So Close (Tierney Bay, #1) [Auburn & Trey] by Serena Bell

I'm not sure how to review this book. I liked many elements in it, especially the feel of Tierney Bay and how magical it felt not just for the people living but also to the people visiting again and again, and yet I had a hard time connecting with our MCs, mainly Trey. I guess he "redeemed himself", his actions weren't actually due to "bad character" but to a situation that he found himself in and needed to fix, and not just for his sake. As his reasoning were explained to Auburn, I could see why SHE started to like him, and yeah, there was MAD attraction between the two, and yet, I still didn't see what there was there between them BESIDES the attraction. I don't think they "fit in" together, and it doesn't make sense to me the change that Trey went through in literally a WEEK he was in Tierney Bay even if Auburn sees it as a magical place who changes people and allow wonderful things to happen.

Auburn Campbell have lived all of her life in Tierney Bay and worked many years in "Beachcrest Inn", it's her home now, with it's owner - Carl - feeling like a father figure, especially after her parents passing. She always thought the inn will be hers when Carl retires, yet after he suffers a heart attack she realizes her dreams might come to an abrupt end. Seems Carl was in a bad place a few years ago and sold half of the inn to his grandson Trey. Trey was helping out Carl, he didn't have any designs on the property but things changed recently and now he intends to sell the place for investors destroying the resort and Auburn's dreams with it.

After Midnight by Serena Bell

A good one! :) a story about trust or mis-trust. Both Nora and Miles find themselves quite miserable on New Years's Eve. Nora just ended a long relationship after discovering her ex has cheated on her repeatedly and Miles is accused of something he didn't do but as it seems his girlfriend didn't believe him or believe in him enough to stay. They meet at the party - two total strangers enjoy 15 minutes together then disappear from each other's life. Both Nora and Miles try searching for the other but to no avail. 

Holding Out (Returning Home #4) [Griff & Becca] by Serena Bell

While I LOVED the previous installments in the series, this one just wasn't for me. First of it felt VERY different from the previous ones, the issues it deals with and mostly the WAY it is dealt with. For me the main problem with this book was the amount of sex, sex talk and constant thoughts about sex. If I could I would have deleted round 90% of that and THEN this book would have been GREAT. I just felt like instead of DEALING with anything really, they turn to sex as a sort of escape. It was even in conversations, a real meaningful conversation would end with a sex innuendo instead of feeling like there's a real progress being made. It's OBVIOUS for me that this exact issue for me could be a TURN ON for someone else - books are subjective and that's the beauty of it, right?

Griff Ambrose & Becca Drake have known each other for a while now. He is friends with Nate who is married to Becca's sister - Alia. But it was mostly a casual sort of friendship. They would meet on family and friends meetups and that's about it. Everyone knows Griff is a "player", and Becca is quite a sheltered girl who wants to be brave and strong but finds it hard to date men since she is 24 and still a virgin. For some reason guys are freaked out about that and she had enough.. Which is how she finds herself asking Griff to "help her out" - just a one time thing - like he does.. Griff accepts and though they have their own rules once Becca is back for two weeks working in Jake's resort (where Griff also works) they find it hard to keep their hands from one another.. and the big question is - what happens next..

Sleepover by Serena Bell

Two single parents living next door.. yon can guess where this one is going... yet it's so much MORE than that. To quote Sawyer "We did everything backwards - Crazy monkey sex first, foreplay later, getting to know each other third". See 2 months ago before Sawyer moved to the house next to Elle, they met in a bar. Elle was two weeks after finalizing her divorce, in a need of getting back to who she was before the whole mess with her ex, and Sawyer, as usual was looking for a "relief" from the constant ache of losing his wife 2 years prior. He offers a night without a repeat and up until Elle it worked fine. Yet seeing her again, with a plate full of cookies as a good neighbor should, makes him for ONCE question his resolve.

Head Over Heels by Serena Bell

~sigh~ I'm upset. I REALLY wanted to love this one but for some reason I just couldn't connect to either character. I loved so many of Serena's books so I really don't know what to say.. How did this happen?

Chase Crayton and Olivia "Liv" Stratten are best friends. They have been for the past 3 years ever since they went on their first date and realized they couldn't BE more different and unmatched. Yet friendship works for them perfectly well! Honestly I don't know why the things either of them listed on that date matters. If there's attraction and they can enjoy spending time together, why does it matter that they so many things that are NOT in common? I think it just means that they would have their own "things" to do while not together. I see it as HEALTHY. Never mind..

Do Over by Serena Bell

I have this really annoying habit of NOT reading synopsis of books by authors I already know I love. It's not suppose to be annoying, it's just that when an author enters my insta-buy list I don't even bother because I BELIEVE it's going to be great no matter what the story is about. Yet there ARE things that are less than appealing to me.. so imagine my surprise when a 4 years old INVADED my book! 😲😣

So basically most of my issue with this book is totally and absolutely about ME and what I prefer to read or rather prefer not to read in my books. For me, kids destroy the fun, the relationship buildup and insert all those cute-sy moments I cringe at. Not every book with a kid does that, but in this one, Gabe has quite a big part. So I say if you enjoy kids in your novels or you don't dislike it as much as I do - totally and absolutely give it a go! 

Getting Inside (Seattle Grizzlies #1) [Iona & Ty] by Serena Bell

Wonderful story! I absolutely loved both Ty and Iona. They are both strong independent characters, they know what they want, they know where their focus SHOULD be, yet there is some sort of a pull they can't ignore and lucky for us - they don't ;) Getting a strong hero is nothing new in a romance novel, but getting someone as strong as Iona was truly refreshing, though she was working hard to keep her place because she was always being second guessed. Ty was perfect for her because unlike most men he wasn't discouraged by either her strong body nor her strong willed character and he actually understood how hard she needed to work to be appreciated. 

To Have and to Hold (Returning Home #3) [Trina & Hunter] by Serena Bell

PERFECTION, This book drawn me in from the first page, not allowing me to let it go until I was finished (which is why I'm DEAD on my feet today..). I LOVED both previous installments in the series, there is something about wounded soldiers/heros, right? Yet it's different with how much realistic this story feels, or just how much emotion this story (as with the previous ones) sucked out of me. Trina and Hunter deserved each other SO MUCH, and losing each other the way they did left ME broken. Both didn't know how to fight for one another even though it was obvious from the start the WANT to. 

Can't Hold Back (Returning Home #2) [Alia & Nate] by Serena Bell

YES! I couldn't be more happier with this one. Frankly I knew right from the first chapter I'm going to fall hard for this book. This is SO me, how could I fall for an actual real life GUY when I can fall for a BOOK with all it's content? ;) I mean, I LOVED Nate, but we also got Jake from the previous installment and in general I loved everything about this book, so yeah, I'm a goner hehe

Turn up the Heat (Second Chances #1) by Serena Bell

I can't really explain why I didn't like this novel. Somehow I wasn't interested in both MC. Mostly I was getting tired of the constant inner dialogue so on the third mark when I realized nothing truly happened it felt the right time for me to stop. 

Hot and Bothered by Serena Bell

I'm not sure what I expected this one to be, and well, I didn't even read the synopsis before I pre-ordered it, but even after reading what this one is about, I wanted, I expected, to absolutely love it since it's Serena and I already KNOW I love her novels. Yet I somehow forgot the one novel I DIDN'T like, also by Harlequin Blaze - Still So Hot! - I didn't even think about the similarities in the name.. yep, I was fooled.. by myself, since I was the one not paying attention..

So this one is like a sequel to "Still So Hot!" we actually met Haven in that book, she's into changing self image / publicity, back then she was working with Celine. In that book Elisa (the matchmaker) goes on a coaching trip with Celine that doesn't end as expected.. Here we meet Elisa again as Haven's friend and also match maker (the worst! since as usual she doesn't do the matching.. just looking over and see it happen before her and against her judgement).

Hold on Tight (Returning Home #1) [Mira & Jake] by Serena Bell

This book was simply AMAZING. I don't even know how to write this down so you'll get it - it's just a beautiful read. I loved the two main characters, appreciated both of them for being who they are and how they are, for being inspiring for me, for being strong each in his/her own way and for finding each other and completing the circle bringing them to a place of happiness they just couldn't have had before.

Yours to Keep by Serena Bell

I don't know what took me so long to review this one since it was SUCH a joy to read. The previous book by Serena was a bit of a miss for me but this one made me remember how much I enjoyed everything else I've read by her and of course I'll read anything else she puts out (already marked to read her next one "Hold on Tight") 

Ana is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic. She arrived at the US with her family when she was a small child with a legitimate visa but unfortunately as her mother got sick and died she failed to file the papers to renew their visa so Ana and her two older siblings became illegitimate. Since Ana was pretty small when she arrived at the US she always saw herself as an American and she wasn't about to jeopardize being deported back so she and her family did what they could to survive. Ana tutors Spanish in School and also have classes for English as a second language.

Still So Hot! by Serena Bell

As I've already written on my March Goals - "Strangers on a Train" made quite an impression on me and ever since then I've been trying to read everything by these 5 authors naturally including Serena. 

I really wanted to love this one as I've loved the three novellas I've already read by her (Ticket Home / Strangers on a train ; Rescue Me / Free valentine's novella ;After Midnight / Heating up the Holidays bundle) but sadly this one didn't deliver. I'd say it's a nice enough story but I wasn't invested enough in the plot.

Elisa is match making coach, to bust her reputation she decides to take on a celebrity client and teach her the secrets to finding herself a match in dreamy resort. Too bad her client is totally hopeless when it comes to falling for the wrong guys and she outdone herself by arriving with the worst guy for more than a night - Brett - who is also Elisa's former best friend and her crush for years. 

Rescue Me by Serena Bell

This is a very short novella (round 30 pages) released for free for Valentine's Day!

It was such a sweet little story. Really enjoyed it. In a sentence, Molly got stuck on the balcony when she tries to "save" a shoe she accidentally threw out the window after her boyfriend, well, ex-boyfriend as it seems, dumped her on Valentine's Day. Her sexy neighbor Dave comes to the rescue and by the way shows her how much more she deserves even more she doesn't ask for much.

Heating Up the Holidays - Play with Me by Lisa Renee Jones / Snowfall by Mary Ann Rivers / After Midnight by Serena Bell

Play with Me by Lisa Renee Jones   ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

 This short novella tells the story of Kali - leaving her home in Texas to begin a new life in Vegas. In Vegas she meets Damion her new (too good looking) boss. Both Kali and Damion has a past that as Kali phrases - got them bruised but not broken - but nevertheless they keep their past from each other. Both of them don't easily trust other people. The passion between the two of them was making it VERY hard for them to work with each other but the both of them are determined to keep each other. Little by little they realize that together is the right call :) 

Strangers on a Train by Ruthie Knox, Donna Cummings, Samantha Hunter, Serena Bell, Meg Maguire

I LOVED all 5 of these. 
Each one is a really short novella (about 70 pages) and they are fabulous!! It's really a nice idea that each one of the authors wrote some story taking place on a train - each one is different though the setting is the same. 

Ticket Home (Strangers on a Train) by Serena Bell

This is my 5th book in the "Strangers in a Train". I loved it!
We meet Amy who left Seattle and Jeff to pursue a work opportunity. Jeff was upset with how this thing all played out. But after a while he realized how much he misses her and how much he is willing to do to bring her back home to him. He figures he'll take the train she usually takes to work and make her listen to him while on the train - she has no-where to go on the train.. Amy doesn't want to return back home with Jeff. their relationship had its problems and she doesn't think that coming to talk to her on the train will make any difference. In her eyes HIS work always came first - before her - so the opportunity of this new job was what she needed (as an excuse) to leave him. 
So we are left with Amy and Jeff on the same train day after day - Him trying to convince her it's going to be different and her trying not to yield to her attraction and love for him when she is trying to make the right decision for herself.

Additional Details: Kindle Ebook, 61 pages, 24 August 2013 / On GoodReads