Read Receipts: Mine to Protect

Mine to Protect was so much more than I expected. It had me from the first page. I love crime/police procedural type stories. It’s my go to read always. I read romance as a way to clear my head, for purely entertainment purposes. When those two types of stories mesh into one I am all over it. This is my first Kennedy Mitchell book and if this is her wheelhouse I want in. The thriller in this romantic thriller was cunning and captivating. The romance was icing on the cake. One thing that can be hard to do is make the romance seem real and not forced or cheesy in these types of stories. Kennedy’s characters are strong and vulnerable, they seem real and you root for them, individually and together. This book had me biting my nails at the story of kidnapped women and depraved souls who would hurt animals for fun and laughing and swooning at the witty banter and charismatic heroes of the story. I was rooting and cheering for Alta who at first seems so broken but not to a point you can’t identify with her. In fact even though I felt like she was not the heroine I normally enjoy reading about, Kennedy developed her character in such a way I never felt sorry for her or annoyed. Instead I wanted to know more and see her shine and find her way. The best part of this whole thing is that it had me guessing who or what was going on. The suspense and thrill was never ending. If romantic thrillers are your thing, if thrillers are your thing or if you just want to lose yourself in a damn good story grab this book! 
* I received a free review copy of this book. All opinions are my own. 

You can grab this book on Amazon

Read Receipts: Worship by Trilina Pucci

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book. After reading Truth by Trilina I was salivating at the mere thought of Gretchen and Luca’s story. And good lord this did not disappoint. In fact it delivered and then came back for an encore. I have been mulling this review over and over in an attempt to gather my thoughts. Look I am a huge Trilina Pucci fan, I wanna gush but I also want to be honest and share what I truly loved without giving away too much. To be honest I still don’t know how this is going to go. I like to write reviews like as if we are friends chatting so you get my excitement. So forgive me if this is not your cut and dry review. 

First and foremost this book is the second in the Sinful Series but it can be a standalone. If you haven’t read Truth you won’t be so lost you won’t follow this story but please go read Truth you won’t be disappointed there either. The writing is well thought out and the story has guts. It takes you on a journey filled with lust, dark places, and lots of sin. I immediately fell in love with Luca. He may be a little on the shady side of business sometimes but he is a man in all other facets of his life. His devotion to his daughter is swoon worthy. For me I went into this thinking Luca was going to steal this show. But knowing Trilina I should have known better. She writes bad ass women who steal the show. Gretchen is a boss babe but that isn’t even her best quality. She is a woman who knows her worth and isn’t going to take second place to anyone or anything. I loved her from day 1. 

Luca and Gretchen have so much lust and tension it make for a great nail biter of a story. I think one of my favorite things is the use of the Italian language. It flows really naturally in the dialogue and as a Mexican woman it felt like the times it was used was real just like when family speaks Spanish to each other. It definitely added to the lust factor. I mean hearing the filthy words coming out of Luca’s mouth are enough to make any woman melt but imaging them in Italian? Well damn, how do you act unaffected by that! The story had angst. It made me feel angry at the situations holding Gretchen and Luca apart. It had depth and I felt Gretchen’s sorrow to my gut. And in case you are still wondering it was filthy. It was filthy in all the best ways and I will NEVER look at a pantry without thinking of Gretchen and Luca. 

So if you’re into well told stories of passion, desire and loyalty grab Luca and Gretchen and dive into a land of Worship.