Worth the Wait by Claudia Connor

Blurb

The first in a spin off series of the New York Times Bestselling McKinney Brothers, WORTH THE WAIT takes readers on a journey through young love into adulthood in a heartwrenching, second chance love story.

Nick Walker thought nothing could destroy what he had with Mia. He certainly never thought he would be the one to destroy it.

Now ten years later, Mia James is in Special Agent Nick Walker’s path once again and this time he’s determined to shed the weight of regret and finally claim the future that was always meant to be theirs.

It won’t be easy. Mia’s heart was shattered by Nick and now, just when she’d pieced it back together, it’s been broken again, bringing their past to the surface, including her own secret about that day everything went wrong.

***Every title by Claudia Connor is a Contemporary Romance and a full stand alone novel. No cheating, no love triangle, no cliff hanger.

My Review


Grief. Guilt. Loss. Love. Regret. 

Nate and Mia's story encompasses all of that and more.

Told in both past and present, I enjoyed the flashbacks into their younger years very much, the meat and potatoes of the story, if you will.

You see Nick's pain and struggles to raise his younger brothers and sister, you feel them in your gut, and you finally understand.

I must say though, I feel there was a missing chapter that was needed to connect the past Nick and Mia to the present Nick and Mia. Although you know how still so much in love they are with the other, their "reconnecting" was too instantaneous for me. After so many years apart and the way they left things, I needed more. 

Regardless of my feelings on that, I enjoyed this story very much.

If you're a fan of this series, there's a little bit of everything here for you. Not only do you finally get Nick and Mia's story, which brought me to tears more than once, but you get a little more about young Hannah, more Matt and Abby, and a little dangling carrot on Luke... perhaps Zach as well?  

Looking forward to the next book already! 

AMAZON US / UK 

Wreck: Hawke (Sphere of Irony #4) by Heather C. Leigh

Hawke Evans is the drummer for the Grammy winning Sphere of Irony. The quiet, tattooed and pierced hottie behind a pair of geek chic glasses is hiding a seriously troubled adrenaline junkie with a death wish.

Abby Kessler is studying psychology at UCLA. Her 
desire to help those fighting mental illness stems from a life-changing incident in her past.

When Abby meets Hawke backstage at a local club, she’s instantly attracted to his bad boy good looks. But when she discovers the damaged man beneath the beautiful 
exterior, she’s compelled to make up for past mistakes.

How long will it take for Hawke to realize his reckless 
behavior isn’t only endangering him, but the hearts of those around him? How long will it take for Abby to see that she can’t help someone who has no desire to be fixed? 

I was intrigued by Hawke when I read about him in Gavin's book. This is only the second book in the Sphere of Irony series that I have read, the first being Gavin's story.

Anyway, I was anxious to read about the quiet, can't sit still to save his life, drummer.

That being said, I am feeling a little down.

Not because it was so emotional that I couldn't get past it.. but that I know it was supposed to be that emotional and to me it wasn't. 

It just didn't elicit the feelings I believe it was meant to. 

I must be broken! 

The beginning had me hooked. I was already so in love with Hawke! 

His story is heartbreaking. Truly.

This part had my emotions engaged. 

I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach.. that, oh my god, oh my god, kind of thing... 

but then things changed, everything progressed a tad quickly and it all pretty much went stagnant for me.

Abby was quite flawed for me. 

Yes she was a broken/flawed girl.. but her actions didn't make much sense. 

Also their back and forth strange relationship was just weird and I didn't really feel that powerful instant connection they said they had. 

Am I being too hard on them? I know they're broken and damaged characters, but I just kept feeling like something was missing. I actually did a double take at one point, flipped back and looked to see if I'd missed a paragraph. 

To me, certain feelings, certain reactions were left out.

It's safe to say I'm on the fence! 

Besides the things I didn't quite connect with, there was that awesome beginning and I have to give extra props for revisiting with Gavin and Mitch who I loved so much in the previous book! That put a smile on my face.

So.... I liked it. I think. 

Regardless, I fell in love with Heather while reading Gavin's book and I'll for sure read whatever it is she writes next!

Amazon US / UK

Resurrecting Phoenix by Isabel Lucero

Anniversaries are usually occasions worth celebrating, but when your fourth wedding anniversary is also the first anniversary of your husband’s death, you’ll only want to drink your sorrows away. And that’s exactly what Phoenix Nightingale does. 

In the small town of Breckshire Wyoming, everybody knows everybody, so when Evan Tyler walks into the same bar she’s drowning her grief in, Phoenix knows that he’s new in town. What she doesn’t know is that he’s just moved in a few houses down from her and is about to try his hardest to break through the wall she’s had up for a year. 

Phoenix has experienced a tragedy that nobody ever wants to experience. In the year following her husband’s death, she’s had what her parent’s considered embarrassing public meltdowns, and lost some friends along with her career. Just as she feels she’s at her very lowest, Evan barges into her life, forcing her to get out of the house and look at life a little differently. 

He vows to help her, encouraging her to rise from the ashes and live once again. Evan doesn’t know that just by being in her life, he’s bound to send her into a tailspin, because both of them are keeping things from each other, and Phoenix may not be strong enough to handle what she finds out. 

Will she pull him into the dark with her, or will he be able to resurrect Phoenix, freeing her from the depths of her depression, and show her that surviving isn’t the same as living?

This is one where I actually read the blurb! (I usually don't)

 I had read one of Isabel's books before and absolutely loved it! 

Mix her writing with tragedy, loss, and tears and I was in!!

Well, this definitely had the tragedy, it had the loss, but unfortunately for me, my tears didn't come. 

Phoenix has quite the sad story. She copes with it the only way she feels she can.

Evan is the sexy new guy in town. He's attentive, caring, funny and charming. I loved him!

I did enjoy this story. It was a really nice read, pretty easy going with bouts of laughter and sweetness to balance out the loss and sadness.

But, I did feel like it was a little too perfect and put together.

Yes there were hardships and hurdles, but they all seemed to be easily overcome. 

Certain things fell right into place, making it a little too convenient and 'after school special' for me.

I was longing for a little more grit and little more gut wrenching.