Tag Archives: Vivian Arend

Rocky Mountain Romance, Vivian Arend

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The Rocky Mountain gang. Oh, how I’ve missed you. Yes, we’ve visited with you in the Thompson & Sons series, but it’s nice to get back to the original clans.

In Rocky Mountain Romance, Melody Langley is returning home after a year away to get some extra training for her veterinary skills. Who does she meet first thing? Steve Coleman. Her former boyfriend. The last time they saw each other was right before Melody left and she was dumping a pitcher of beer over his head in the middle of the local bar in front of his friends and family.

One of Melody’s complaints with Steve from a year ago is he was immature and careless with other people’s time. He was kind of just gliding along without ever stepping up to do what needed to be done. In this book Steve knows what he lost when he lost Melody and he’s determined to get her back no matter what. So while she’s spent the year studying, he’s spent the year growing up and facing some unpleasant realities about how he used to be.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHOY! Read on at your own risk.
(highlight paragraph to read spoiler)

While I liked this book, and this couple, quite a bit, I finished the book a little disappointed. I felt the whole situation between her and the ranchers was wrapped up a little quickly, and I wanted to know what Tom’s problem was. Was he annoyed she was left in charge? Was it that she was younger? newer? a woman? Not him? Was he the one causing the miscommunications or was it truly just a series of unfortunate events? I’m a demanding reader. I want to know MORE.

END OF SPOILERS!

The romance between Steve and Melody hit all the right notes. Seeing Steve struggle to really listen to Melody this time around and be a better man, both for her and for himself, was great. I felt he really paid attention to what was missing from their relationship before and he was putting in the work to make sure it didn’t happen again. He was in it for the long haul.

Melody was also willing to step up. She knew she was taking a risk on trusting Steve again, but she did it anyway because she could see how he had changed and Melody acknowledged that if he could put himself out there again, the least she could do was meet him halfway. It was also nice that she didn’t blame Steve for everything that had gone wrong before. It was as if their relationship was on hiatus while they each grew up a little and decided whether they were going to move forward together or not.

And here’s the part where Vivian Arend always gets me. She has these tortured men in her books that always just grab me and won’t let me go. They spend lots of time as minor characters in books before they get their own stories. The last one was Travis. I loved Travis from the moment I met him, and I KNEW his book was going to break my heart. And it totally did. And I loved every. single. moment. Now there’s Rafe. He’s Gabe Coleman’s younger brother from Rocky Mountain Angel, and he’s another one who is going to break me once she finally gets around to writing his story. Can’t wait.

All in all, and minor disappointment aside, this was a solid addition to the Six Pack Ranch books.

Rating: 3 stars

Lynda the Guppy
aka A Six Pack Ranch Girl
aka The Fish With Sticks

One Sexy Ride, Vivian Arend

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Another winner from Vivian Arend. *yawn* What else is new, right?

This time it’s sexy, adventurous and great-with-power-tools Janey and her hero Len who has far less experience than everyone believes and a love for Janey that just won’t quit. Which is good, because she’s been in love with him forever.

He’d hate me saying this, but Len was adorable. He was so sweet and a little unsure and a little emotionally damaged. He lost his mom to cancer when he was 15 and he has some serious guilt which stems from that. Janey, on the other hand, was raised by emotionally distant parents and has siblings who disregard what she is doing with her life, but still she manages to grab as much happiness as she wants.

While I get that maybe Ms. Arend didn’t want to have too many issues come up for Janey and Len, and she probably felt they had quite enough going on, I wish Janey had been able to deal with her family. I kind of wish we had seen her tell them what was important to her.

Len is just adorable (there’s that word again). He feels he’s so damaged that he can’t even take the chance on finally going to Janey until he thinks she’s leaving town. And Janey’s finally given up. She’s been throwing herself at Len for years and nothing. But once Len has to step in and spend the night to protect her, all bets are off. He may be inexperienced, but he makes up for lost time with Janey. And OOOOOH BOY does he catch up QUICK.

If you’re a regular reader here, you know two years ago my mom finally succumbed to the cancer which had ravaged her. In One Sexy Ride, Len is still dealing with the loss of his mom to cancer when he was 15. Thankfully, I was warned before I ever picked this book up, so I was prepared, though I’m usually okay with stories like this. I’m not sure who Ms. Arend has lost in her life to cancer or other long illness, and, frankly, it’s none of my damn business, but she GETS it. She gets it in a way I’m almost certain she’s been there. This part here was like she reached into my brain.

The strangest things could set him off. A combination of words, the scent of antiseptic like at the hospital.

One time someone’s phone had gone off, and their ring tone had been a series of beeps eerily reminiscent of a heart-rate monitor. He’d come within three seconds of snatching the phone right out of their hands and grinding the case to pieces under his heel.

That’s one thing that still surprises me. Those little moments of rage where you just want to rip people’s faces off for little things. I still can’t leave the house on Mother’s day weekend for fear of just screaming at people to SHUT. THE HELL. UP. And it’s totally me and not them, and I know I’m being crazy, but knowing it doesn’t do anything to stop those emotions. It’s something I don’t know if people understand unless they’ve gone through it themselves.

One of my favorite things about Ms. Arend’s books are that the conflicts in the book are never ridiculous. There’s never the moment of frustration where the reader thinks if everyone would just have a freakin’ conversation, this would be settled. That’s not to say her characters don’t have miscommunications or don’t speak to each other about important stuff. It still happens, but she doesn’t drag it out. And her characters are never stupid, so they KNOW what’s going on, and everyone gets treated like grown-ups fully capable of dealing with their own issues.

I also love her sense of family in all her books, whether it’s by blood or by choice. In this case, both. The Thompson family is one that is loving and supportive and will tease the hell out of you in an heartbeat. I laughed hard during their first date at the cafe. “No one could torture you like family.” Absolutely true.

This book was HOT. The build up of sexual tension here was slow and expertly done. By the time Len and Janey finally made it to bed, I was practically sweating. And then what they do IN the bed…and the truck…and the shower…*fans self* Whoo. Vivian Arend does write them hot and sexy, and she believes in truth in advertising because this book really is One Sexy Ride.

Lynda the Guppy
aka Addicted to Viv
aka The Fish With Sticks

Rating: 4 Stars

Baby Be Mine, Vivian Arend

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The biggest problem I have with Vivian Arend’s books are reading them in public without someone reading over my shoulder and being scandalized by all the hot sex. LOL  I’m all for it, but sometimes it’s best if I don’t read her stories in public, IfYaKnowWhatIMean.

If you’ve read the Marked anthology, you’ve seen glimpses of certain parts of Baby, Be Mine, but it can absolutely stand on its own. This book starts out with Gage finally seeing Katy Thompson as a grown woman and not just little Katybug. Things progress rapidly, as she’s finally dumped Simon, her asshat of a boyfriend. The problem being Gage leaves the next day for six months in the middle of nowhere working in the oil fields. They have a narrow window of time and they’ll take it!

Then disaster strikes. And the fates conspire to keep Gage and Katy apart for a little while. Just long enough for her to be injured, get amnesia, and not remember how she got pregnant. WHOOPS!

I love Vivian Arend and her writing. She writes people you just want to sit around and have a beer with, maybe play some pool, have a barbecue. The romance is always wonderful and the sex…*fans self*…Well. Let’s just say she doesn’t need any pointers on how to write sex scenes. LOL. For that matter, highly emotional scenes don’t seem to give her any problems either.

If you’ve been reading my reviews for any length of time, you know I LOVE Novellas. LOVE them. They’re like my book crack. I have a ton of them and I am an absolute sucker for a novella of any kind, but the good ones are SO AMAZINGLY GOOD. J.D. Robb’s Midnight in Death was so intense I remember having to put it down and walk away to literally catch my breath. Shannon Stacey’s Mistletoe and Margaritas makes me sob BUCKETS when I read it. I think this book will stay pretty high on my list of favorites, along with those.

Ms. Arend has made me fall in love with Gage, and then she broke my heart. Gage is amazing and supportive and wants nothing more than to love and protect Katy forever, and there comes a point in this story where it becomes…difficult…for him to do so. But it doesn’t stop him completely. He just gets creative to do whatever he can and as much as he can because Gage’s love for Katy won’t let him do anything else. Even when confronted physically, he only uses his strength to protect, and never to deliberately inflict harm. On anyone.

And what can I say about Katy? After everything that has happened to her, it’s amazing she has so much trust and faith in Gage. She loves him and trusts him and nothing shakes that faith, even when she can’t remember details. She and Gage end up doing something so difficult, so incredibly heartbreaking and difficult, and they do it because they know at the end, it’ll be worth it. It totally broke my heart for Gage and Katy, and I’m not sure I’ll forgive Ms. Arend for making me cry like that.

Oh, who am I kidding? I’m a total slut for her books. We all know I’ll be back as soon as she has a new ARC for me to pounce on.

Lynda the Guppy
aka A Fish With An Arend Addiction
aka The Fish With Sticks

Rating: 4 Stars

High Seduction, Vivian Arend

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One of these days Vivian Arend needs to write a book I won’t FanGirl over.

I mean, the law of averages has to come into play at SOME point, doesn’t it? The woman’s too prolific for me to love EVERYTHING…isn’t she? This is Ms. Arend’s 38th book, and I’ve read probably close to 30 of them and loved them all. Really. She’s going to need to stop this or I’m going to run out of nice things to say. (Don’t stop, Viv. Please don’t stop).

Out of all of her books, High Seduction ranks up there in the top 3 as one of my all-time favorite Vivian Arend books. I’ll tell you right now, if it wasn’t for my absolute and unending love of Travis from Rocky Mountain Freedom, Tim would be my favorite hero. He’s amazing. He is absolutely in love with Erin and not afraid to show her how he feels. He knows they had problems years ago, but he’s willing to do the work it’s going to take to get through them and get her back. For good.

As for Erin, she’s in denial for a little bit, but Tim and his constancy quickly win her over. She recognizes she still has lingering issues from their previous relationship, but she’s able to face those issues and learn from them without pushing Tim away in the process.

Tim, for his part, is willing to take a huge risk to help her work through whatever she needs to. As much of a dominant as Tim is, he never tries to force Erin through her mental blocks. He knows if she’s not in this relationship all the way, there’s nothing he can do to make her get there, but he’s willing to fight for them. He helps her where he can, and shows her the way, so to speak, and then stands back until she decides what she wants. Tim is, above all, a caregiver in every sense of the word. He loves Erin and would die before hurting her in ANY way. I love how he snuggles with her. To me snuggling/cuddling is one of the most romantic things a guy can do. Totally makes me melt every time.

Being an Adrenaline Search & Rescue title, of course there’s some suspense, but Ms. Arend kept the focus on Erin and Tim and….others…and didn’t spend too much time focusing on the suspense subplot. Which was just fine. Anything with more Tim was good for me.

I loved how, even with Erin’s initial reluctance to deal with Tim again, she was always professional. Neither she nor the team did any of the “we hate the new guy” posturing. Tim is new to the team, yes, but he’s an experienced SAR and the team recognizes and respects that. There’s hazing, but more in a good natured “welcome to the team” kind of way and not “let’s terrorize the new guy until he quits.”

There’s a new character introduced in this book. Matt, who plays a big role in High Seduction. I loved him and am hoping we get to see more of him.

Lynda the Guppy
aka Vivian Arend’s FanGirl
aka The Fish With Sticks

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Rocky Mountain Freedom, Vivian Arend

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This book was awesome. Go read it. Now.

What? That doesn’t cut it as a review? Damn. Okay, then here goes.

You know THAT BOOK? It’s the book in a series you’ve been waiting YEARS for. It’s the one with your favorite characters and you kept hoping it was the next one to be released and the next one and the next one, but your favorite author keeps tormenting you with little bits and hints of this character’s story in OTHER characters’ books and makes you wait FOREVER. And even though you’ve been DYING for this book and this character to FINALLY get their HEA, once you get the book in your hot little hands you’re terrified to read it? OMG WHAT IF IT DOESN’T LIVE UP TO EVERYTHING YOU’VE HAD IN YOUR HEAD FOR THE LAST 2 YEARS?!?!

Rocky Mountain Freedom and Travis was THAT BOOK for me.

I’ve been anxiously awaiting Travis’ book since that scene in the barn in Rocky Mountain Heat when he told Blake why he though Jaxi was really dating Travis all those years ago. Right then my heart broke for Travis. And in Rocky Mountain Angel when Travis and Cassidy show up at Gabe’s cabin all beat up and needing a place to heal? How can you not want to just cuddle him and make all his hurts go away?! Through all 5 of these books I knew Travis was going to be the one I loved most. He was full of angst and drama and conflict and I couldn’t WAIT for his book.

BUT OMG WHAT IF IT DOESN’T LIVE UP TO EVERYTHING I’VE HAD IN MY HEAD FOR THE LAST 5 BOOKS?!?!?!

I sat down and read the book in one sitting. And it didn’t live up to my expectations.

It blew my expectations out of the freakin’ water.

I thought I loved Travis. I thought I knew what he was about. I thought I knew what his story was going to be like.

I was so, soooooo wrong.

I normally don’t enjoy rehashing previous scenes in new books, but because Travis’ story had significant moments throughout the rest of the series, I really liked how Vivian Arend brought those scenes back and gave us a different point of view. It also helped to put these scenes into context in relation to Travis (and Cassidy and Ashley). I didn’t have to rely on my faulty memory to figure out when and where something took place. YAY! Thank god for authors who are good to lazy readers.

One of my biggest complaints with a lot of ménage stories is the lack of “boy touching,” as I call it. Yeah, it’s great the woman is the center, blah blah blah, every woman’s fantasy, yadda yadda yadda, but that always seems unbalanced to me. The first time I found a ménage story where it felt like it really was a relationship between THREE people and not just boys vs. girl was Lauren Dane’s Laid Bare. This book feels very much the same. This relationship between Travis and Ashley and Cassidy really felt like it was between ALL of them equally, and not just Travis and Cassidy focusing on Ashley. They DO, of course, but Travis and Cassidy have their private moments, just as Ashley has private moments with Travis and Cassidy separately.

And the boy touching is HOT. Just sayin’. Also: No shortage of dirty talk. Always a plus with me.

I loved that all three of them each had their own issues to work out, and they were given the space and time and support they each needed to do so. They all loved and trusted each other and for the most part all three acted in the best interests of the other two. Not always, of course, or where would the tension and drama come from?

Travis…Oh, Travis. Poor, angsty, troubled Travis. I loved him so much. So SOOOO much. He’s damaged and knows it, and he wants Cassidy and Ashley more than anything, but he’s having a difficult time reconciling his needs with accepting their love.

Cassidy broke my heart. His issues with his father and his worry about…well, you’ll just have to read it for yourself.

Ashley was exactly the catalyst the two guys needed to break through their emotional barriers and realize what they could have as a triad. She has some worries of her own, but works through them.

I think one of my favorite moments is when Travis finally tells Ashley how he feels about her. Her and Cassidy’s reaction was priceless, and exactly what Travis needed. Viv Arend did such a wonderful job showing how much the three of them trust and love each other, and how they all feel emotionally safe within the relationship. They know they can break down in tears or talk about bad childhoods and they won’t be judged. Instead they will be loved beyond measure. Really, isn’t that what all of us look for in our own Happily Ever Afters?

I don’t know what else to tell you, other than this book was sexy, hot, emotional, full of angst, and a wonderful read. Also, I feel absolutely confident in judging this book by its cover. Yowza!

I read between 200-300 books a year and I give 5 stars to about 10 of those each year. I’d give this book 6 stars if I could.

In fact, I think I’ll go read it again right now.

Lynda the Guppy
aka Travis4Ever
aka The Fish With Sticks

Rating: 5 Stars

Diamond Dust, Vivian Arend

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This review was originally posted at Wicked Lil Pixie
on August 22, 2013

I loved this book. I loved this book so much I’ve read it twice in the last 6 weeks. Believe me, that’s pretty unheard of in my world. Usually I need to space it out further. I think Tyler has to be one of my favorite heroes of Vivian Arend’s. Tyler Harrison is wonderful. He’s funny, smart, protective, caring, and a bear.

That’s right. I said bear.

Tyler’s a bear shifter, to be precise, and where can I get one of my own? He’s the head of the Harrison Delegation who are headed to Whitehorse to meet in Conclave, which is the Bear version of…well…Conclave. They’re there to choose a new leader, and Tyler means to be the one chosen. The problem is there’s another delegation who is just as determined, but not nearly as worthy as Tyler. Of course.

Caroline is a human who grew up with a stepfather and half-sister who are wolf shifters, so she knows how shifters operate. She also has been having a long-term relationship with Evan who is the Alpha of the Takhini pack, as well as running the hotel the Takhini pack own. She may be human, but NOBODY crosses Caroline. Whether its fear of her or of Evan, she’s not sure, but whatever it is, it works.

Evan and Caroline are really more like best friends who have a lot of sex, which is good news for Tyler! Evan breaks up with Caroline right as Tyler arrives to town, and I’ll let Evan fill you on the reasons. Poor Evan. Ms. Arend tortures him so in this book. Once Tyler comes to town, things heat up FAST. He needs help schmoozing the Bear community, and maybe some help smoothing things over with the Takhini pack wouldn’t hurt, either. Caroline decides to help him, because she sees the potential disaster within the shifter community if someone unworthy is the head of the Bear shifters.

Caroline and Tyler are a good team. She sees things within the community which Tyler, being so used to how things are, doesn’t notice. Caroline ends up being invaluable to Tyler in helping win over a large part of the population, but what made this book so special for me is how Tyler is this big, gruff, bear. He’s a total take charge kind of guy and he’s used to being the biggest threat around. And because of those traits, he could just run right over Caroline, but he doesn’t. He realizes what she needs more than anything is to really be heard. For someone to listen and understand just what she needs, even if she doesn’t necessarily articulate those needs. He ASKS her what she wants, he doesn’t demand to know. He’s also very affectionate.

“Who said anything about leaving the bed?” He rolled far enough to tip her to the mattress then bundled her into his arms, nuzzling her neck and dropping kisses on her face.

Well, this was sweet. “Okay, I know guys are usually, well, up in the morning, but you’re, like, way affectionate.”

Tyler adjusted position to look into her eyes. “You were nice to my bear. He appreciates that.”

Really, you should give Tyler a chance. Vivian Arend’s shifters are really such wonderful characters, and Tyler is my absolute favorite.

For now.

Ask me again after Evan’s book.

Lynda the Guppy
A Bear?! Bears Are Sweet!
aka The Fish With Sticks

RATING: 4.5 Stars

Wolf Nip, Vivian Arend

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This review was originally posted at Wicked Lil Pixie
on February 12, 2013

Here I go again, trying something new. Vivian Arend is an evil, evil woman. She kept posting quotes from Wolf Nip on Twitter until I finally caved and read it. It’s possible she was just trying to entice ALL readers, but as the world revolves around me, I choose to believe it was a plot against me personally.

I’ve never been a fan of Shifter stories. As the daughter of a Special Effects guy for the movies, I always knew how the tricks worked, so I was never able to suspend my disbelief enough to buy into the premise. Plus in one of the series’ I read AGES ago had guys with penises with weird barbed things or extra protrusions. It was creepy and SOOO not my cuppa. I gave up and never tried them again.

I finally picked up the first Granite Lake Wolves book, Wolf Signs, on Sunday and finished the 6th book, Wolf Nip, on Monday. Yup. Read all 6 in 2 days. To be honest, they’re novella length, so it’s not like I read 6 full-length novels in 2 days. I think you can safely assume I loved the series.

Wolf Nip is the story of Tessa Williams and Mark Weaver. We met Tessa who is Keri’s best friend in Wolf Line. In that book we saw how antsy and energetic she is, constantly on the move. Oh, yeah. And she’s a cat. That’s right. A cat. She meets Mark, a wolf, and he declares she’s his mate. The problem is wolves know their mates instantly. Cats don’t. So while she believes HE believes he’s her mate, she wants to take some time and actually get to know him. Maybe fall in love the traditional way.

Throughout this book the main conflict is how a wolf and a cat–and a man and a woman–learn how to connect and fall in love and accept their differences. It was a fun story, as there were lots of cats vs. dogs jokes, and the final scene cracked me right up. It was sweet watching Mark do everything he could to provide for Tessa and her slowly realize how incredible he is and how much he loves her. I also liked how her best friend Keri sat Tessa down and gave her a good dose of reality, as a good BFF should.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed throughout all the Granite Lake Wolves books is how the Pack is always supportive. Sure, there are a few petty differences, but the leaders are fair, and the pack is for the most part accepting of all. A true family. And if anyone gets out of hand, well, there’s always a good Sharpie to the rescue.

Finally, one of my favorite scenes references Romeo & Juliet and it was nice seeing someone, fictional or not, agree with my sentiments about those twits. Don’t get me started there. That’s a whole other review.

My suggestion: Go forth and read this book! It’s out today! And if you haven’t read a shifter book, take a chance, be fearless, and try something new. Maybe you’ll fall in love with these wolves just like I did.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Lynda the Guppy
aka Howler Guppy
aka Fish With Sticks