Before I Ever Met You by Karina Halle

Publication: April 25, 2017

Publisher: Metal Blonde Books

Source: Bought/Own

I first met William McAlister when I was just a teenager. He was handsome, had a beautiful wife and was on the verge of success, having just joined my father as his business partner. Mr. McAlister was full of smooth charm, but back then he was barely a blip on my radar. Just a family friend. Fast forward ten years: I’m 25 years old and a single mom trying to make things right for her seven-year old son. I’ve made some mistakes, grappled with my demons and now I’m back in the city of Vancouver, getting a second chance at a better life. I’ve started by working for my father’s production company as an executive assistant. My first day on the job and I already know I could have a promising career there. That is until I see Will McAlister for the first time in a decade. Now recently divorced and as sophisticated as always, Will has gone from being my father’s friend and business partner to something so much more. We’re both older, for one thing, and he just oozes this worldly confidence and stark sexuality. Combined with his tall, muscular build and sharp suits, strong jaw and bedroom eyes, Will has turned into one hell of a distraction. A distraction I’m having a hard time staying away from, considering his office is right across from my desk and I work with him in such close proximity. But it’s just a harmless crush, right? It’s just an innocent fantasy of screwing him on his desk, right? It can’t ever be more because he’s my father’s best friend, business partner, and my boss. Right? Wrong. Before I Ever Met You is a contemporary standalone romance, a light-hearted swoony read that will make you believe in love again

I absolutely loved Will.  He was a great character. And even though he had been hurt pretty badly in his marriage, he was so open to trying again with the right person. He didn’t let his experience make him a bitter person. Once he meets Jackie who is now a young woman, he is immediately attracted to her. But she is his assistant. And worse still, she is his close friend’s daughter.  The situation practically screams trouble. But staying away may be harder than either one of them had anticipated.

I loved Jackie at first, but as the story progressed, she began to wear on my nerves a little bit. It frustrated me that she was in her head way too much. She overthought everything. It took her too long to realize how much of a great guy Will was for her and her son. Even though she recognized how different her feelings were for Will compared to her bad ex, she still didn’t trust herself to make the right decision.

Before I Ever Met You was a nice slow burn romance that I ending up enjoying quite a bit. There wasn’t a bunch of unnecessary drama or over the top antics or humor, which I appreciated. It was a sweet romance with interesting characters that I couldn’t help but cheer for. This is the first light hearted romance that I’ve read from Karina Halle (I’m used to more of her darker/heavier stuff).

She is a great writer and I hope that she continues to write more stories similar to this one.

RATING: 4½ out of 5

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Monster in His Eyes by J.M. Darhower

Publication: April 27, 2014

Ignazio Vitale is not a good man. I suspect it, the first time I see him, sense the air of danger that surrounds the man. He has a way of commanding attention, of taking control, of knowing what I'm thinking before I even do. It's alarming and alluring. It's dark and deadly. It's everything I've ever wanted but the last thing I truly need. Obsession. It doesn't take him long to draw me into his web, charming me into his bed and trapping me in his life, a life I know nothing about until it's too late. He has secrets, secrets I can't fathom, secrets that make it so I can't walk away, no matter how much I beg him to let me go. I see it sometimes in his eyes, a darkness that's both terrifying and thrilling. He's a monster, wrapped up in a pretty package, and what I find when I unmask him changes everything. I want to hate him. Sometimes, I do. But it doesn't stop me from loving him, too.

The air is heavy, and his eyes are dark, the blue like midnight in the dim lighting. It's like seeing him for the first time all over again, but being greeted by an entirely different creature. He's a beast. A monster. And he looks like he wants to devour me…

His gaze burns through me, seeping down into my soul, seizing me like a prisoner. I'm a willing captive.

Karissa Reed has no idea how much her life will change the minute she encounters Iganzio Vitale. She is an 18 and he is 36. Yes I know he is twice her age, but I didn’t find it weird or creepy. There are times when I noticed the age difference between them, but it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the story. It worked.

He doesn't make me feel as young as I am, or as young as he probably should make me feel. When he looks at me, I don't feel like an eighteen-year-old girl, freshman at NYU, still trying to find her way. When he looks at me, I feel like a woman, a woman worthy of the look he gives, worthy of his admiration…

I felt like Karissa told Naz more about her life than he told her of his. It didn’t seem to bother her as much as I thought it would or should for that matter. Though she’s afraid of getting hurt, and knows there might be a good chance her heart will be broken in the end, Karissa cannot bring herself to walk away. And despite some misgivings she begins to feel things for him that she hasn’t felt with anyone.

I'm not sure when it happened, which minute it was that drove me to the brink, pushing me over the edge and making me feel like I can fly without wings. Time consuming turned all-consuming as the man became the beat of my heart and the blood in my veins, stealing the little piece of my soul I always kept tucked away. He crashed through my defenses and knocked down my walls, and all it took was ticking seconds, one after another, slowly altering it all.

Naz is a complicated beast of a man and he makes no apologies for who he is or what he does. He isn’t a very open and forthcoming individual. It’s obvious there are things he is keeping from her which adds a nice element of suspense. He is a mystery…a riddle…but the one thing he seems to be clear about is his feelings for Karissa. Their relationship is sweet, sensual, dirty, and oh so complicated.

"I'm telling you," he says, his voice strained. "I'm warning you. I'm not a good man, Karissa, and I never will be. So don't think you can fix me, or that I'll ever change, because I won't. I can't. You have to know, if this goes any further, if you ask me to stay, I'm not going to be able to let you walk away."

When I first heard about this book, it sounded like it would be good, but I was a little unsure since I’ve never read anything from this author before. But after reading it, I can honestly say that J.M. Darhower knows how to write a good freaking story.  The characters were great, the writing/story-line kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen.

And here I am sitting at home, still thinking about Monster in His Eyes days after I finished it. I’m surprised, but also glad because I did not expect to get taken into Karissa and Naz’s world so completely. I loved it. It’s a great dark romance story with an air of suspense that made it even better.  And you can bet that I will snatch up the second and final book to Naz and Karissa’s story Torture in Her Soul when it releases this fall.

P.S.  This is not your typical romance read. This is no sweet as pie romance. It has no fairy tale ending that will make you believe in the power of true love. It is romance that is dark, intense, and a bit gritty. And left me wanting more…

I once thought the reality couldn't be as fascinating as the fantasy, but I was wrong. So very wrong. It might be the case for other people, but they don't know Ignazio Vitale. They haven't met him. They haven't seen what I see in his eyes. He's my other half. Maybe the stories got it wrong, I think. Maybe Cinderella didn't live happily ever after. Maybe, come midnight, she wanted to run away. Maybe her prince wouldn't let her.

RATING: 5 out of 5.

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