interesting plot twist, it was kind of jarring to go from what felt like an Ashton Kutcher rom com to Saw in such a short amount of time. Ok, so Saw is definitely too out there of a comparison, but you catch my drift. I also don’t watch horror films, so my repertoire is lacking.

Series: Until Her, book 3. Personally, I would recommend reading these in order. Although each novel focuses on a different stand-alone couple, there are certain reappearing characters and themes that would be helpful to know from the beginning.

Should you read it? All in all, a good addition to the Until Her series. That being said, while I found the suspenseful murder aspect of the novel to be totally enthralling, it definitely could have been integrated better into the overall story line.

Smut Level: Something must be in the water in this small Tennessee town which causes “alpha male syndrome”.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $3.99 Kindle Price. Self-Published. 225 Pages.

 

 

Until June by Aurora Rose Reynolds

Another sexy read in the Until Her series featuring a dirty talking alpha male who likes to refer to his woman as “mine”. Gotta say though, this is the first book I’ve read so far in this series where I had one of those “been there, done that” feelings.

What’s it About?

June Mayson and Evan Barrister’s whirlwind courtship resulted in a secret marriage right before he left for boot camp. Evan knows deep in his gut that June is too good for him, but after getting a taste of the beautiful life they can have together, he’s unwilling to let her go. June promises to wait for him, knowing neither time or distance will ever change her feelings for Evan—that is until she’s served with divorce papers while he’s overseas and she’s forced to let him go.

Her marriage and divorce a well-kept secret, the last person June expects to run into when she moves back to her hometown is Evan. Angry over the past, she does everything within her power to ignore the pull she feels whenever he is near. But how can she ignore the pain she sees every time their eyes meet? How can she fight the need to soothe him even if she knows she’s liable to get hurt once again? Is it possible for June and Evan to find their way back to each other again? Or will they be stopped by an outside force before they ever have a shot?

First Impressions

Although it’s only the second novel in this spin-off series, if we look at all of the “Until” novels I’ve read so far, this counts as lucky number seven. Therefore, I guess I can’t really be surprised that the story line seemed a bit stale. I won’t go so far as to say it was boring though, for overall I did enjoy it. However, it sort of felt like I’d read it before. Alpha male gets his woman, they have some amazing sex, there are some complications with a local motorcycle club, and you’ve got a whole hell of a lot of Maysons running around!

A Distinctive Backstory

I really did enjoy June and Evan’s backstory. This was probably the most unique aspect of the novel which truly set it apart from the others in the Until series. Normally, once our alpha lead sets his eyes on our heroine, he does anything to make her his forever. Technically that is true in this case, yet we also see how Evan made the mistake of breaking things off with June years before, as he struggled to face the travesties of war. This novel focuses on their journey back to each other.

Excessively Alpha

I will say I love me some alpha male, but the men in this series can sometimes take things a bit too far for my taste. Call her yours, growl at men who hit on her, tear off her dress if it’s just too flirty for others to lay eyes on. No problem! But don’t tell her to shut up when she disagrees with you. I felt like there were too many times where June is set up to fail or make a mistake, which in turn sets Evan off into a growly mood. Hurray for immediate make-up sex, but take a chill pill!

Series: Until Her, book 2.

Should you read it? A good read, but not necessarily a stand-out in the series.

Smut Level: Me oh my. So much trusting, boob grabbing, sucking, and enough dirty talk to make you blush.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $3.99 Kindle Price. Self-Published. 242 Pages.