M. J. Fields

My thoughts on books 1 to 3

The last time I read a couple this buggered, is the Closer Trilogy.. Except Lucas and Tessa are WORSE. Much worse. They are so wrong for each other. The words: obsessed, possessive, needy, territorial, jealous don't come close to describing how he feels about her. She is exactly the same. I wish I could put into words how intense this read is.

The blurbs of each book explains exactly what stage they are at in their lives, so we sort of know where each book is show more going. But believe me, nothing prepared me for the love and pain the H and h experience. She's a friggin martyr. He is the worse boyfriend any girl could possibly ask for. I hate him. He is the devil incarnate beautiful bad-boy. And she irritates me. Shes a gorgeous goody goody two shoes with a mean streak and gives as good as she gets. But their connection is such an explosive train wreck, I'm morbidly glued to the devastation that is their relationship. They grow within themselves and their relationship and then backslide into despair so much, its like they never grew in the first place. I'm so SO frustrated!

There is so MUCH happening in each book. Im sure some will think that its OTT but its all very believable to me. Very real. Each one is lengthy and has a bittersweet ending. The other characters are wonderful to read. I love them all. The author isn't afraid to flesh them out. The thing is, you'd expect this kind of read to not have much "together time" for them, but nope, they're together even when they're not together. Weird. Addictive.

I don't like: that its an installment read of 4 books, its expensive, that it seriously needs a good cleanup iro grammar, punctuation, spelling. In fact, the lack of editing is disconcerting, more so because its such a good story and otherwise so well written. But its not enough to deter me from it. I'm enthralled and horrified that I AM enthralled in the first place. But truly, I can't be bothered with all these problems cos I love-hate this story so much. I'm also gonna check out the author's other books. I love her writing style.

Oh, and Lucas is a crying hero. A b@stard crying hero. He messes up. ALL. THE. TIME. But dear goodness I love him. And I love the hold she has over him cos he is just too much of an arrogant @.$$hole and I'm gleefully watching him squirm and flounder around like a lost fool. The pig. If he wasn't so f'd up and so addicted to her, so vulnerable and so misunderstood, I'd have thrown in the towel long ago. I mean, they go around in CIRCLES! Over and over again!

I'm almost done with book 3 and have NO idea if there's even a HEA for them in book 4. You know I must have a solid HEA, right? This is the first time I can honestly say that if it doesn't happen, I'm probably gonna be fine with it. Right now, he is hurting her too much, she's allowing it too often and the one MAIN thing that keeps me reading is that HE hurts JUST as much as her every time. show less

4.5 stars

I am not sure if it was the author, the blurb, or the cover that made me instantly want to read this but holy hell am I glad that I did because it was PERFECT. I have a thing for accents, especially, Scottish ones. It is probably why when I was in Europe that out of all the countries that I visited, and there were a lot, Scotland was my favorite.

I am a little jealous that Lizzie got to find out for herself about what truly is under a Scotsman's kilt because that was something I show more didn't find out when I was there. Lizzie cracked me up in this story, her inner thoughts had me busting up so many times. Ethan, sweet Lord almighty, this delicious man, grumpy until he wasn't and oh so endearing. His love for a sweet little girl named Kai was amazing. Add in some poignant magic times between Lizzie and Kai, some heartwarming texts that take on new meaning, and some wonderful friends and this book had me falling in love.

There were some parts that I wish had further clarification, Kai's grandparents in particular. I just felt that it should have been fleshed out a tad more because I would think that Ethan trumps Kai in hierarchy or the law. Regardless, this book was a FANTASTIC addition to the Cocky Hero Club. show less

Solid 3.5 star
This was a pretty good quick read, I felt it was a little disjointed but didn't interfere too much with the story. We find out early on why Franco is why he is but it takes a while to find out why Valentina is the pain in the arse she is. It is fun seeing how she stirs him up pretty much all the time but I also liked how they wormed their way into each others lives and some good twists helped the story along.

Morrison didn't have it easy growing up, his father damaged his view of relationships after how he hurt his mom. He'd rather have his family, his money, gambling, and his beautiful yellow Porsche. That's all enough for him, until he meets Hailey, not only is she beautiful in a different way than everyone else, but once he has a taste of her he knows he can't get enough. She's platinum. Hailey's been down on her luck since birth, known as Hard Luck in Vegas, she's stuck in a loveless marriage show more where she owes her husband for every penny she spends. Her only bright light is her daughter, Marissa. After a once in a lifetime chance to escape her marriage, Hailey takes it, but finds she still has a sum of money being held over her head. Morrison knows she won't accept his help, but she's got all his attention and he wants to be her good in the world. He'd do anything.

Hailey is definitely a down on her luck girl and she's so hardened to the world around her. I loved that as a reader we saw glimpses of this hopeful girl even when she experienced some awful moments. Her hope for her daughter is definitely something that makes me like Hailey, because she's determined. Plus, Marissa, her daughter, has some of the cutest and funniest moments in the book. She's a scene stealer. Morrison is a total alpha male, parts of him I liked a lot, parts of him I hated. He's arrogant, but he has one of the best inner monologues of any characters I've read in a while. His POV is just entertaining to read from, especially when he describes women. The story line itself is interesting, it's one that is realistic in the city of Vegas and many others. However, some of the twists in this book, though minor, really bring a new dimension to the gambling for your life plot line.

There is some language in this book that just left me feeling uncomfortable. I get the controlling nature of Morrison, I totally understand the world of sin city, but some of it doesn't at all make me feel like a loving relationship. That said, Morrison and Hailey make it work and their relationship comes together in a way that just makes sense. While I may not like the language, for them it works. I will admit, around 47% I thought the book was complete, it wasn't. I felt that way again at 75%. The book has several points where it just feels like it could be done, but it isn't. That said, the last portion of the book absolutely closes this chapter of the Caldwell brothers and I felt it worked.

This is book two in the Caldwell Brothers series, however it can absolutely be read as a standalone. There's some great sex scenes, a hot alpha male if that's your taste, and strong characters finding their good in a world of bad.

Many thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review. show less