Two more wonderful reviews:
Sensuality Level: 3
Rating: 5.0
Reviewed by: Teagan S. Boyd
“A girl beaten within an inch of her life is found in the backroom of Kmart, and no one knows who she is. With the girl barely clinging to life, a paramedic holds her hand, and she refuses to let go. Aquamarine eyes drag him into her pain and suffering, and he can’t resist being there for her.
This is how Devlin and Jake meet. Two people who form a bond one fateful day. When the terrible secret of Devlin’s life the last two years comes out, Jake wants nothing more than to see the monster that did this to her dea, and to take care of her forever. But Devlin is young, and Jake realizes he must walk away and let her heal. When they meet four years later, has their love withstood time? The man of her nightmares has never been caught . . . will Devlin ever be safe?”
********
“Wow. This book blew me away. I expected romance, and I received so much more. This is a story with true heart and grit, and the spectacular romance just puts icing on the cake. I was drawn in immediately within the first few words and found that I was not able to put it down for a minute. The characters will be impossible to forget, and I wouldn’t even want to.
I truly enjoyed that this story had so much “meat” to it. I got a bit of some of my favorite things: romance, suspense, and superbly written characters. The romance is sweet as well as spicy. The suspense kept me wondering what would happen, and my emotions were in full drive throughout the book due to the evilness of the villain. The characters are simply wonderful.
Devlin has a strength we all wish we had. She is a victim, yet we also see that she embraces her strength in order to overcome being a victim. I enjoyed her both as a teenager as well as a woman. Ms. Barrett brought her to life.
Jake is any woman’s dream man. He is hardworking, sexy, and his compassion is almost as welcoming as his passion. I felt like cheering him on at times for his chivalry, yet he wasn’t a softy pushover. The combination worked extremely well.
I must also mention the secondary characters. While they were very important, they didn’t overshadow the main characters, they added superior depth to an already outstanding story.
Ms. Barrett has an uncanny ability to get my emotions in high gear, and her descriptions and stories come to life. As I have said before, she has a fan in me, and I will be waiting impatiently for more of her wonderful stories.”
I’ll be over at Bookwenches later this month as a guest blogger.
From dear Stephanie at Fangs wands and fairy dust, who went out of her comfort zone to read a non-paranormal, sci fi, shifter…
“OOOOH, I have got to tell you about this great new book, Anytime Darlin’. Yes, it is by my friend Julia and she sent me an e-copy as a gift with no expectation of anything since she knows the scope of my blog. But it was so good, so H.O.T. that I told her I am plugging this on the blog on Friday.
There are two main characters, Jake, a cowboy/emt with parents who own a super profitable cattle-ranch. The girl he happens to get a call on is Devlin, found half-naked, starved, beaten and raped. Something in her eyes bonds them together more deeply than super-glue. Jake is 24, but Devlin is 17, a victim of her uncle’s psychopathic rage. Jake knows he is too old for her and spends a few years away. She has no family, some close family friends help her but when she turns 18 she takes off to heal herself. It is a few years before they can get back together.
When I began reading this I thought the writing was outstanding. Super natural; nothing rang untrue or out of character. The story is really quite unusual, sad and sweet with loss and triumph. The heat level is up there past Scotch Bonnet, to Habañero. You know the hottest of the hot peppers. The sex in this made my toes curl.
But really what made me like this the most was the writing, the story and the development of the characters. There is a story with the sex; it is not just sex. Even the supporting characters are well developed. The villainy is complex and interwoven.
I know, I know, this might be hot but it’s not paranormal. But the writing is super and it is natural, and it is about love and what is more magical than that?”
