Book Review: Tacker (Arizona Vengeance, Book #5) by Sawyer Bennett

 

Tacker (Arizona Vengeance, Book #5)
Sawyer Bennett
Release Date: November 5, 2019

Synopsis: 

I am not okay. 

Fifteen months ago, my life was turned upside down when the plane I was piloting went down. Injured and trapped in the wreckage, I had to watch my fiancée die a painfully slow death, which is something that can really mess with your head. 

Since that day, I’ve had little desire to do much of anything. Except play hockey, that is. Because that is the one place where the bad memories are banished and I can escape my pain. 

But off the ice, I’m spiraling out of control. Losing the grip on my life and putting myself and my career in danger. Now, thanks to a string of bad decisions, I’ve been ordered to complete therapy in order to stay on the team. 

The problem? Nora Wayne, my beautiful and somewhat unconventional therapist. I can’t buy into the brand of happy-clappy crap this woman is feeding me. What could she possibly understand about the type of loss that I’ve suffered? How does she know anything about finding happiness after losing the most important person in your life? 

Turns out, I’ve got a lot to learn, and she’s just the person I need to break through those walls I’ve erected. 

I am not okay. 

But for the first time in a long time, I know that I will be.

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

“You hurt her, and I will kill you. Even though I like you, I will kill you very dead. Take your body out in the desert and dump it. No one will find you.” I don’t laugh. He’s quite serious, and I respect him for it. “I’ll do my best.”


“Just be quiet,” I snap. “Or I’m going to call MaryBeth Henson to come and watch over you this afternoon while I go feed the horses.” A slight tinge of fear seeps into Raul’s expression. She showed up yesterday with a bag of knitting, then promptly sat in one of the other guest chairs and glared at Raul the entire time, almost daring him to get sicker.

My Review:

This story was a heart-squeezer with both main characters having suffered devastating losses, and also dealt with heavy issues and concerns with thoughtful insights and perception. While the emotional tone was often angsty and melancholy, clever hits of humor and bone-melting sensual steam restored the balance and kept the story from being maudlin. Written in my favorite dual POV, the storylines were relevant, well-paced, observantly detailed, and featured likable and endearing characters. I appreciated the comradery, compassion, and the considerate and supportive nature of the relationships between all the characters. 

About the Author:

Since the release of her debut contemporary romance novel, Off Sides, in January 2013, Sawyer Bennett has released multiple books, many of which have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

A reformed trial lawyer from North Carolina, Sawyer uses real-life experience to create relatable, sexy stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From new adult to erotic contemporary romance, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone. Sawyer likes her Bloody Marys strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two.

When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active daughter, as well as full-time servant to her adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others, and that a bad day can be cured with a great work-out, cake, or even better, both.

Sawyer also writes general and women’s fiction under the pen name S. Bennett and sweet romance under the name Juliette Poe.

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Book Review: Gimme Some Sugar (Sex & Sweet Tea, Book #5) by Juliette Poe

Gimme Some Sugar  (Sex & Sweet Tea, Book #5)
by Juliette Poe  Release Date: June 11, 2019

Synopsis:

Larkin Mancinkus prides herself on making the town of Whynot, North Carolina just a little sweeter. As owner of Sweet Cakes Bakery, Larkin gets all the town gossip – the sugar, the spice, and the everything not so nice. So when she finds herself on the tip of everyone’s tongue thanks to an encounter with a mysterious and handsome stranger, she learns the true meaning of ‘if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Deacon Locke has spent his life traveling the world with no particular destination in mind. But when he rolls into Whynot on his Harley, he just knows there is something different about this town. What he doesn’t know is that out of all the places he’s traveled and all the people he’s met, the gorgeous bakery owner might just entice him to put down some solid roots.

Come on down to see what’s cookin’ between Larkin and Deacon!

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** All books in the Sex & Sweet Tea series can be read as standalones, but if you’d like to start at the beginning, Ain’t He Precious? (Sex & Sweet Tea, Book #1) is #FREE for a limited time! **

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:



But the heart wants what the heart wants, and when it starts making you want something you shouldn’t have, then it can make you stupid.



But I didn’t get you anything,” she murmurs guiltily… So? That’s like the biggest breach of etiquette a Southern girl can have. To fail to get a gift for a momentous occasion, then it adds insult to injury when a gift is given to her without it being expected. It’s totally romantic and swoony, and I cannot reconcile these feelings of guilt and inadequacy with the overwhelming need to snatch that out of your hand to see what you so thoughtfully got me.



I make a clucking sound in the back of my throat, realizing I sound just like my mom when she disapproves of something. That thought horrifies me, so I cough to clear it out.



I’ve never even thought about having kids. Don’t know much about them. The few I’ve been around have been loud and sticky.



My Review:



This was my first experience reading Juliette Poe, the alter ego of Sawyer Bennett and I am happy to report it was an amusing and effortless read despite being the fifth book in a sweet small-town series, although I now have four more books idling on my TBR as a result. Funny how that keeps happening. I adored this couple. Larkin was the last of her siblings still single, she was a bit pudgy, somewhat timid, and self-conscious small-town baker with deep family roots and a side order of southern sass. Deacon he was a sexy prior Marine turned nomad on a Harley who carried himself with confidence and worked whenever and where ever he pleased. It was a case of opposites attract with humor and sizzle with quirky small-town characters and an active and flourishing Gossip Mill to keep everyone up to date.

About the Author:

Juliette Poe is the sweet and swoony alter ego of New York Times Best Selling author, Sawyer Bennett.

A fun-loving southern girl, Juliette knows the allure of sweet tea, small towns, and long summer nights, that some of the best dates end sitting on the front porch swing, and that family is top priority. She brings love in the south to life in her debut series, Sex & Sweet Tea.

When Juliette isn’t delivering the sweetest kind of romance, she’s teaching her southern belle daughter the fine art of fishing, the importance of wearing Chucks, and the endless possibilities of a vivid imagination.

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