Early Review: Cooper's Charm by Lori Foster

Title: Cooper's Charm
Author: Lori Foster
Series: Stand-Alone
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: HQN Books; Original edition (August 1, 2018)
Source: NetGalley
Rating: ☕☕☕

Synopsis: One summer, two sisters and a chance to start over…

Before the burglary that shattered her confidence, Phoenix Rose had a fiancé, a successful store and a busy, happy existence. After months spent adrift, she takes a job at the lakeside resort of Cooper’s Charm. Surrounded by beautiful scenery, friendly colleagues and a charismatic, widowed boss, Phoenix is slowly inching her way back into the world.

Visiting Cooper’s Charm to check up on her little sister, Ridley Rose impulsively agrees to fill in as housekeeper. Still reeling from an ego-bruising divorce, she finds satisfaction in a job well done—and in the attention of the resort’s handsome scuba instructor.

For Phoenix and Ridley, Cooper’s Charm is supposed to be merely temporary. But this detour may lead to the place they most need to be, where the future is as satisfying as it is surprising…


My Thoughts: A book with two women wanting to start over but only enough dedication to one of them getting a cohesive HEA.

The Good: So, I fell in love with the cover of this book. I'm a sucker for dogs and I'm happy to say, Sugar, the beagle, totally stole every scene she was in. I loved Cooper's interactions with her and he was totally my hero when he helped rescue her (with Phoenix's help) from a nasty piece of a so called human.

In addition to my love of Sugar I was happy to find this book had a suspenseful element to it as well. Phoenix is broken from a terrible assault several months ago and she's really trying to heal. I love how she came to Cooper's Charm (a camping resort) to do this. Oh speaking of Cooper's Charm...the setting was spot on. It took a small town feel (love me some small town romances) and placed it in a picturesque spot I wished was real. I'd totally go there for a few weeks to relax.

The Bad: Remember that suspenseful element I mentioned earlier? Well, here it is, now, in the bad area of my review. It wasn't fully realized. The conclusion of the mystery behind Phoenix's summer danger seemed a stretch and requires the reader to suspend their disbelief. We readers didn't even know there was danger, really, until well into the middle of the book and between it and two love stories none of them were truly satisfying.

So, Phoenix's sister Ridley, joins the crew at Cooper's Charm as a housekeeper. Never mind she has never done such taxing labor (the book even mentions how no one stays on because it's grueling work). Never mind she is a night owl and seems to be ok with starting work at 7am all the while staying up late to have hot monkey sex with one of the 3 single studs working at the resort. Anyway, we do learn a bit about Ridley, however, there just isn't enough space within this book to give her a storyline I think she deserved.

In a Nutshell: Overall an OK book. It's what I'd call a cute beach read for your summer days but nothing that'll stick with you in the long run.

 

When You Dare by Lori Foster

Synopsis:  The tougher they are, the harder they fall... — Professional mercenary Dare Macintosh lives by one hard and fast rule: business should never be personal. If a cause appeals to him and the price is right, he'll take the mission he's offered. But then the lovely Molly Alexander asks him to help her track down the men who'd had her kidnapped -- and for the first time, Dare's tempted to combine work with pleasure.

Fiercely independent, Molly vows to trust no one until she's uncovered the truth. Could the enemy be her powerful estranged father? The ex-fiancé who still holds a grudge? Or the not-so-shy fan of her bestselling novels? As the danger heats up around them, the only anchor Molly has is Dare himself. But what she feels for him just might be the most frightening thing of all….


My Thoughts: When you Dare just wasn't a favorite.

The characters, although likable, just had issues. Molly acted exactly opposite of what I would think a woman would act who was held for over a week beaten and starved almost to death. Dare was supposed to be all macho but I expected him to insist on a sit down and talk about your feelings session. He pretty much knew what Molly should have been feeling so he kept her at arms length for the most part refusing to act on the chemistry they were feeling. I would have liked to have seen more of him in action (not in the bedroom kind of action way either) I think that what this book was missing was what Suzanne Brockmann is able to do in her TD&D books (Prince Joe, Everyday Average Jones etc). Hot sensitive men who you never question their testosterone levels because they are still all men. You get to see them on a mission and in action and still get to know their intimate thoughts and feelings about the women they love. It's quite a balance of sensitivity and macho but Brockmann pulls it off expertly whereas Foster doesn't. I was more fascinated by the secondary characters than I was the main ones. Those were great characters.

Oh and I thought this book could have been at least 100 pages shorter. It seemed to drag on and on but the cover is totally hawt which almost makes up for it.

Causing Havoc by Lori Foster

From the back of the book:

Sexy, sculpted extreme fighter Dean "Havoc" Conor has knee-melting good looks--and thick skin. But not from his brutal sport's enclosed rings. Orphaned and torn from his sisters as a boy, he has no family. That is, until he gets a letter revealing how much the once-little girls want him back in Harmony, Kentucky.

To stop one of his sisters from marrying a man as sleazy as he is wealthy, Dean finds himself teaming up with her pretty-but-smart-mouthed friend Eve--who's heard of "Havoc's" reputation and doesn't need some hunk trampling on her heart. Now all Dean has to do is protect his sisters, win Eve over, and expose a devious criminal. And he thought winning the heavyweight cage fighting belt was hard...

 

My Thoughts.....

 

This is the second SBC book I have read and both were just wonderful. Normally I am not a sports kind of gal. I don't watch them. I don't talk about them and I usually tune out those who do. I found myself fascinated by this book despite that Dean is an SBC fighter. Maybe because it isn't necessarily about his fights or the sport but the developement of the relationships between Dean and his long lost sisters.

 

Strangely enough although both part of the same series, the first one I read (My Man Michael) and this book are so different. Heck, they don't even take place in the same time. For those who don't know, My Man Michael is technically a time travel book. They do have a common theme though. Super alpha men and strong independent women.

 

I have read a few of Lori Foster's books...many won high marks from me. She writes characters that you might not have anything in common with but somewhere along the line connect with emotionally. She also has a knack for creating mouth watering men. I want my own Dean!

 

So anyway, this book is the first in the series and although many people just "have" to read series books in order (typically I am one of them) you don't have to worry about that. I read this one second and didn't feel disjointed or lost at all.

 

I honestly don't know what else to say about this book other then pick one up, try it, you'll like it. I own this one and might keep it to read it again later. You should find a copy where ever you can, even if it means paying cover price.

 

My rating.....4.5 Stars.