Colleen Masters

I borrowed this book through the Kindle Unlimited program and really liked it. It fulfilled my requirement for these "step" romances that it not be skeevy; as a matter of fact, I think that having it titled "Stepbrother" is quite a bit of a stretch, as that is NOT an accurate representation of their familial connection.

Maddie is traveling to Montana for a "mandatory fun" Porter family vacation and meeting up with her flighty mom and two other sisters. Her best friend, Allie, is trying to get show more Maddie to lighten up a bit and challenges her to have a vacation fling while she's gone. Being competitive, Maddie takes her up on it and actually runs into a prospective flingie the first night, in a bar next to the hotel where she's staying on her way to Montana. Enter... Cash. Yup, they do the horizontal (& sounds like quite a few other directions) mambo, and since she's unsure of morning after protocol, she leaves him a note and heads on out. As you already know from the blurb, she and Cash end up at the same place. Why? Because their parents (his father, her mother) were childhood sweethearts and recently hooked back up.

It appears that the other two sets of siblings will also get stories and those are set up a bit in Stepbrother Bastard. While this focuses on the budding romance between Cash and Maddie, especially with questions and concerns regarding what the status is, or is going to be, between the parents and how that would affect THEM, it's also the start of a dissection of family interactions after the loss (either through death or desertion) of a parent. It's also funny how Colleen Masters portrays the shock of the 3 Porter sisters when they are confronted with the violent way that the 3 Hawthorne brothers work out their differences.

Be prepared for a bit of angst... some time jumping... the desire to punch some parents in the throat... and some patented CM smexy times! Don't be put off by the stepbrother bastard title. Quite honestly I'm not sure how it relates to the story, because Cash seems a hell of a lot more put together and in honest touch with his feelings than Maddie is. Beyond the confusion that the title creates (since it does create preconceived ideas from readers before getting into the story) this is a really great story and looks to be a great start to a series! The book does end with a HFN, so I don't know if their story will be addressed a bit in the sibling stories or continued on with another story. Either way, I look forward to revisiting the Porter and Hawthorne siblings!

4.5 stars show less

Well I must say this was a sexy and fast paced read. The author definitely knows how to grab your attention and hold onto it for the duration. The book wasn't overly long, which I liked.I'll be sure to follow the series.

Kindle unlimited book. I'm usually a big fan of Ms. Master's work, but I found this book to be somewhat predictable. The characters were well developed and lovable but the storyline wasn't as smooth as her other writings. There are multiple typos, which is a bit irritating. The sex scenes were steamy and the assault/defense scenes were explosive.

This is one of those unfortunate times when a book gets read and finished when I'm not in a position to do anything about the fact that I'd read and finished it. So there's this delay that gets built in - both in terms of getting my thoughts together for a review, and in terms of other works have been examined/read since the completion of this book here. So, let me see what I can put together here.

First off - I'm not actually sure what I'd rate this book. I'd initially put it down on the 3 show more star level - more so I could mark it read (I was away from my computer, and my phone was giving me issues); though I had the thought that I'd probably rate the book somewhere around 3.5 to 4.2. Realizing that, now, I move it up to the 4 star level.

The book involves Siena Lazio and Forumla 1 racing. And I admit that I read the book largely because I wanted to read another book that involved car racing. They seem oddly hard to find. Oh, and the book was free, so that helped. I mean being offered on Amazon for $0.00, not meaning that it was free to me and only me.

Siena Lazio is an Italian-American woman of roughly 25 years of age who works for her family's car racing team - Team Ferrelli. Technically not actually her family's car team, just they have had a long history with the team, and Siena's pop owns a majority stake. The Lazio family, and Team Ferrelli are, in the book's world, highly regarded in the sport of auto-racing. Siena's pop is majority owner of the team, and an hands on manager; her brother is the lead driver for the team (and the brother is her twin). Siena works public relations for the team, though she is being constantly undermined by her father - who seems to only be able to see her as his daughter; and, is constantly being 'watched' - 'guarded'. Both in terms of what she does reflects on the team, and in terms of 'she's a female family member, therefore, 'obviously' she needs to be watched'. The brother, on the other hand, while required to be the top, and be constantly working on being ready to race, isn't as controlled off the track - in terms of - he is allowed to be a ladies man.

So, the book opens with the start of a new F1 season. The team, and the race, is in Barcelona. Siena feels the need to 'unwind', so she goes to a night club. Followed along by her 'watcher', the son of the team ... manager? I forget what post Gus fills (that's the father, not the son). The son and Siena grew up together, and Siena believes that the son (this would be easier if I'd done the review immediately after I'd read the book - I can't recall the son's name) lusts after her; but she can't see him as anything other than a brother-type.

So - they are in a night club in Barcelona. Siena wants to be herself; that son guy keeps being an uptight ass. Eventually Siena gets that son guy to leave and soon bumps into a man named Harrison. She doesn't say who she is in terms of auto-racing; and he doesn't say who he is. Though both acknowledge that they are somehow involved in F1. They flirt, they dance, they end up in the bathroom together; some fondling begins but they get tossed out before they can get anywhere.

Harrison, which will be eventually learned, is a guy by the name of Harrison Davies. 'Secret weapon' for Team McClain. Which is right in the book's description. heh. He's a driver and will give Enzo some competition for champion of F1 (Enzo being Siena's brother).

There's a 'Romeo & Juliet' vibe going on in this book - in terms of Davis being a member of Team McClain, and Siena being a member of Team Ferrelli.

There are some scenes on the track, though most everything that involves the auto-races are from Siena's perspective watching. This is the first book in a series; maybe additional books shift the POV to someone actually behind the wheel? I might find out some day.

Oh, and the book felt quite complete and then there had to be a cliffhanger ending tacked on at the end. Mind you, that was, to a certain extent, foreshadowed, but still.

April 18 2016 show less