Maybe Baby. Andrea Smith. 2014. 500 pages. Meatball Taster Publishing. [Source: personal copy.] I wanted to like this book, but it fell short in a lot of ways for me. The premise was intriguing for me – Tylar has a strained relationship with a mom who was more interested in her own romantic life than the well-being of her child; her father was never in the picture. Now, she’s on her own and pursuing her dreams in equine science, thanks to a trust fund from her absent dad. She’s working at the Sinclair ranch, which is being run over the summer by tightly-wound Trey Sinclair. Within the first chapter, I began to dislike Tylar. She comes across as incredibly timid to the point of being a push-over (no pun intended). Her youth, both in age and maturity, is shown right off the bat when she chugs a bunch of coolers, plays a drunken game of chicken in the Sinclair pool, and ends up with a concussion. That starts a running theme for me – she’s a borderline alcoholic before the book is even half-way done, and generally seems to have piss-poor judgment in everything she does. Even when I wanted…

The Pilot’s Baby. This book features Zoe, a flight attendant whose love life is in a drought. Her best friend pushes her to be more spontaneous, hoping she’ll find a new love … or at least a new lover. While Zoe is enjoying a beautiful Hawaiian resort, she encounters gorgeous Mason, who happens to be a pilot. They have strong chemistry, which leads to a one-night stand. That night/morning of passion leads to her pregnancy, and the story unfolds from there. While the premise of this story had a lot of potential, its execution fell very short.

Nobody’s Side Piece series. Niyah Moore. 2014. David Weaver Presents. [Source: Kindle Unlimited]. This review will actually cover the Nobody’s Side Piece series by Niyah Moore.  I picked these up on Kindle Unlimited because I was looking for something away from the romance books I’ve been into as of late.  These books are definitely interesting, and I appreciated being able to pick them up from Kindle Unlimited as soon as I finished with each. The story starts by following drug kingpin Rome in his quest to take over territory from his rival, Blaze. Blaze keeps a notoriously low profile – so low that only his right-hand man Kane has seen or spoken to him.  What follows is Rome’s relentless chase of Blaze … right into his own home.  

New Year: A Novella. L. Mertz. 2015. 98 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited] What better way to start the new year than with a new romance? In L. Mertz’s novella, the reader is treated to a short but not always sweet courtship between Braydon and Annie. He’s a widower hotelier with a 6 year old son and a meddlesome mom. She’s a newly underemployed nurse with a knack for cooking and talking non-stop. Together, they have chemistry, but seem to have just as many misunderstandings between them. The story is told from Braydon’s perspective, which isn’t very common in romances. It was definitely an interesting vantage point to look at things from. And although I found the book interesting, the plot was slightly predictable. I could sense where the tension points would be between Braydon and Annie and felt they were a bit cliche. Nonetheless, I was surprised that it didn’t end the way I predicted (thankfully).

My Sister’s Grave. Robert Dugoni. 2014. 401 pages. Thomas & Mercer Publishing. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Whew. My Sister’s Grave is an emotional and psychological roller coaster from start to finish. I picked this at random while scrolling through Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited offerings, and selected this one purely because of its provocative title. I didn’t bother to read the description; I just jumped in. That’s much like the plot. You’re eased into who Tracy Crosswhite is, but beyond that, you’re thrust into emotional turmoil as she comes to grips with the fact that the remains of her younger sister — who’d gone missing 20 years prior — have just been recovered in a former lake bed near their sleepy little hometown. The rest of the plot follows Tracy’s dogged pursuit of the truth about what happened to Sarah so many years ago. Her focus on the procedural aspects of Edmund House’s conviction for Sarah’s murder opens a Pandora’s box of questions about what really happened and the choices the town made as a result. Cedar Grove was traumatized by Sarah’s disappearance, and the hunt for justice in the past threatens to undermine the precarious comfort they’ve found in the present.