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A review by kelli513
Hunks to the Rescue by Katie O'Sullivan, Tamara Ferguson, Janice G. Ross, Emily Wilder, Stephanie Queen, Aileen Harkwood, Debbie White, Deb Christie, Krista Ames, Trish McCallan, Eli Grace, Victoria Pinder, Constance Phillips, Raine English, Lynda Haviland, Margo Bond Collins, Jody A. Kessler
5.0
Book Review: Hunks to the Rescue
Anthology
FIVE STARS OVERALL
Wonderful set of books all dedicated to our everyday heros. There are books about fire fighters, paramedics, doctors, coaches and teachers, even a mafia cleaner and daughter of THE Family.
FIRE AND ICE ~~ Author Constance Phillips
Charlene was an awkward teenager in school, now here she is several years later moved back home and she still feels awkward. Brian is having to go to physical therapy due to a work injury and imagine his suprise when he comes face to face with a blast from his past.
Constance Phillips has written a heart felt book about a girl who moves away to get away from the bullies that made her choose to walk away from the boy she loved. Now that girl is back and the boy who is now man is choosing her over his friends, who are still bullying her. He now sees his friends for who they are and chooses Charlene.
This is a very sweet story. There is some drama as well as a reconnection between the two. Then the fear of losing each other again.
TWO MORE MILES ~~ Author Jan Romes
In Two More Miles, Jan Romes, Introduces us to newly single Ava, and a hot yet OCD and grumpy OB/Gyn Keith. Ava is thrown into his path because she over does it on a treadmill and passes out and Keith just happens to be right there to catch her and then help her out when she comes to.
After a pregnancy scare, Ava is mad at herself and at Keith because he has been such a pain in the butt about everything. Yet at the same time she can't seem to stay away from him and he is becoming a fixture in her life.
But will they be able to make a relationship work? After all Keith comes from a past that he didn't want to take a chance on genetics recreating so he had a medical procedure done. Will Ava and Keith be able to make a go of it or will Life deal them a raw hand and cause their relationship to sink.
COACHING THE SUB ~~ Author Debbie White
Debbie White, the author of Coaching the Sub is a genius in the making! This story is fantastic and a four star read all the way. I wish there was some way to get more out of this short story than what we did. It would be so awesome to follow the three teenagers into adulthood and see how they are able to pay it forward.
Coach Brock Andrews comes to the rescue of substitue teacher, Shannon Dangle on more than one occassion. Shannon has 3 unruly seniors in her Home Economics class and they are giving her fits. At Coach Andrews suggestion, any time she has a major issue with the boys she calls him to come help.
Coach has made it his goal to try to see each of the boys succeed and with Shannons help they do the best that they can to turn these kids around and at the same time they find friendship and even more in each other. Will they be able to continue making an impact on the lives of their students and more importantly will they be able to continue making an impact on each other?
The lessons that Brock are able to teach to Shannon are of diversity and understanding. As well as not juding a book by their cover. This book is great and it encompasses the main traits that all amazing teachers should possess. Compassion and empathy as well as caring. LOVED this book.
UNWRAPPING TREASURE ~~ Author Jody A. Kessler
Jody Kessler brings us into the lives of Treasure and Brodie. A couple of paramedics who have been partnered up for a long time and through the days and long holidays that they spend working together, they have become best friends. Learning that Brodie and his fiance split up was news to Treasure but not something that she was sad about. Brodie's fiances wasn't a nice person and Treasure was not at all upset to learn that they had broken up.
Here it is Christmas Eve and Treasure runs into a strange character in a gas station bathroom. The things that Treasure has had to deal with in her past makes her care more about this person and when an emergency call comes in Treasure reacts in a way that is totally suprising.
After the ordeal that almost cost more than she cares to think about, Treasure just needs to let go of some tension and things happened that she isn't real sure how to react to.
Brodie and Treasure part ways, not sure how they feel or where things are going to lead.
This book ends in somewhat of a cliffhanger, I really want more from this. Hoping there might be more sometime.
PATH TO GRACE ~~ Author Wilder and Quinn A Saint Series Prequel
Murder, mystery, intrigue, romance, guns, bad guys, Mafia, and running. Sounds like a real treat huh? This will keep you on the edge of your seat. From a boring dinner to a murder and then being on the run, because you are being hunted. Matteo is a cleaner in the family. Considered a mutt because of his Irish blood mixed with the Italian blood he is not fit to be with the only daughter of the Family.
Carina, wanted no part of the Family. She even went to church on the other side of town away from her family because she was ashamed of the things they had done. She refused to take body guards anymore. Now all she wants is to lead a normal life, away from the Family and their doings. Tonight is a quiet dinner with a "normal" man. Johnny is an accountant and did ok for himself yet he was horribly boring.
Ignoring a written warning, Carina, finished dinner and found herself in the scariest of situations after dinner. Now on the run, will she survive? Will Matteo keep them safe?
KISSED BY FATE That Unexpected Kiss ~~ Author Tamara Ferguson
Tamara Ferguson has never disappointment me in anything I have read of hers and this is no exception. Kissed by Fate is longer than all of the other parts of this anthology and I am not upset by this. Tamara has been in several of the anthologies I have read and review and I am very happy about this. Her books have a love story surrounded by mystery and intrigue.
In Kissed by Fate, there are actually several mysteries and it is up to our main character Dylan Nash to find those answers. Julie Thompson is a teacher for kids with special needs and she loves her job. She moved away because of an attraction she had for her best friends boy friend. That was just something she couldnt explore and so she removed herself from the situation. Now she has been offered a much coveted job at home and she is going back. Will Kate and Dylan be okay with her coming back? Julie's mother disappears when Julie was only 6 and there is always speculation as to what happened and why.
Dylan is an FBI agent working undercover as a DNR Warden to try to find out what is going on in this town. However he has another agenda he is working on as well. Now that he and Kate have figured things out between them, getting Julie back to town and into his arms is going to be the challenge. But once this current case is close Dylan is going go back to trying to find the man that murdered his father.
The twists and turns that this book takes are really something. Tamara Ferguson does an amazing job of interweaving the suspects and making you wonder. I must admit I had one side of it figured out, but it was no less entertaining and it did throw me finding out the other information.
Very well written yet again and I truly hope to read more from Tamara Ferguson.
COME HELL OR HIGH WATER ~~Author Nancy Segovia
Hurricane Edwards is destroying New Orleans, and Maisie is riding out the storm at her best friends house that she shares with her. Maisie couldnt stand the thought of leaving her best friend and cat behind and all of the hotels within 200 miles were full and Denna's parents are alergic to cats. So we find our heroine stranded in an attic with a cat in her jacket and the water rising ever higher. She manages to get out onto the roof but, yet again is she safe? Divorced, Maisie has vowed to NEVER get married again or date a man come hell or high water. Well this is high water right?
Dwight Harrison is a first responder and he is mad at all of the stupid people who didn't seek proper shelter before this hurricane made landfall. Never in his life though did he expect to fall in love at first site. However the blonde haired, blue eyed cottonmouth little snake he just dumped into his boat has him tied up in knots.
This book is a bit too fairy tale-ish for me. It is highly unbelievable that in just 24-72 hours Dwight was professing his love and telling Maisie he was going to make her his wife.
Good story line. Maybe if it hadnt been a rush job it would have been a bit more believable.
BREAKING THE RULES ~~ Author Katie O'Sullivan
In Breaking the Rules by Katie O'Sullivan, we meet Abigail and Jake. Abigail is the Chef de Cuisine in an inn's main dining room and Jake is a retired military man who is now working undercover to try to dismantle a drug ring.
Abigail is against anyone in her kichen having a relationship with a co-worker. Now that Jake is working as part of her kitchen staff she is having second thoughts about all of that. But once she learns who he really is and why he is really working for her will she end it with him?
Jake is undercover trying to catch the persons responsible for selling and distributing a new drug that is causing people to overdose and die. He has discovered that someone in the Cape Cod area is responsible and is determined to find the source. This is how he came to be working for Abigail Duncan.
This book is full of twists and turns, I never even though about who the guilty party was until it was actually revealed. Great story line and characters. Good book!.
SAVING NECESSITY ~~ Author Margo Bond Collins
This book was short and sweet and a little vague. There is alot of unstated stuff that could have come of this story and it just seems unfinished.
Zeke is a ranch hand who is tagging along with his Fire Marshall friend when a disaster occurs and he ends up rescuing the damsel in distress who actually happens to be a Hollywood actress who was shooting on location. Now Sophie is taking Zeke to a high profile Cattleman's Ball and they are going along with Billionaire and Zeke's employer and his girlfriend.
Like I said this book is short and sweet and to the point it just leaves a lot of open ended stuff.
There is no closure with this book
AN UNEXPECTED TWIST ~~ Author Krista Ames
An Unexpected Twist is the first in the "Fight for Me" Series by author Krista Ames. This book finds our main guy Boone in the dark literally. He is saddled with his brother Pearson as his parents have kicked him out of the house and sent him to his brother to be shaped up.
Kelsey is the Female lead in this book and as we read we find that she has been secretly taking classes to get a teaching degree and now that she has it she has left home and didn't tell anyone she was leaving. He father is a high profile New York politician and she is tired of having to do what they say she should do. So she loaded up her stuff and left without a word. Headed west she finds herself in the middle of nowhere and there is a storm approaching.
Boone and Kelsey kind of save each other from the clutches of a tornado or two. This book is super sweet and Boone is a true hero in Kelseys eyes. But what happens after the storm clears.
Wish there was more to this.
FALLING FOR CAPTAIN HUNK ~~ Author Stephanie Queen
Ok so when I read the title I though maybe coast guard or ship captain. I was wrong. Captain Hunk is the nickname that Tony has given to Captain Colin Lynch of the State Police Captian of Martha's Vineyard.
Tony or Antoinette Nevara is an undercover officer from Manchester New Hampshire. She has been through hell and even lost her fiance in the last investigations that they were part of.
Now working together, can Colin keep Tony safe from Kasper the Ghost or will Kasper get to Tony too?
DESTINY'S SECRET ~~ Author Raine English
Part of the Haunting You Series. Raine English has written about Paranormal Investigator and Hunk Deek Hayes.
Eden is an artist who has been comissioned to do portraits of a family in Savanah Georgia so that means moving there would be the easiest thing to do. Besides that she was ready for a change from Maine. She has had a perfect life and yet she is missing the man for her. Yes she has had plenty of safe and reliable suitors but she is looking for a man that has an air of danger to him.
Deek Hayes has always had the ability to see and speak to spirits. Now he has the chance get rid of the ghosts haunting the mansion that Eden has just purchased. But will Eden find her way into his heart now? Can he capture Eden's attentions as well as get rid of those spirits that are haunting her?
Very short and quick read but it was good.
DARK CURRENT ~~ Author Lynda Haviland
Ben is a drifter and has been since he fiance was found dead on his house boat and she wasn't alone. Now he spends his time alone and sailing from bay to bay, port to port, marina to marina looking for odd jobs to barter for supplies so that he can keep going.
Something has drawn him to Pearl Key and it looks like they need his skills in fixing things. The last storm did some damage and he is going to see if they will allow him to help.
Willow owns the only marina on this island and after quitting college to come home and run the place after her mother died, she has vowed not to sell. However, after this most recent storm Willow doesn't know if she can afford to fix things again. Selling would be so easy yet she promised her family.
Ben runs in and rescues Willows business, but will he rescue her heart as well?
UNREACHABLE HEART ~~ Author Aileen Harkwood
Jacie DeBello is an accountant for a high profile crime network, and she finds herself on a small plane in the mountains with two obese goons who weigh more than the recommended weight for a plane of this size.
After much struggle, the plane ends up crashing, but miraculously noone is killed. However they have crashed on to top of a mountain.
Search and Rescue find the wreckage at The Devil's Doorstep. Eckhardt "Hart" Renker has had a migraine all day and this is his silent signal that he MUST help someone in need.
This story takes a few twists and turns that even I wasn't expecting and it was actually very good. I really enjoyed it and would love to read more about Hart and Jacie.
Over all a very good Anthology. I have truly enjoyed myself.
Anthology
FIVE STARS OVERALL
Wonderful set of books all dedicated to our everyday heros. There are books about fire fighters, paramedics, doctors, coaches and teachers, even a mafia cleaner and daughter of THE Family.
FIRE AND ICE ~~ Author Constance Phillips
Charlene was an awkward teenager in school, now here she is several years later moved back home and she still feels awkward. Brian is having to go to physical therapy due to a work injury and imagine his suprise when he comes face to face with a blast from his past.
Constance Phillips has written a heart felt book about a girl who moves away to get away from the bullies that made her choose to walk away from the boy she loved. Now that girl is back and the boy who is now man is choosing her over his friends, who are still bullying her. He now sees his friends for who they are and chooses Charlene.
This is a very sweet story. There is some drama as well as a reconnection between the two. Then the fear of losing each other again.
TWO MORE MILES ~~ Author Jan Romes
In Two More Miles, Jan Romes, Introduces us to newly single Ava, and a hot yet OCD and grumpy OB/Gyn Keith. Ava is thrown into his path because she over does it on a treadmill and passes out and Keith just happens to be right there to catch her and then help her out when she comes to.
After a pregnancy scare, Ava is mad at herself and at Keith because he has been such a pain in the butt about everything. Yet at the same time she can't seem to stay away from him and he is becoming a fixture in her life.
But will they be able to make a relationship work? After all Keith comes from a past that he didn't want to take a chance on genetics recreating so he had a medical procedure done. Will Ava and Keith be able to make a go of it or will Life deal them a raw hand and cause their relationship to sink.
COACHING THE SUB ~~ Author Debbie White
Debbie White, the author of Coaching the Sub is a genius in the making! This story is fantastic and a four star read all the way. I wish there was some way to get more out of this short story than what we did. It would be so awesome to follow the three teenagers into adulthood and see how they are able to pay it forward.
Coach Brock Andrews comes to the rescue of substitue teacher, Shannon Dangle on more than one occassion. Shannon has 3 unruly seniors in her Home Economics class and they are giving her fits. At Coach Andrews suggestion, any time she has a major issue with the boys she calls him to come help.
Coach has made it his goal to try to see each of the boys succeed and with Shannons help they do the best that they can to turn these kids around and at the same time they find friendship and even more in each other. Will they be able to continue making an impact on the lives of their students and more importantly will they be able to continue making an impact on each other?
The lessons that Brock are able to teach to Shannon are of diversity and understanding. As well as not juding a book by their cover. This book is great and it encompasses the main traits that all amazing teachers should possess. Compassion and empathy as well as caring. LOVED this book.
UNWRAPPING TREASURE ~~ Author Jody A. Kessler
Jody Kessler brings us into the lives of Treasure and Brodie. A couple of paramedics who have been partnered up for a long time and through the days and long holidays that they spend working together, they have become best friends. Learning that Brodie and his fiance split up was news to Treasure but not something that she was sad about. Brodie's fiances wasn't a nice person and Treasure was not at all upset to learn that they had broken up.
Here it is Christmas Eve and Treasure runs into a strange character in a gas station bathroom. The things that Treasure has had to deal with in her past makes her care more about this person and when an emergency call comes in Treasure reacts in a way that is totally suprising.
After the ordeal that almost cost more than she cares to think about, Treasure just needs to let go of some tension and things happened that she isn't real sure how to react to.
Brodie and Treasure part ways, not sure how they feel or where things are going to lead.
This book ends in somewhat of a cliffhanger, I really want more from this. Hoping there might be more sometime.
PATH TO GRACE ~~ Author Wilder and Quinn A Saint Series Prequel
Murder, mystery, intrigue, romance, guns, bad guys, Mafia, and running. Sounds like a real treat huh? This will keep you on the edge of your seat. From a boring dinner to a murder and then being on the run, because you are being hunted. Matteo is a cleaner in the family. Considered a mutt because of his Irish blood mixed with the Italian blood he is not fit to be with the only daughter of the Family.
Carina, wanted no part of the Family. She even went to church on the other side of town away from her family because she was ashamed of the things they had done. She refused to take body guards anymore. Now all she wants is to lead a normal life, away from the Family and their doings. Tonight is a quiet dinner with a "normal" man. Johnny is an accountant and did ok for himself yet he was horribly boring.
Ignoring a written warning, Carina, finished dinner and found herself in the scariest of situations after dinner. Now on the run, will she survive? Will Matteo keep them safe?
KISSED BY FATE That Unexpected Kiss ~~ Author Tamara Ferguson
Tamara Ferguson has never disappointment me in anything I have read of hers and this is no exception. Kissed by Fate is longer than all of the other parts of this anthology and I am not upset by this. Tamara has been in several of the anthologies I have read and review and I am very happy about this. Her books have a love story surrounded by mystery and intrigue.
In Kissed by Fate, there are actually several mysteries and it is up to our main character Dylan Nash to find those answers. Julie Thompson is a teacher for kids with special needs and she loves her job. She moved away because of an attraction she had for her best friends boy friend. That was just something she couldnt explore and so she removed herself from the situation. Now she has been offered a much coveted job at home and she is going back. Will Kate and Dylan be okay with her coming back? Julie's mother disappears when Julie was only 6 and there is always speculation as to what happened and why.
Dylan is an FBI agent working undercover as a DNR Warden to try to find out what is going on in this town. However he has another agenda he is working on as well. Now that he and Kate have figured things out between them, getting Julie back to town and into his arms is going to be the challenge. But once this current case is close Dylan is going go back to trying to find the man that murdered his father.
The twists and turns that this book takes are really something. Tamara Ferguson does an amazing job of interweaving the suspects and making you wonder. I must admit I had one side of it figured out, but it was no less entertaining and it did throw me finding out the other information.
Very well written yet again and I truly hope to read more from Tamara Ferguson.
COME HELL OR HIGH WATER ~~Author Nancy Segovia
Hurricane Edwards is destroying New Orleans, and Maisie is riding out the storm at her best friends house that she shares with her. Maisie couldnt stand the thought of leaving her best friend and cat behind and all of the hotels within 200 miles were full and Denna's parents are alergic to cats. So we find our heroine stranded in an attic with a cat in her jacket and the water rising ever higher. She manages to get out onto the roof but, yet again is she safe? Divorced, Maisie has vowed to NEVER get married again or date a man come hell or high water. Well this is high water right?
Dwight Harrison is a first responder and he is mad at all of the stupid people who didn't seek proper shelter before this hurricane made landfall. Never in his life though did he expect to fall in love at first site. However the blonde haired, blue eyed cottonmouth little snake he just dumped into his boat has him tied up in knots.
This book is a bit too fairy tale-ish for me. It is highly unbelievable that in just 24-72 hours Dwight was professing his love and telling Maisie he was going to make her his wife.
Good story line. Maybe if it hadnt been a rush job it would have been a bit more believable.
BREAKING THE RULES ~~ Author Katie O'Sullivan
In Breaking the Rules by Katie O'Sullivan, we meet Abigail and Jake. Abigail is the Chef de Cuisine in an inn's main dining room and Jake is a retired military man who is now working undercover to try to dismantle a drug ring.
Abigail is against anyone in her kichen having a relationship with a co-worker. Now that Jake is working as part of her kitchen staff she is having second thoughts about all of that. But once she learns who he really is and why he is really working for her will she end it with him?
Jake is undercover trying to catch the persons responsible for selling and distributing a new drug that is causing people to overdose and die. He has discovered that someone in the Cape Cod area is responsible and is determined to find the source. This is how he came to be working for Abigail Duncan.
This book is full of twists and turns, I never even though about who the guilty party was until it was actually revealed. Great story line and characters. Good book!.
SAVING NECESSITY ~~ Author Margo Bond Collins
This book was short and sweet and a little vague. There is alot of unstated stuff that could have come of this story and it just seems unfinished.
Zeke is a ranch hand who is tagging along with his Fire Marshall friend when a disaster occurs and he ends up rescuing the damsel in distress who actually happens to be a Hollywood actress who was shooting on location. Now Sophie is taking Zeke to a high profile Cattleman's Ball and they are going along with Billionaire and Zeke's employer and his girlfriend.
Like I said this book is short and sweet and to the point it just leaves a lot of open ended stuff.
There is no closure with this book
AN UNEXPECTED TWIST ~~ Author Krista Ames
An Unexpected Twist is the first in the "Fight for Me" Series by author Krista Ames. This book finds our main guy Boone in the dark literally. He is saddled with his brother Pearson as his parents have kicked him out of the house and sent him to his brother to be shaped up.
Kelsey is the Female lead in this book and as we read we find that she has been secretly taking classes to get a teaching degree and now that she has it she has left home and didn't tell anyone she was leaving. He father is a high profile New York politician and she is tired of having to do what they say she should do. So she loaded up her stuff and left without a word. Headed west she finds herself in the middle of nowhere and there is a storm approaching.
Boone and Kelsey kind of save each other from the clutches of a tornado or two. This book is super sweet and Boone is a true hero in Kelseys eyes. But what happens after the storm clears.
Wish there was more to this.
FALLING FOR CAPTAIN HUNK ~~ Author Stephanie Queen
Ok so when I read the title I though maybe coast guard or ship captain. I was wrong. Captain Hunk is the nickname that Tony has given to Captain Colin Lynch of the State Police Captian of Martha's Vineyard.
Tony or Antoinette Nevara is an undercover officer from Manchester New Hampshire. She has been through hell and even lost her fiance in the last investigations that they were part of.
Now working together, can Colin keep Tony safe from Kasper the Ghost or will Kasper get to Tony too?
DESTINY'S SECRET ~~ Author Raine English
Part of the Haunting You Series. Raine English has written about Paranormal Investigator and Hunk Deek Hayes.
Eden is an artist who has been comissioned to do portraits of a family in Savanah Georgia so that means moving there would be the easiest thing to do. Besides that she was ready for a change from Maine. She has had a perfect life and yet she is missing the man for her. Yes she has had plenty of safe and reliable suitors but she is looking for a man that has an air of danger to him.
Deek Hayes has always had the ability to see and speak to spirits. Now he has the chance get rid of the ghosts haunting the mansion that Eden has just purchased. But will Eden find her way into his heart now? Can he capture Eden's attentions as well as get rid of those spirits that are haunting her?
Very short and quick read but it was good.
DARK CURRENT ~~ Author Lynda Haviland
Ben is a drifter and has been since he fiance was found dead on his house boat and she wasn't alone. Now he spends his time alone and sailing from bay to bay, port to port, marina to marina looking for odd jobs to barter for supplies so that he can keep going.
Something has drawn him to Pearl Key and it looks like they need his skills in fixing things. The last storm did some damage and he is going to see if they will allow him to help.
Willow owns the only marina on this island and after quitting college to come home and run the place after her mother died, she has vowed not to sell. However, after this most recent storm Willow doesn't know if she can afford to fix things again. Selling would be so easy yet she promised her family.
Ben runs in and rescues Willows business, but will he rescue her heart as well?
UNREACHABLE HEART ~~ Author Aileen Harkwood
Jacie DeBello is an accountant for a high profile crime network, and she finds herself on a small plane in the mountains with two obese goons who weigh more than the recommended weight for a plane of this size.
After much struggle, the plane ends up crashing, but miraculously noone is killed. However they have crashed on to top of a mountain.
Search and Rescue find the wreckage at The Devil's Doorstep. Eckhardt "Hart" Renker has had a migraine all day and this is his silent signal that he MUST help someone in need.
This story takes a few twists and turns that even I wasn't expecting and it was actually very good. I really enjoyed it and would love to read more about Hart and Jacie.
Over all a very good Anthology. I have truly enjoyed myself.