Part-Time Husband by Noelle Adams

Synopsis:

On a Wednesday afternoon, I ask Trevor Bentley to marry me. He might be the most arrogant, obnoxious man I know, but I need him to be my husband for a year.

There are reasons.

He's not going to be a real husband. Just part-time. Yes, I have to live with him. And, okay, I also have to share his bed. And, sure, he's the sexiest and most exciting thing to ever happen to my controlled, organized life.

But still... It's only a part-time marriage. I'm not going to give him my heart. I know what I'm doing, and I'm too smart to fall for my husband.

I hope.

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Available at: Amazon  | Barnes and Noble  | Kobo  | iTunes

Review:

Well, that was adorable.

Melissa Greyson is having dinner with her grandpa/boss when he threatens to restructure her out of a job so she can focus on finding a husband and settling down. If this makes you angry, you are not alone, as Melissa immediately sets out to broker an arrangement with the one man she knows her Pop despises: obnoxiously arrogant and irritatingly handsome Trevor Bentley.

If you want a wildly original romance with plenty of twists and turns, try something else. This is your classic fake marriage, complete with witty banter, meddling family, and just the right amount of heartfelt angst. Sparks fly, the smug facade drops, and you can guess the rest.

This might be a classic, but I enjoyed every second of it and found myself grinning widely as the climax hit and even as it drew to a close.

Five forever stars

I received a copy of this book from Barclay Publishing.

The Surviving Girls by Katee Robert

A fierce survivor and a fearless FBI agent battle a copycat serial killer in a gripping thriller from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katee Robert.

Twelve years ago, Lei Zhang and her friend Emma Nilsson miraculously lived through the notorious Sorority Row Murders that left twenty-one of their sisters dead. Still wrestling with the trauma but finally out of the limelight, Lei and Emma are now devoted to helping other victims find closure. But most disturbing for Lei—beyond the gut-wrenching survivor guilt—is that the killer was her boyfriend. He’s behind bars, but she’ll never lower her guard again.

When a copycat killer targets Lei and Emma, FBI Agent Dante Young is put in charge of anticipating the sociopath’s every move. But what he doesn’t expect is his immediate and overpowering attraction to Lei. The closer they get to each other, the more desperate and terrifying the questions become: Who wants to finish what the killer started—and why?

Now Agent Young vows to protect Lei at all costs. If they have any chance of a future together, first they have to stay alive…

Review:

This isn’t a romance. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Katee Robert and have only read her romances, so I came into this one a little blinkered. I didn’t even realise this was third in a series about FBI agents and serial killers until I started writing this review.

This isn’t a romance, but there is a romance in it. In the context of the book, it’s a highly inconvenient case of insta-lust that distracts the leads and jeopardises their very survival in a tense game of cat and mouse with a shadow from the past.

This isn’t a romance. It’s the story of two girls (one in particular) who survived a mass murder, whose safely-constructed lives threaten to fall apart when a copycat killer strikes close to home. It’s also the story of the FBI agents (one in particular) who must catch the killer before his dealy endgame.

This is a tightly plotted, tense, and thrilling novel about guilt, blame, and what it means to survive. I couldn’t put it down and loved every twist and turn. My only gripes are a) most of the characters felt like they had only rough outlines of a backstory and b) that there wasn’t enough of the dogs, because dogs are awesome.

Four and a half surviving stars

I received an advanced reading copy from the publisher.

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