Kelly FoxRezensionen

Glad to start a new series by Kelly Fox as I’ve enjoyed the last two I’ve read, and this one was very different. Lot of angst as I somehow thought one of the content warnings was for a past thing that took place rather than it happening in the book, so I was pretty sad. But I’m glad that Holden and Beckett had each other, and I loved meeting new people who will feature in this series. The author always has retribution hitting the bad guy, and I’m a fan even if it’s rough sometimes.

This is a novella that doesn’t exactly work unless you’ve read the Wild Heart Ranch series (or at least Ant’s book), but I still really enjoyed it as it was great to see Gael and Tolly come together. I liked how they were both immediately all in, and I always appreciate the blip of angst at the end before their HEA.

drama, grit, laughter, friendship and love! I really enjoyed this read and Rafi and Everetts story. I think you could read this as a stand alone but it would be better to have read the Wrecked series first. This is a Bff to lovers with twists, turns and questionable dress sense:)

Omar and Anders are as described in the book like kids in the school yard lol this was a great read in this series.

It has laughter love, drama, family with quirks and the grittiness we expect from the Guardians.

Sad this series is ending but Kelly has done it again with a brilliant story of heartbreak, love, family for Odd and DB that we've all been waiting for.

We see the hurt that DB hides from everyone and the forever love that Odd has for him.

Add in a side of the quirky weirdness that is Anders and this is a great end to the series but not goodbye as I believe there is another series coming! YAY

Oh I so felt for Ro in the first part of this book. His sadness and devastation just jumped off the page

BUT

we do get a happy ending with Thane and Ronan. Mind you not without drama or it wouldn't be a book in this series!

Trip and Samuel - Swoon! and we get to see the Bash brothers as 'big brothers'.

This is another wonderful read by Kelly, a great new series and well its got cowboys, snarky 'princesses', family both found and real.

This story is heartwarming and beautiful.

Trip's journey to be himself, to open up to both his BFF and Sam is perfectly written and Sam, getting stronger and the 'live' moment - I so wanted to grab him and shove him behind me.

Why did I not read this earlier

Scout and Evie, so I've read all of Kelly's other books under this name but had never read
this one

It was a wondeful read, with family, emotions, love, smarmy exes and laughter.

5 stars for this beautiful read.

The emotion was so felt I cried my eyes out at a few parts. Desi and Wyatts story has been building over past books and it almost explodes in this one.

Their love and the love of family (real and found) is wonderfully written.

Just absolutely loved this read.

Whoa!! Hot af MMM this is a wonderful steamy 5 star read.

Warwick, Colt and Joaquin as a throuple, the way the author has written this to make all 3 realise they are meant to be together is clever.

Ok if you're looking to read a romance focused on a murder spree, then this is the book for you; I'm not even sure what the body count ended up being by the end, but there was a lot of blood. But frankly I was ok with it all as this was Ant's vengeance plan which we've kind of been following since he was rescued from child sex trafficking back in the first book of this series, and he deserved to do what he needed to do. I was glad to finally understand Erik a bit better as he's been around for a while too, but I could never get a good read on him; he's actually lovely and ended up being perfect for Ant. This was a great culmination of the series (as I think this is the end of it), but I do feel bad for anyone who thought they'd just read it as a standalone because it would be a rough read. I'm glad these two finally got their crap together and made it work and also killed many bad people along the way.

FBI agent, Liam Hughes is devastated when his beloved grandfather dies and then stunned to find his grandfather has left him a fortune - the kind of fortune gives him the title of billionaire. But then mob enforcer and kind of friend, kind of stalker, Hopper gets involved and Liam's life goes to hell.

This is the fourth book in the Mobsters + Billionaires series and features a brief crossover character appearance of Anders Bash and Omar from Kelly Fox's Wrecked Guardians series. Although you'll need to read #1-3 to get the full backstory of the supporting cast, this was relatively standalone, particularly if you're somewhat familiar with Fox's worlds.

I'm on a roll here. This is the second Kelly Fox book I've actually liked. Although perhaps not that unexpected - Anders Bash was awesome and Hopper is a similar sort of character.

I loved this. Hopper was adorable. He was kind hearted and thoughtful and so utterly clueless and I loved it. I didn't like Liam much to start with (he was mean to Hop and it was horrible) but he grew on me. I mean it was somewhat understandable why he was angry and mean but he was still an ass. He did kind of make up for it though with his determination to be nice and good and kind to Hopper. Taking him to swim in the ocean so he could maybe see his favourite animal - a blue whale - was a pretty good apology. Although I think I would've appreciated it more if he said the words at the start before anything else happened. I mean he knew he stuffed up and he felt bad but then he kind of just lets it go and I felt that sort of let it down.

I was happy that he did get to see a blue whale though. And it was pretty funny how the guide is just like I hope you weren't going to stab the shark and he's like uh yeah of course not. Hopper was just so nice and I wanted all his dreams to come true.

In regards to his feelings for Liam, Hopper was just all in and it was hilarious and swoony and awesome. The chemistry between them was explosive and the plot was action packed. I can't say I really liked the gunplay scenes but it definitely fit the characters. And I adored the fact that Hopper scared the crap out of Connor (Liam's grandfather) by breaking in but then he introduced himself and they talked and Connor gave him a key to the roof and a made him promise not to enter by jumping through the window but by entering slowly so as not to scare him. It was fkn hilarious and I only wish those scenes were included because I bet it would've been epic.

As far as the plot, it was full on - there was mystery and threats and killings and I was rating it. Definitely a fun read if you enjoy morally dubious characters and a love story with murder. 3.5 stars, rounded to 4 stars for enjoyment.

Anders Bash is the life of the party - every party that is except Omar's. For Omar - Ander is the bane of his existence.

This is the second book in the Wrecked Guardians series and features crossover character appearances from all of her other series. None of Kelly Fox's books are really standalone - even when they appear to be. All of her characters have extensive backstories that she never bothers to explain and random parts pop up in all the other ones. This one wasn't too bad in that sense - the story mostly focused on Anders and Omar but even so - there were still a fair few appearances from other characters.

This is the first Kelly Fox book that I think I've actually liked and it's funny because I wasn't sure that I would. But much like Anders got under Omar's skin, he got under mine.

That said, as much as I liked Anders - he was a fkn idiot at the start. For someone supposedly so smart, he was so fkn dumb. His "pranks" were horrific and I'm dumbfounded that he couldn't see where he was going wrong. There's white privilege and there's stupidity and this was so far passed stupidity that it was actually painful to read.

Although he was called out for it and ready to sincerely apologise I don't know that it really made up for it. But once they got past their rocky start, Omar and Anders were pretty sweet. Their chemistry was steamy and their actions were flirty and I was rating it. Plus their banter was funny. The action gave some nice flavour to the story and added some depth beyond the romance.

3 stars.

Ant suffered years of hell as the victim of a child sex trafficking ring but he's finally been able to get his life back on track. There's only one thing left for him to do - hunt down all the bastards that bought and sold him - and kill them viciously. But his rescuer and secret crush, Erik Bash, refuses to let him go alone.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. For 70% of the book I was just ticking off pages and then it got to Ant getting his revenge on his grandfather and I was like yeah wow, this is getting really good - but then it all just faded away again and I was kind of bored. The plot up until that point had been fairly bland and it returned to that after. The romance sucked. It started off okay but once they got together something was just really wrong with it. The sex scenes were icky and I was left feeling rather unsettled. I'm not even sure what it was but it just didn't work.

None of Kelly Fox's books are really standalone. I haven't read most of them, but having read the first book in the Rebel Sky Ranch and the first in Wrecked - I've come to realise that Kelly Fox doesn't know how to write standalone or first books. All of her characters have extensive backstories that she never bothers to explain and random parts pop up in all the other ones. So when I saw the plot for this and was interested I just started reading. Unfortunately regardless of the standalone aspect - it just wasn't very good. I shouldn't be surprised, I haven't really liked any of the ones I've read so far.

2 stars.

Well I’m not sure how the author made this book basically into a cozy romance considering all the murder and overarching human trafficking rescue story, but she did and made it great. I didn’t get a ton of learning about about Javier or Levy, but they were obviously perfect for each other and their falling in love so quickly was lovely to see. This was oddly low stakes and sweet in general as I know we’re heading into a wild ride with Ant’s story next.

This one checked all my boxes: characters developed? - yep; interesting plot with action? - yep; writing is smooth without holes? - yep; Questions answered? - yep. The fact that the author explored trauma-induced change in the brain and did an excellent job just added to the story. I think this one is my favorite in this series so far.

Good Behavior was one I had mixed reactions with. The overall plot was good, and character development was okay - not well done but better than a flat stereotype. There were holes such as it had been 22 months since Nacho was released, yet in that time he had bought and rebuilt a teardrop trailer while working full time and then sold it and bought and rebuilt an airstream. Even without bad weather, this would take a bit longer than 22 months - even if he started on day 1 - which is highly unlikely. Sorry, but details like this really bug me. If it is a fantasy or paranormal I am much more flexible, but contemporary? The big ick factor for me was the power imbalance was so - - - just no! I learned I have a hard line when it comes to Doctor/patient scenarios.

I enjoy Kelly Fox's stories. I know in advance they ride the edge of believability with law and order-type things but I love them anyway - Got to love the Bash's crocs! Maybe they are a wistful thing. I enjoyed the emotional depth of the two main characters and did not feel any disbelief - again partially because I read the dedication so understood the reasoning behind the plot and partially that wistful thinking again. Overall this is a good read - A bit more action would have taken it up, but the romance was on point.

Rebel Sky Ranch has had a hard year with the loss of the founder and heart of the place, Renee Goodnight. It hasn't been easy but Trip Goodnight is determined to keep his and his mother's legacy afloat. So when his new friend and neighbour, Sam Harper offers his help to market the ranch via social media, Trip jumps at the chance. And the more time they spend together the more they just seem to click.

This was okay. It was readable and I generally enjoyed it. But there were a few issues that stopped it from being better.

The plot was a bit convoluted. Sam seems to have an extensive back story that is kind of just glossed over. I have no idea if this appears in another book but it certainly didn't go into any depth in this one. The rest of the characters (of which there were many) all seemed kind of interchangeable and were kind of flat as well.

The romance between Trip and Sam was sweet and flirty and full of cuteness and the later sex scenes were red hot. They even managed a few conversations but I still feel like they were somewhat one dimensional. I did like their frank discussion about sex, love and relationships but it wasn't enough to make this a win.

2.5 stars.

Nick Martinez's gym, Wrecked, is an all inclusive space which tolerates no slurs and supports people from all walks of life but especially those who have served. Because losing his leg was hard - but it could've been a lot harder without the emotional and financial support from his friends and family and Nick wants to give back and pass a bit of that support on.

Elijah Temple has had a rough couple of months since getting out of the army. So when a friend offers to put in a word for him to get a job at Wrecked, he jumps at the chance. But giving help is much easier than asking for it and sometimes it's hard to see what's right in front of you.

I really liked the premise of this book. The idea of a sanctuary for vets was a great concept and I liked the safe space they build and the sense of community they foster. But I'm not sure I really liked the characters enough to care.

Here's the thing - this book tackled a lot of really important social issues, and generally tackled them very well. Except there was so much about the issues that it never really takes the time to explore the characters as more than those issues. Nick especially felt very one dimensional - and while Elijah is slightly better, it wasn't really enough. This followed through to the secondary characters as well. There were heaps of colourful characters - but none that made any impact on the story.

The relationship between them is slow going and kind of nothing. There's a few longing glances and some dirty thoughts but that was kind of it. And then they fall into bed with each other and fail to talk. I felt like I was being told a lot more about how they felt than actually experiencing it and I was bored.

So it was an okay read but kind of lacking sparks. 2.5 stars.

Ok this really was an amazing read, and I don’t think I’ve read about the dynamic between Nacho and Bram in this way before. This was also one of the first times that the taboo aspect did make me uncomfortable, but these two really were right for each other. So much more of the overarching story here which I’d say took up more of the book, but we still got a great feeling for these guys which I appreciated.

Wow this was one amazing doozy of a ride. The history between Charlie and Justin was epically upsetting, and it took a good while for them to work through it all while also getting to know the new versions of each other. The author did a wonderful job with all the various aspects here, and their HEA was all the better for it as well. I had been hesitant about their story as we somewhat learned about it through the Rebel Sky books, but I fell for both Justin and Charlie and adored their journey.½

I really enjoyed this take on polyamory as it seemed different somehow, and it might have been how Colt and Joaquin both were in love with Wick before also falling for each other (not that that’s so different than other reads, but it felt that way here). Each of these guys was amazing in different ways, and I loved their growth individually and together. There was some angst and more characters introduced which I still think worked in wrapping up this quartet about the ranch yet still possibly having them around in a new series. In the end I’m glad to have found this author.½

This was lovely while being rather full of angst, but Wyatt and Desi needed a lot of time to figure things out with all the issues surrounding them. It was well worth the long journey to see how it worked so beautifully for them; if I didn’t know there was another book, I’d think it could be the end of the series (but I look forward to the next set of men finding love).

I loved everything about Sparrow and Luke, and this was such a good read. I’m usually hesitant with enemies to lovers trope, and here it was almost too real in that Sparrow was the only one seeing Luke at first as an enemy (it was not a vice versa with Luke); Sparrow taking so long to get his head out of his ass was the only thing I wasn’t a fan of here. But these two really were made for each other, and I loved being introduced to more characters that we’ll be seeing down the road too. I wish the epilogue lasted literally another hour in time to see what they had planned for the other.½