Sidney Halston

Kiss Kiss Bang by Sidney Halston
Book #3: Iron Clad Security Series
Source: Netgalley and Purchase
My Rating: 5/5 stars

Time for some harsh truth: at the end of the second book in the Iron Clad Security series, I absolutely despised Joey Clad. I found him to be arrogant, somewhat cruel, and completely dismissive of the talents and skills of others. In short, he’s a dick and I didn’t quite care if he ever appeared in a book again.

Then I read this book . . . .

From one book to the next, Joey show more Clad is a completely different person and I totally loved him in this go ‘round! Joey introduces himself in the opening scenes of Kiss Kiss Bang, and he has nearly totally honorable intentions. Joey sees a woman in line for Geek Squad, and when he sees her begin to melt down, he knows he must step in and help her. Helping her is the honorable part, wanting to meet the hot lady is the not so honorable part, but Joey just can’t seem to help himself. Within minutes, and after some identity confirmation, the hot lady agrees to accompany Joey to his offices so he can fix her computer.

Olivia Monroe isn’t a risk taker. Olivia Monroe plays by the rules, does her research before opening her mouth, and walks a straight and narrow path. She has to! Olivia Monroe is currently running for governor of Florida and she must always present and conduct herself appropriately. Leaving a store in her pajamas with a hot guy after melting down over her dead computer isn’t exactly the image she wants to portray, but, as the saying goes, needs must. For unexplained and very disconcerting reasons, Olivia trusts Joey immediately. For even more unexplained and disconcerting reasons, she also finds herself tremendously attracted to him and attraction to hot, new guy won’t help her campaign image at all.

Meeting Olivia turns Joey’s life upside down and right side up in short order. One encounter is all it takes to have him utterly convinced she is the woman for him. When he meets her completely adorable daughter, the deal is sealed as far as Joey in concerned. Now, he just has to figure out how to convince Olivia of the rightness of their relationship! As it turns out, there’s a crazy person out there hell-bent on hurting Olivia. Joey’s wheelhouse absolutely includes protecting others from such madness which means he gets a great deal of one on one time with Olivia until the mystery is solved.

Even with all of Joey’s incredible skills, hunting down Olivia’s attacker isn’t easy. It requires a great number of twists and turns, and some dredging up of the past. What’s more, with each new attack, Olivia’s opponent takes advantage of the opportunity. Olivia has to creative with her campaigning which means relying on Joey to deal with her protection. The process is as intense as it is scary and both emotions bring Olivia and Joey closer together both physically and emotionally.

The Bottom Line: I want to roll around in this book I enjoyed it so much! The change in Joey from one book to the next was significant for me, and I am so happy with the personality adjustment. Joey is strong, capable, commanding, sexy, loyal, and loving yet never to the point of overshadowing Olivia. Olivia is strong, determined, intelligent, and loyal. She has a mission, a goal, but also the desire to protect herself and her loved ones; she isn’t stupid and knows when she needs to ask for help. Joey’s help 😊 One of the things I particularly appreciated about this book is the connection between Olivia and Joey; once they are together, they are together. There’s no cold-feet, I’m in over my head, we must break up for a bit because of some lame miscommunication. This situation isn’t the norm in romance reads and I was glad for the change of pace that did nothing but increase my liking of this book. Finally, there is the ending of this read. I am a big fan of karma and slimy humans getting exactly what they deserve, and this book offers up a healthy dose of completely satisfying karma; essentially, the perfect ending. show less

Last First Kiss by Sidney Halston
Book #2: Iron Clad Security
Source: Netgalley and Purchase
My Rating: 4½/5 stars
My Review:

Annie Clad has spent her life proving herself, first in the military and now to her brother and his partner as a part of Iron Clad Security. Make no mistake, Annie is a badass with extensive training, but she’s often overlooked or deemed incapable simply because she’s a woman. All she needs is a chance and Hollywood hottie, Rocco Monroe is just the chance she’s show more been waiting for.

Rocco Monroe is looking to be taken seriously as an actor. Oh sure, he’s had plenty of successful movies, box office blockbusters, but none have been serious or critically acclaimed roles. Rocco’s latest project has the potential to take his career and reputation to a whole new level, but that’s only if the film gets made. There’s a lot of blow back, protests, and threats over this project and one of the conditions of Rocco’s involvement is a full-time bodyguard. Rocco’s convinced the threats aren’t credible and wants nothing to do with a bodyguard until he meets Annie Clad. Suddenly, the prospect of being shadowed full-time doesn’t seem so bad. But, Rocco has some conditions of his own.

In Hollywood, perception is everything which means must blend into Rocco’s world. Her beauty will distract most from the fact she’s lethal and Rocco can offer the world a glimpse of his new “girlfriend.” What begins as a pure working relationship (because Annie refuses to be a cliché) quickly escalates into so much more. Annie is hypervigilant in her protection, and until a rock comes crashing through his home’s window and the set he’s working on is attacked, Rocco isn’t convinced he needs Annie for more than a fake to real girlfriend. It’s when the sh*t gets real that Rocco realizes his life is truly in danger, he has real feelings for Annie, and he begins to struggle with the fact that his job is making a woman he legitimately cares about a target. For Annie’s part, protecting Rocco and unraveling who’s behind all the danger becomes an obsession fueled by memories of her time in the military and the tremendous (though largely unknown) loss she suffered while in combat.

The Bottom Line: I walked into this read expecting to like everyone (because it’s Sidney Halston!), discovered I disliked everyone, and then had my opinion totally changed as the story unfolded. Rocco is arrogant and cocky, especially in public and sees Annie as an accessory more than protection in the beginning. As the story unfolds and Rocco begins to tell his story and see Annie’s true value, he becomes far more likeable. Annie begins her journey with a HUGE chip on her shoulder and healthy dose of anger she takes out on nearly every man in her sphere. As Rocco evolves and opens to her, Annie begins to soften though that softness in no way lessens or detracts from her badassery! There is so much growth in these characters across this read and that growth is initiated by both their responses to one another and the truly incredible danger they are forced to endure. Halston doesn’t let up for a second and it’s worth every minute of the initial dislike to get to the absolutely well-deserved and hard-earned HEA that is waiting for both Rocco and Annie! show less

Kiss Marry Kill by Sidney Halston
Book #1: Iron Clad Security Series
Source: ARC from author and purchase
My Rating: 5/5 stars
My Review:

Can a few short days really change your life?? For Megan Cruz, the answer is a resounding, yes! In just a few days, Megan walked away from her long-term boyfriend, abandoned her parent’s dream for her of law school, and struck out on her own which turned into a meteoric rise to fame and fortune as lead singer of a wildly popular band. All because of a crazy show more hot kiss and a few smokin’ hot days with a soldier on his way out of town. Yeah, a couple of days really can change your life.

Fast forward five years . . . .

Fame comes at a price and for Megan Cruz that price is a stalker who has not only threatened her sense of safety, but has also threatened her life, and her future with her band. He’s sent threatening letters, left her “gifts,” and even gone so far as to break into her home. The last event found Megan shaking in her closet, gripping a large knife, and looking at the man who changed her life five years ago. In five years, Jax has honed his skills, opened his own security firm, and never forgotten about Megan Cruz. To see her so shaken and scared, triggers every protective instinct Jax has and it’ll be a cold day in hell before she’s hurt again.

Within hours, Jax has all but taken over the investigation into Megan’s stalker, moved into her house, and has his team setting up military-grade security in and around her house. He also found a moment amid all the activity to say hello and tell Megan how good it is to see her again after so many years  For Megan’s part, her world has been turned upside down, and the only thing that makes sense is Jax being back in her life. This Jax isn’t the carefree, easy to laugh young man of five years ago, but an older, more mature man who is serious, hardened by his experiences, and impossibly sexy. This new Jax is a cat of a different color and despite the seriousness of her situation, Megan wants to know more about him and be as close to him as possible.

Jax isn’t dumb enough to try and lie to himself about his attraction to Megan, but he isn’t going to let it get in the way of protecting her. Her life has been threatened, repeatedly and if he loses his focus, Megan could lose her life. What Jax doesn’t quite get is the fact Megan isn’t the shy, retiring girl he met five years ago, but a strong, independent woman who has learned to get what she wants. Yeah, the situation may be seven levels of awful and it’s going to get far worse before it gets better, but Megan is determined to have Jax. All she has to do is get through his tough exterior and survive a few more crazy attempts on her life.

The Bottom Line: Kiss Marry Kill opens with the drama and doesn’t do anything but continue to up the tension ante throughout. There’s the sexual tension, the tension between Jax and his team over his protection methods, and the implied tension over the stalker. With every new incident, I got a little deeper into the drama and crankier and crankier at Jax for not seeing the obvious right in front of him. Megan and Jax are just one of those fated couples you love to see together . . . . finally!! Traditionally, Halston has put her characters through the wringer before allowing for their HEA, but Kiss Marry Kill may just take the cake. Jax is strong, sexy hero who knows how to look after a woman, care for her. Megan is strong and independent though not dismissive of her situation and how serious it is. The flashbacks to the past inform the present and help the reader understand just how the relationship between Megan and Jax gets so intense so quick. This is one of my favorite writing techniques, the past and the present in a single read, and Halston pulls it off without a hitch. There’s plenty of action, drama, and truly yummy naughty bits to keep the viewer involved from start to finish and hoping for an early release date for the next book in the series. show less

The primary challenge I find with the accidental pregnancy trope is the lingering question that plagues the HEA: “If it weren't for the baby, would they be together?” This concern is one of the reasons I am not the biggest fan of the trope; however, I thoroughly appreciate how Sidney did not shy away from addressing the elephant in the room. In fact, in "Love Lessons," that seed of doubt was brought front and center. There was no instant love connection or drive by both characters to do show more the "honorable thing". Sidney flipped the script and presented not only the obstacle of an unexpected pregnancy but one between mortal enemies. The twists and turns they had to navigate not only added wit, charm, and cheesy grin-worthy humor, it also made you fall in love with the characters and the ending even more than intended.

Valerie Martinez and Andrew Wexler, both kindergarten teachers at Gables Preparatory Academy, share a wall, a passion for molding young minds, and a hatred for one another that rivals feuds between great nations. From singing loudly and beating on drums to turning up the air conditioner as retribution, the petty squabbles and an unexpected paint fight land the adversaries in the principal's office. Having reached his limits, Principal Carmichael makes it clear that they must get along for the final two weeks of the year or one of them will be fired. Both loving what they do, they call a ceasefire. Claws retracted, Valerie and Andrew make nice, a little too nice in fact, as a going-away party turns into one of the hottest nights either of them has ever had. An awkward morning after and a summer in Haiti later, Valerie returns to find out that while neither of them is fired, they must share a classroom due to storm damage to their part of the school. Knowing what is at stake if either of them refuses, they work out a plan to co-teach. All of it becomes too much for Valerie as suddenly she doesn't want to eat, is overly emotional, generally feels unwell, finds the smell of playdough repulsive, and does the unthinkable in front of a classroom of children. Believing it is a bug going around, she suddenly realizes that a very important visitor hasn't come in almost 10 weeks. Rushing home, she discovers she is pregnant, and even worse - it is Wexler’s! Knowing motherhood was never in her cards, Valerie has to decide what she wants for the future while trying to survive the school year with her mortal enemy and now the father of her child.

Sidney did a wonderful job of mixing forced proximity with opposites attract and enemies to lovers. Having gone head-to-head for four years as the only two kindergarten teachers in the school, you get a pretty detailed glimpse of the war zone they created. The twist of sticking them in the same classroom is one I did not see coming! So now you have two enemies stuck in the same room together and if they even breathe the word "conflict", Carmichael has already threatened to fire one of them! At this point, they don’t even know there is a baby! The introduction to yet another obstacle between them just adds to the delicious chaos. What wins you over is the very slow evolution of the characters. The more time they spend together, granted the more they want to kill each other, but the more you do have to agree with what everyone keeps saying—there really is a thin line between love and hate.

Looking at the spicy level of modern-day contemporary romances, I definitely would not categorize this as spicy. Steamy, definitely, and two particular scenes were fairly hot, but again, not to the extent that most books labeled as “spicy” are reaching now. With that being said, overly spicy scenes wouldn’t have been necessary, to be honest. The challenge to hide their desires and want for one another after succumbing to them at the beginning of the story is what added to it. Martinez was so determined to forget what happened between them that you, as the reader, almost forget they had been intimate, if it wasn’t for the shared bundle of joy they were expecting! What I appreciated is that during their first intimate moment, Sidney made sure the animosity between them was still present in the bedroom. They weren’t going to stop being enemies because, for a brief moment, they became lovers, and Sidney made sure that was articulated.

The question that lingered through the entire book was simple: Can two people with nothing in common, when forced into an unimaginable situation, come out in one piece on the other side? There were so many times I was convinced it wasn’t going to happen and couldn’t imagine how they were going to have an HEA. With that being said, what I enjoyed is that without my knowledge, Sidney was challenging my definition of an HEA by making their situation such an obstacle. When we arrived at the end, any assumptions of what we thought their HEA should have been were satisfied by the only HEA it could have been with these two people, and it was perfect.

This is my second book by Sidney Halston, and I loved it just as much as "The Valentine’s Hate." The realness and relatability of her characters and stories are what make them treasured favorites. I would love to see what else Sidney has up her sleeves as she has a true talent for challenging the truth in fiction. show less