My Review:
3.25-3.5 stars
***
This was a pretty good anthology! I have read most of these 1001 Dark Night Bundle books. I like that I can normally find several really good stories and new authors in each bundle. This one was no different. Lots of good stuff packed into this bundle! Here are my thoughts:
Rock Chick Reawakening: A Rock Chick Novella by Kristen Ashley : 3.25-3.5 stars. I'm sure I'm the only person who did not love this book. I just have to be honest and say this was only an okay read for me.
I like Daisy and Marcus more in the other books than in their own. I liked their story,. I was glad to know how they got together and how their HEA went. However, I just couldn't connect with them as characters. In the Rock Chick series books, Daisy's character is such a caricature. She is an over-the-top, exaggerated Dolly Patron-esque character. She is very sweet, but pretty cheesy. That continues in this book. I expected to be able connect with her more as a person, instead of a cartoon character, in her own book. I was not able to feel a connection to her because of her over-the-top-ness. Her mannerisms, colloquial sayings, and speech patterns were so cheesy to me. Especially her use of the word coochie every five minutes. She grated on my nerves. Marcus, on the other hand, was so bland and boring. He was not a typical KA alpha at all. He was very sweet to Daisy and he called her darling all the time. Granted, he was dealing with Daisy after something bad had happened to her, so he was handling her with kid gloves, but he wasn't a take charge, knows what he wants and goes after it, strong alpha male in his pursuit of Daisy. He was just kind of meh and had no personality.
For an 120 page novella, this was pretty slow moving too. Daisy and Marcus don't really have any sexy times until 75%. Daisy is recovering from her attack, so it's understandable, but it also made the whole thing a slow read. I didn't really feel any chemistry or any of the slow burn feelings between them either.
This book did not have the feel of the other Rock Chick books, with their sisterhood of strong female friends, because Daisy hasn't been the Rock Chicks yet in this book. I definitely missed that aspect. I did like the epilogue though and I was happy to see cameos from several other RC characters throughout the book.
Overall, I liked this book, but didn't love it. I was a little disappointed. This review is just my opinion. I'm sure all the other 5 star reviews will cancel out mine and that's fine. I'm still glad I read it and can fill in the back story of Daisy and Marcus in my mind.
Adoring Ink: A Montgomery Ink Novella by Carrie Ann Ryan: 3.5 stars. This is Holly and Brody's book. An elementary school teacher, Holly is Jake Montgomery's ex. Jake is now married to Maya and Border in a menage marriage. Holly is fine with that. She knows that she and Jake were not meant to be together, but she feels very at lose ends and that her life isn't very exciting. She meets the sexy, flirtatious, adventurous Brody while he's on his motorcycle at a stoplight and again at Montgomery Ink. Brody offers to help her spice up her life. Together they make Holly a list of things to try, from bungee jumping to hiking, and the two of them start spending a lot of time together and fall for each other.
I liked Holly and Brody. They were good people. I just didn't feel a lot of chemistry between them. I also didn't love how big of a part of the story Jake and Maya were. I know it wasn't awkward for them, but it seemed awkward and weird to me that they were still such close friends. I wanted Holly to have some different close friends without such a past between them. Overall, the story wasn't bad. It was an enjoyable, easy read. It just wasn't my favorite book by Ms. Ryan.
Sweet Rivalry by K. Bromberg : 2.5 -3 stars. This book was only okay for me. This is Harper and Ryder's story. The two of them went to college together and were rivals. They verbally sparred with and pushed each other in classes then, and ended up sharing one hot kiss. But after college they went separate ways. Now, 13 years later, the two finally meet once again head to head in a bid for a contract through their respective companies. The sparks still fly between them, but can they get over their past and possibly have a future together?
I liked Harper and Ryder okay. I felt like the pacing was off in the story. Not much really happened at all. Some verbal sparring, some sexy times, and that's pretty much it. There was no talk of feelings, love, a relationship, emotions, or anything like that. The writing was ok, but other than that, I didn't think this was very good.
Shade's Lady: A Reapers MC Novella by Joanna Wylde : 3.5 stars. This is Shade and Mandy's story. Mandy has kind of a rough past, especially with men. She is now living with her sister, helping with her nieces, and waitressing at a biker bar. She is casually dating Rebel, a biker who is not a great guy and cheats on her. One night, Rebel trades Mandy to Shade, without her knowing, for a new bike. That is how Shade and Mandy really meet and start some kind of a relationship.
I did really like this story. I liked Shade and Mandy. I liked the writing and found the story interesting. I just wanted more. I wanted more of a HEA or official commitment of some kind. The epilogue is 20 years later and they're still together, but it was hard for me to believe they really loved each other after being together for that long with no commitment. I never felt love between them, just lust and a little bit of like. So overall, I liked the feeling of the book and the story, but I felt it had potential to be even better.
Fighting for Flight by JB Salsbury : 2.5-3 stars. This is Jonah and Raven's story. Raven is a 20 year old mechanic and Jonah is a UFC fighter. They meet when Jonah hires Raven to help him restore his classic car. The sparks fly between them at first sight and they fall for each other very quickly after spending time together. But Raven's father and her past comes back to haunt her newfound happiness and threaten her dreams for the future with Jonah.
This book was not really my cup of tea. I liked Raven okay, but she was very young, immature, naive and, of course, a virgin. Jonah is a huge manwhore, who is ready to give all of that up the second he meets Raven. After a week of knowing each other, they are claiming they're madly in love (even though he slept with someone else exactly one week before). There is so much OW drama. It was very childish. A slutty girl kisses Jonah, Raven gets mad and threatens to fight her, and he just thinks that is hot. That's just one example of the OW drama. The women won't leave him alone. That part was so awful and unnecessary that I considered not finishing this story. I did get through it, but it was very eye-rollingly immature. I did feel the love between Jonah and Raven. I felt like he especially really adored her, but the story in general was so over-dramatic that I didn't enjoy it very much.
Overall, this was a good group of novellas! I did enjoy this bundle. I definitely recommend the 1001 Dark Nights anthologies. I have found so many new authors and great stories through them!
