Tied by Emma Chase

Oh Drew. It’s time. Get yourself hitched, live a happy life with your beautiful Kate and your son James. Easy, right? Wrong. With Drew, nothing is ever easy. The prologue starts with Drew at the altar, ready, excited, and waiting for his bride Kate. He hints that they almost didn’t make it there…and you find out why.

Drew and the gang including  Jack, Matthew, and Steven are all involved in the madness of attending a bachelor party for Drew. In Vegas. Along for the ride is William, er, Billy, Kate’s ex-boyfriend and Dee’s cousin. Since the boys are having a weekend away, the girls decide to do the same and have their own party. Along comes Delores, Alexandria, and the new girl Erin, Drew’s new secretary. The entire crew is along for the ride. Hilarity ensues – I mean, come on! It’s Drew and Kate in Vegas! 

Beyond the obvious bachelor/bachelorette party fun, you get updates on everyone since the last book. This one takes place about two years since the last one and you find that Matthew and Dee have a child as well, and sweet Mackenzie is now a pre-teen with a brother and a bunch of boys in her life. She’s in need of some estrogen and someone has to give her a sister/cousin/something soon! Drew and Kate need a follow up novella to make that happen. Billy’s become successful, and yet, is still a giant douche.  

Emma Chase gives Drew, Kate, and the entire gang the story they deserve and does it with the obnoxious male point of view that only Drew can deliver. In addition to his usual snark, snide comments, and take no prisoners attitude, there’s also a ton of movie references including a bunch from my favorite 80’s classics. Way to go Emma! There was one point in the book where I read a line and laughed so hard I snorted, woke up the man, and had to call a friend and tell her (in the character’s voice of course!). That sent the two of us off into a bunch of other 80’s movies quotes that only we would appreciate, because we’re dorks like that. 

The book has some typical Drewism and hilarity including his views on child rearing, the constant crying and interruptions of personal time with Kate, his views on being single, being in a relationship, getting married, being a parent, his own parents, his friends, you name it. 

While I’m going to miss Drew and the gang, I’m hoping for updates on them all in the future. Thanks Emma Chase for a fabulously awesome ride! 

Scandal Season 4, Ep 4: Like Father, Like Daughter. AKA: You're No Olivia Pope!

What in the heck? I forgot to post the Scandal update again! Sleep was more important…again. Here’s what happened: 

Olivia and Quinn rush into a party to extract a VIP – the first daughter. She’s slipped away from her Secret Service men, got stoned and drunk off her ass, and sometime during the night she made a sex tape with two dudes. Way to go, chica! Um, not really. Olivia calls the white house screaming that they need to wake the President because she's just seen the nastiest sex tape ever and it's starring his daughter! Olivia has to handle it, and that means she’s going to have to see Fitz. 

Fitz is shocked and goes down the rabbit hole – talking about his failures. He says he’s failed as a father, he’s failed as a husband. Then, getting a little too close to Olivia, asks if he’s also failed as a man. She gives into his kisses for a hot second, then shuts him down prompting him to state “I’m failing as a father and a man. Good to know”.  

Mellie learns about Olivia being back in town and gets pissed, and goes off. Fitz fires back and gives her a super-sized smack down calling her all the names the press has been – Mental Mellie, Bad Hygiene Melle, Drunk Mellie, tells her while she’s been checked out of reality, their daughter made a sex tape with two boys. Mellie fires back “A sex tape. I guess she takes after her daddy.”

Olivia and Huckleberry Quinn track down the sex tape author, and has a sit down with the boy’s parents. They realize what they have on their hands and demand a cool 2.5 mil to hand over the tape and keep quiet. When Olivia gets the President to agree, she goes back to them with a check only to find they now want 3 mil. She looses her shit! Olivia goes on her PopeRant and tells them they’re the lowest kinds of people she’s ever encountered, accuses them of conspiring to make kiddie porn since they’re both under age, and threatens to exploit them to the tabloids faster than they can say youtube. 

Mellie goes to her daughter and tells her she knows about the sex tape. She then delivers an awesome speech about how as a mother she’s having a seizure inside, but on the outside, she knows that this is her daughter grieving for her dead brother and doing something just so that she can feel again. She tells her this is her one free pass on crazy. They both need to start moving on. 

Meanwhile, Jake is dring to avoid getting kidded for real this time by Papa Pope. PP has hired Tom, Fitz’s Secret Service agent to take out Jake only Jake is onto him and tells him so. Fitz has hired an investigation into his SS detail to see how they let his daughter give them the slip and it’s discovered that Tom is responsible for the death of Fitz’s son Jerry. Jake is trying to get into see the President, and doesn’t succeed. Tom is being questioned and PP comes in and takes over, getting Tom to admit that Jake is the one responsible for the plan to kill the President’s son. Whaaat? Bad Tom, Bad. 

There was also brief appearances by Cyrus and Abby, who goes into a snit when Olivia Pope is in the White House. She claims that she must be told, and tells her to shut it, she’s not Olivia Pope, will never be Olivia Pope and well, that shuts her up. What’s with the uber-tude this season? I know she’s pissed at Olivia for leaving but come on – get in her face and move on. 

In the moments that Olivia and Fitz had together, he asked her where she want. She says she had to get away, believing that her mother had his son killed. She tells him “She ruined your family, she ruined my family, she ruined…us.” 

They share a tender moment, he holds her and tells her “Don’t ever leave me again. I almost died without you.  I almost didn’t survive.” UGH. Gut wrenching. Heartbreaking. Raw...but then, Olivia steels herself and shuts him down. She then tells him she wasn’t alone. She was with Jake.

So, in the end, Fitzgerald Grant is pissed that Jake is behind his son’s murder, and he ran off with his woman. Hmm… what will he do?  

Jill Shalvis Lucky Harbor Series: the final three...

Jill Shalvis’ closes out her Lucky Harbor series with a the last of the single men in Lucky Harbor.  This time, Sam, Cole, Tanner are three friends that own a charter boat company, taking visitors diving, fishing, and cruising the harbor. Sam is the builder – he constructs boats, manages the company, and invests their funds to keep them afloat. Afloat – see what I did there? Anyhoo, Cole is the fix-it guy. He’s the reliable one, always ready with his tools to step in and fix what’s broken. Tanner is the diver in the bunch. He’s the one that survived an oil rig fire, and made it out just slightly scathed. All three continue to remember the one friend that didn’t make it out, Gil. 

The first book, It's in His Kiss, which is really book 10 in the Lucky Harbor series, features Sam and Becca. Becca has just relocated to Lucky Harbor to escape her family and their pressures of success. She’s a musician, but currently is writing jingles for an advertising company. She heads to Lucky Harbor and finds herself living in an old warehouse, across the street from The Hut that runs Sam’s business. While her jingle gig is bringing in some income, it’s not enough and she looks at the local ads for additional work. Sam is focused on his business, and is serious and broody. He’s not very trusting and open, likely because he had a pretty crappy childhood until Cole’s family took him in as one of their own. While his father is around, he’s not very reliable. Sam and Becca meet, and have one incredible night together. The only problem is…Becca now works for Sam. Of course, he tries the whole “We can’t date since I’m your boss” thing and Becca outsmarts him. She hires and trains his dad to take her place! The two end up dealing with family issues, and come out the other end together.  

Next is He's So Fine featuring  Cole. He’s the one that’s the carefree, fun guy that’s reliable and helps everyone around him. He’s decided he’s going to help Olivia - local vintage shop owner and neighbor to Becca. When Cole gets a bigger shock than expected while fixing the lights on his company boat, he falls overboard. Olivia witnesses this and jumps into the icy water to save him – and lands right on his head. The two exchange banter and eventually do get together, but something is looming that can tear them apart. See, she’s hiding from her past – one that was in the Hollywood spotlight as a teen star fallen from grace. She’ll have to confront her past and her family in order to move forward. 

In the final book, One in a Million, Becca and Olivia then befriend their new neighbor, Callie. She’s in town to check in on the mental health of her grandmother – who is none other than the town matchmaker and social media queen Lucille! Callie grew up in Lucky Harbor, and left after being left at the altar. Ironically, she runs a wedding website, and spends her days dealing with crazy brides and their crazier ideas. Tanner, the third of the charter men, is the former football star and had his future changed when he got a girl pregnant before graduating high school. He married her, went into the Navy to be able to support her and their son, only to have her move to Florida and send him divorce papers. Both are gun shy of relationships, except that Callie can’t get over the fact that she had a raging crush on Tanner while in high school and it’s come back full force. 

Jill is good at writing light, funny stories that have a happily ever after. Throw in strong family ties (there’s been sisters, a cousin, and good friends in the bunch), reappearances by prior people in the newer books, and some lovably wacky characters,  and you have a recipe that’s worked for her over the course of this series.  While I’m a bit sad to see this series end, I can see that as a writer she needs to leave this idyllic seaside town for other places. I’m excited to see what she releases next, as her books are my “go to” when I don’t want drama, angst, nail biting suspense, or cliffhangers. Don’t interpret that to mean her books are boring – they’re not. They’re funny, upbeat, and endearing. Go read and enjoy!  

Don't forget to connect with Lucille, er, um, Jill on social media! 

https://www.facebook.com/JillShalvis
@JillShalvis

http://jillshalvis.tumblr.com/

 

Reaper's Legacy by Joanna Wylde

Reece “Picnic” Hayes is the president of the Reaper’s MC. He’s a father to two daughters, raising them alone after losing his wife years ago. He’s a man whore and has absolutely no plans of letting another woman in his life only to lose her. That is, until he meets London. Reece sees her and knows she’s not like the other women he gets involved with. Because of that, he stays clear of her.

London Armstrong is a single parent as well, only she’s raising her cousin’s daughter Jessica that has a ton of issues stemming from her cousin’s drug use during her pregnancy. London, or Lori, runs her own cleaning company and takes on the Reaper’s store and their strip club as a customer. She’s also dating the local deputy sheriff, Nate. Despite her new relationship with Nate, she’s attracted to Reece in a way that she can’t describe. 

 So far, London and Reece have noticed each other, but have been able to stay out of each other’s way. That all changed when a late night return home finds Jessica’s friend on the couch -- and she reveals that Jessica is at a Reaper’s party. London calls her boss (one of the Reapers), who sends her to the Reaper’s compound with directions to find Reece. 

Reece is a bit, ahem, busy, when London comes in to find him. She explains why she is there, and Reece being the gentleman that he is, helps her find her younger cousin but tells her she’ll owe him. Thinking quickly, London says she’ll clean his house.  Reece somehow agrees to this, and comes home to find that not only does he miss having a woman to come home to, he really wants London there. 

Of course, drama gets in the way. London gets mixed up with some evil dudes, and is in way over her head. Reece hints that Nate isn’t all he’s cracked up to be, and Jessica is at the center of it all. 

This is the fourth book in the Reaper’s series, and as such, characters from older books appear, including Horse, Marie, Bolt, Hunter and Em. This is probably my favorite of the Reaper’s books thus far, and it included the deception, rival clubs, criminal activity, as well as the humor, sexy times, and strong family ties as the other books. While this one can be read as a stand-alone, you’ll be better acquainted with Picnic and the gang if you read the books in order. 

Get your own copy at: Amazon /  Barnes and Noble / 

and Follow Joanna Wylde on Facebook and Twitter @joannawylde

She's hilarious and her posts with Kylie Scott are all kinds of awesome!

 

Scandal Season 4, Ep3: Inside the Bubble. AKA - Sorry I fell asleep.

Scandal this week was….hmm. How do I put this? I never fall asleep when watching my favorite shows. Until this week. I’m not sure what the deal was, but thank goodness for my DVR. Once I caught up, I wasn’t all that psyched about this episode. Not much happened, but here’s what did: 

Liv gets a call to help an old law school friend whose daughter Caitlin is missing. Abby finds out and is livid at Liv as the friend, Catherine, is also friends with Abby. Cat fighting ensues about it and OPA goes on the hunt for the missing child. She’d found pretty quickly by Quinn, but Huck found some other disturbing crap. Mama Catherine has a sex tape with daughter Caitlin’s boyfriend! Quinn and Huck deliver the news to Olivia, and soon after, Caitlin is found dead. As Catherine is identifying her daughter in the morgue, Olivia comes in and pushes her against a wall asking “What the hell did you do?!” 

Everyone, including the police (who arrest Catherine) think she’s guilty. Then another tape shows up of Caitlin with some old dude at her father’s law firm fighting over some envelope. Now the question is, who really killed Caitlin? 

Cyrus is still making googly eyes at Michael the Male Hooker. Lizzy is up to something, trying to set up Cyrus but don’t have a clue as to what yet.  

Jake isn’t Olivia’s boyfriend and he tells her while declining her request to join her for dinner with her father. You know, the one that was his former boss and threw him in a hole and tortured him for months on end? Can’t see why he wouldn’t want to break bread with that dude. Olivia has some cajones for asking. Jake does tell her to call him if she wants him to “do that thing to her”. Jake. Giant Cajones. Huge. 

Jake shows how big when he actually DOES go to dinner with Papa Pope. When Liv steps out of the room to take a call, the two have a few words. Jake tells Pops that he should leave the country for all his evil deeds, and Pops says nope. Staying put. 

Continuing his investigation into Harrison’s death, Jake gets Charlie in some tunnel or room, and goes all Dexter, stripping him down and placing him on plastic. All that's missing are the photos on the wall of the people Charlie has killed. Jake then cons Quinn into coming down and talking to him. Jake wants her to get info from him on Papa Pope’s involvement in Harrison’s death. The two are locked in a room and before you know it, are in a lip-lock. She then gets out, and goes back to OPA and screams at them for not noticing that she was missing for 24 hours. Yah bitches, pay attention! When someone goes missing, they end up dead. Just ask Harrison. Oh wait, you can’t because he’s dead. Point made Quinn. Point made. 

David Rosen has learned how to blackmail to get his way on that gun control bill. Rosen digs up some dirt on one of the judges…and gets the judge to vote his way. Except, this one was a bit fragile and shoots himself (ironic?). 

There was also some craziness with Mellie trying to prove some woman didn't shove her dude off a cliff, Abby trying to save Mellie from further embarrassing herself, and a confrontation with the President about him not knowing her name. Get that woman a nametag!