ARC Review: All the Way by Kristen Proby

Series:	Romancing Manhattan #1
Pub. Date:	Aug. 21, 2018
Publisher:	William Morrow
Length:	288 pgs
Source:	Publisher

All the Way is the first book in Kristen Proby's new series, Romancing Manhattan. I'm still relatively new to Kristen Proby, and was happy to start this new series at the outset, as I never seem to find time to go back and read back titles.

ARC Review: Disorderly Conduct by Tessa Bailey

Series:	The Academy #1
Pub. Date:	Aug. 29, 2017
Publisher:	Avon
Length:	354 pgs
Source:	Publisher

I hear people rave about Tessa Bailey all the time, and her steamy dirty-talking heroes. This is my actual first time reading her, and though this story was not for me, I did like her writing style and will be reading her again in the future. I will probably even continue with this series as I think I will like the other lead characters to come.

ARC Review: The Thing About Love by Julie James

Series:	USAO/FBI
Pub. Date:	April 18, 2017
Publisher:	Berkley
Length:	400 pages
Source:	NetGalley

It's been a while since I have read anything by Julie James, and now that I am back on the wagon, I need to catch up on her books for the last several years. As an attorney and fed myself, I am hesitant these days to pick up some legal-themed romances because I tend to pick them apart. But Julie James' stories are well-researched and don't make me twitchy like some other legal/LEO plots.  This last book of hers I read was in the FBI/USAO series, and I'm not sure if this book is included in that series or not. It's not listed as being included on Goodreads, Amazon or iBooks... but there is some character crossover with that series and the main characters here are FBI agents. You can read it as a standalone, but it would also be enjoyable to know some of the stories of the secondary characters that pop in from the FBI angle.

Audiobook Review: Overruled by Emma Chase

Overruled 
by Emma Chase
Series:  The Legal Briefs #1
Pub. Date:  Apr. 28, 2015
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Audio
Narrators:  Jason Carpenter, Charlotte Penfield
Length:  8 hrs 6 min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Audible


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Emma Chase, New York Times bestselling author of the Tangled Series, returns with the first installment of the Legal Briefs Series. 

As a DC defense attorney, Stanton Shaw keeps his head cool, his questions sharp, and his arguments irrefutable. They don’t call him the Jury Charmer for nothing – with his southern drawl, disarming smile and captivating green eyes – he’s a hard man to say no to. Men want to be him and women want to be thoroughly cross examined by him.

Stanton’s a man with a plan. And for a while, life was going according to that plan.

Until the day he receives an invitation to the wedding of his high school sweetheart and mother of his beloved ten-year old daughter. Jenny is getting married — to someone who isn’t him.

That's definitely not part of the plan.

***

Sofia Santos is a city raised, no-nonsense litigator who plans to become the most revered criminal defense attorney in the country. She doesn’t have time for relationships or distractions.

But when Stanton, her "friend with mind-blowing benefits" begs for help, she finds herself out of her element, out of her depth, and obviously out of her mind. Because she agrees to go with him – to The-Middle-Of-Nowhere, Mississippi – to do all she can to help Stanton win back the woman he loves. 

Her head tells her she's crazy...and her heart says something else entirely.

*** 

What happens when you mix a one stop-light town, two professional arguers, a homecoming queen, four big brothers, some Jimmy Dean sausage and a gun-toting Nana? 

The Bourbon flows, passions rise and even the best laid plans get overruled by the desires of the heart. 

So I met Emma Chase earlier this year at RT Roundup, and got to sit in on one of her panels and listen to a little more about her and her writing style. She was super sweet and I resolved to read one of her books as soon as possible as she relayed that her niche was writing romance from the male point of view. I always like having the male POV in my books - I like to get into the heads of my heroes. So I pulled this book off Audible during my last road trip when I needed something to make the drive go faster.

I didn't read the blurb for the book before reading. I knew the series featured attorneys, which always makes me a little hesitant (occupational hazard). Whenever I am reading a book about fellow attorneys, I tend to pick them apart. However, either Ms. Chase really did her research or she has experience in the legal field because she did really well getting into the aspects of the law practice. This made me super happy b/c I more often see mistakes or unrealistic ideals in legal fiction... but this one was pretty accurate.

As for the romance - I had mixed feelings about it. Don't get me wrong - I couldn't stop listening and was totally absorbed in the story. I had a good connection to the female characters. Without reading the blurb, I actually thought Jenny was going to be my heroine so I was so disappointed when I realized that was not going to be the case. I was then set not to like Sofia because I felt like she was encroaching, but I ended up empathizing with her through the story. I did feel like she was allowing herself to be used for a good part of the book though, and I didn't like that. I wanted her to stand up for herself and tell Stanton where to stick it.

As for our hero, Stanton, I didn't like him. One thing about having so much of the guy's POV is that you realize how much guys suck. I didn't really want to hear about his womanizing and cheating - no matter how much I originally thought I wanted it. He came off as a huge douche canoe by being so self-absorbed and being a total user. He used Jenny and he used Sofia. It was so bad that he was never redeemed for me. I was hoping that both girls would ditch his ass and become besties.

That being said, I still really liked the story! The fact is that there are guys like Stanton out there, and the portrayal of his character was accurate (disheartening as it is). The one aspect that I could say is unrealistic with this story is the hotness factor for all of the male attorneys. In this profession, I have seen little to no lawyers that I would consider "hot". This was a common lament at my law school - why are there no hot guys in this profession? I can't think of a single one that I encountered at my law school. Once I started practicing, I have run into one here and there, but if I ever saw three of them together I would probably fall out in a dead faint. This factor was so lacking in my real life experience that I can't even buy into the fantasy anymore.

I am looking forward to the rest of this series to see how I feel about that prevalent male POV. Will I like it - or will it make me think that guys just plain suck?

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Bambi & Emma Chase

The Legal Briefs

Review: These Boots Are Made for Butt-Kickin' by Kalan Chapman Lloyd

These Boots Are Made for Butt-Kickin' 
by Kalan Chapman Lloyd
Series: The MisAdventures of Miss Lilly #2
Pub. Date:  May 26, 2015
Publisher:  Lloyd Words
Pages:  250
Format:  eARC
Source:  Author


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

"You know you're a little crazy, right Lil?" 

"I know. I get it from my mama." 

Unfinished business. Old family secrets. Guilt. Attorney Lilly Atkins has survived the long, hot summer in Oklahoma after running home from a cheating fiancé and discovering a former flame had become a career criminal. That infamous ne'er-do-well, Cash Stetson, is on the tail end of a stint in rehab; and with a near-death experience skirted, life-altering epiphany under her belt, and cowgirl boots in place, Lilly is ready to kick butt. Except something's got ahold of her; turning her every way but loose. And as much as she tries to hide her crazy, it keeps flashing everyone on Main Street. Former federal agent Spencer Locke is rescuing her. Again. Her latest case includes dead varmints. On YouTube. She's finding dead bodies. In her office. She's getting assaulted. Weekly. And it won't stop raining. So there's reason enough to come unwound. 

As an attorney, I have a love-hate relationship with "legal" fiction or books that feature lawyer characters. The hate part comes from my proclivity to pick apart the legal aspect, or get annoyed when something improper is done, or get annoyed when something is done differently from how I would have done it. Because I know best, right? I know, my ego knows no bounds. The love part comes from the fact that I love to envision myself as the lead character... and with a character in my profession, that is one step closer to letting me live out the fictional fantasy. But because of the hate part, I usually find that I rate legal fiction on the lower end of the spectrum or give up and stop reading the book altogether. I am happy to report that I have found my solution and it comes in the form of Kalan Chapman Lloyd!

My friends are just like yours. Only prettier. And scarier. Like a hormonal, big-haired, pistol-packing gang.

Why, you ask? Well this requires some explanation. Yes, I am an attorney - but one who has been nicknamed Bambi, and referred to as the "dumbest smart person you ever met." I am clumsy and klutzy and I have a little black cloud that follows me around that I have affectionately named Carlos. Weird things happen to me. This makes my life seem a bit ridiculous sometimes... so I was absolutely delighted to find a kindred spirit in the heroine of this book, Lilly Atkins. Lilly would totally be in my girl posse if she jumped off the pages of this book.

So even though I've been raised a Southern belle, I am at least a quarter redneck from my Nonnie's side (don't tell her I found out in a genealogy search).

Lilly is not just an attorney... she is a curly-haired dynamo, part southern belle and part redneck, and has questionable taste in men. It was like looking in a mirror, I swear. She loves clothes and shoes and handbags and boots. A woman after my own heart.

...slipping off my heels to get into the car. You don't drive in heels, especially if they're expensive. That's how accidents happen, but more importantly, that's how heel scuffs occur.

Lilly has taken up residence as one of the few attorneys in a small podunk town - something that I think could be very fun for me after I retire. It's a thought (a scary thought).

I used to be a snooty real estate lawyer in Dallas, but after I caught my gutless wonder of a fiance cheating on me, I hauled my heart and my bags back to my mama and daddy. I set up shop to practice small town law and got involved in some seemingly big city stuff. My ex-boyfriend tried to enlist me to divorce his wife (I'm not proud to say I accepted the retainer before I came to my senses)...

Lilly is like Stephanie Plum, if Stephanie Plum were a southern debutante lawyer. If you are a fan of the Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich - then I predict that you will be a fan of the MisAdventures of Miss Lilly by Kalan Chapman Lloyd. No, these are not copycat books or any nonsense like that. But they are Stephanie Plum for southerners. The characters have similar family dynamics, a hip and hilarious grandma, and a penchant for getting into impossible situations. These series may not enrich you in a literary sense or impart some vast knowledge, but they are damn funny. Lloyd has created a great campy comedy that is unapologetically southern and certain put a smile on your face.

You're just embarrassed because your redneck came out while he was watching.

What's unapologetically southern you ask? Grandmas that go by Nonnie or Memaw, sisters named Talula Belle, daddies with a Magnum P.I. mustache, cowboy boots, big hair, moe-rons, and decorating that is Better Homes and Garden meets Guns and Ammo. And great southernisms like He could wait me out better than an opening day hunter in a tree stand.

There is kind of a love interest triangle at play... note that I said love interest. There is no real romance, yet. But the path is definitely paved for the future. We have Cash Stetson, the ex-boyfriend gambling addict doctor/conman, versus Spencer Locke, the yankee former FBI now attorney. Lilly is attracted to Spencer Locke but he also irritates the hell out of her. Then there is also the little problem of his heritage, which started above the Mason-Dixon line.

...I was the belle of the ball, and he wore Yankee gray, so it would be hard for us to ever understand each other.

You're such a Yankee. I don't know why people like you.

Now this book is not the first in the series, and I didn't realize that until after I started reading. Normally I hate when that happens, particularly when a series is following the same main character. It just bothers my OCD reading tendencies. But it wasn't too bad here. Lloyd did an excellent job of referencing and summarizing what happened in Home Is Where Your Boots Are. But now that I have read and enjoyed this book so much, I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

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The MisAdventures of Miss Lilly