Tag: Jane Henry

Jane Henry-Tate

We’re back with Jane and our Scottish Mafia. Tate is the last of the brothers, and he’s about to find some shit out.

So, when we last left our family, they were trying to figure out who was writing the romance novels that were just too close to the truth. There were facts in the book that no one would’ve been able to just guess. And it’s not necessarily the big facts, there are just a lot of little things that just show that the writer knows who they are and what they do. The family found out that there was a maid who was keeping notes, and they put her in a room to ask her questions, but she disappeared overnight. So, Tate has now been tasked to track down the author, find out how they are getting their info, and take care of them.

Fran is the best friend of the Cowen girls. She’s been in and out of the house for years. It’s almost like her own house. She’s crushed on all of the brothers at one point or another, but Tate was the one who lived in her heart right now. Her worry is that when he finds out that she’s the one who is writing the stories, he’ll be mad at her. She does everything she can to keep the secret, but sadly, even the best hidden secrets have a way of getting out, and well, Instagram isn’t Fran’s friend.

When the secret of the author comes out, Tate ends up having to take Fran to Ireland because the latest book is causing all kinds of problems, and they have to go try and figure everything out.

I get where Fran is coming from. She saw these amazing love stories around her and she wanted to share them, because they were her way of escaping the world, and, well, inspiration right? She never meant to cause trouble, but I don’t think that Fran ever really thought through everything as well as she could’ve. I can see where she would add things in so that the story would have more oomph, but that fact would end up being a huge problem. Writing her stories is good, basing them on real people is less good. I do like how clever Fran is though. She puts things together quickly and is able to go correctly from point A to point G without having info points B,D, and F. She is just able to put things together.

Tate isn’t stupid, by any means, but I think that he isn’t necessarily as agile as Fran is, and that’s not a bad thing, one way or the other. When she shows him her train of thought, he’s like OK, I get it, yeah, that makes sense. He does trust her, but it isn’t necessarily an easily won trust.

Fantastic book. OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Jane Henry-Mac

Hot Scottish men? Sign me right up! And Jane delivered with Mac, the second book of her Mountain Men series, covering the Scottish Mafia. And in my imagination, Mac is chopping wood wearing a kilt, in proper Scottish fashion.

So, Mac and his brothers are plotting revenge against their enemies for their actions against Paisley. They have finally decided that what is going to happen is that Mac is going to seduce Brynn, the only daughter of the family, and then ruin her. So, to do that, he’s going to do everything he can to get her to notice him, and he’s going to use all the information that he’s been gathering for months and months against her. So, he manages to “meet” her and then starts to get to know her. He finds out a few things about her that he didn’t know, and arranges to meet her that night.

Meanwhile, Brynn is just trying to live her life and start her fashion design business. She’s keeping it secret from her dad, because she knows that he won;t approve. He’s a huge raging asshole. But, before Brynn and Mac get to go out on their date, her dad tells her that he knows about her business, and she’s betraying him, so he’s giving her an option. He can arrange her marriage to one of his nasty friends. Or, she can seduce Mac and then ruin him.

Interesting set up, right?

So, I like the play of both of them setting out to seduce the other and ruin them, especially when they both realize that the seduction thing is much less than a game and much more real than they expected it to be. It begs the question, how much of seduction is real and how much is fake?

I like Brynn and her creativity. I think that she is really just talented. I also like how loving she appears to be. She was really concerned about how Mac’s family would act about her, but she really drew them to her. Well, except for Mac’s dad, but he’s a prick, so who cares.

I think that Mac might have been a man whore, but he got better. He is very loyal to his family, and will do whatever he needs to do to make sure that they are protected. He seems quite clever and like he can think through a lot of things that could happen so that he can make a plan to handle everything.

And oh, I think that I have figured out who the author in the book is. I can’t wait to see.

OK, that’s all for today. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Jane Henry-Leith

Jane may be done with her Irish lads, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t getting more sexy boys from her. This time, with Leith, we’re moving a bit north and higher up in altitude, into the Scottish Highlands and the Men of the North.

So, we start with Leith. His father has stood down as the Captain of the Clan, which has let Leith move up to the Captaincy. Technically, it shouldn’t have been him. It should’ve been his older brother, Tavish, but Tavish recently died, and as the second born, Leith stepped up. As the Captain, he’s had to make some really tough decisions, which includes basically shutting down his siblings’ lives, especially his youngest sister, Paisley. On this particular day, his father has told him that they have to go down to town, Inverness, and kick some ass because some enemies are going to go after the priest that is the Cowen Clan priest.

Then we have Cairstina. She lives in Inverness with her abusive mother and her even more abusive alcoholic brother. Due to something done to her as a young child, she lost her voice and is now mute. It’s incredibly isolating, especially since no one has ever really made the choice to try to communicate with her. She writes notes and uses her phone to tell people things, but the only people she has to say anything to are her mother, brother, and the priest at the cathedral, and the first two people don’t give a flying fuck. They refer to Cairstina as several very not nice names, and frankly, her mother enables her brother to abuse her and doesn’t protect her.

Cairstina has been carefully stealing money from her brother to supplement the meager amount of money that she manages to get. The goal is for her to save enough money to get the hell away from these people. Usually, no one knows that she stole the money, but this time, she took more than normal, and her brother found out. She wasn’t able to get away before he came home, but she was able to escape and she ran to the cathedral, and to her only friend. She got there, but then the bad guys came, and were going to beat down the priest. Luckily, some other guys came and dragged the bad guys out. Cairstina, who had hidden, wasn’t going to let things happen to her only friend, so she follows them out with her phone and is going to take pictures. Only, that isn’t quite what happened. Leith sees her and takes her home with him.

I like Cairstina. First of all, can we just talk about her name? Isn’t that just an awesome name? She is smart, creative, and imaginative. She has this whole rich interior fantasy life, and I’m there for it. I understand why she has it, because she has no one to talk to, no friends, and no one really makes the effort to communicate with her, so why not pull into herself and find this fantasy life. I would totally do it in her place. Cairstina is also very caring and loyal. You can see that in the way that she treats Leith’s grandmother and mother. You would think that having been abused, she wouldn’t have this real strength, but she really does. She’s not going to let anyone walk over her. I mean, yeah, Leith does spank her, but she also stands up to him.

I like Leith. I get the reasoning behind him doing what he was doing when it came to his family. The pressure put on him from his father, and don’t get me started on that man, and the loss of Tavish had to really do a job on him. I do think that he could let up on his sisters a little. He needs to learn that shutting down people that hard leads to rebellion and not good things happening. I think that he is very caring though, he really does care for his family and does want the best for them. He will do everything that he can to take care of them, whether they like it or not. He is a little stupid sometimes, especially since it took him so long to catch on to the fact that Cairstina couldn’t speak.

I love the idea of the romance novels based on the clan. Of course, the clan probably doesn’t, but I think it’s funny. I think I know who is writing them too.

OK, that’s all for this one. Happy reading!

Jane Henry-Tully

Tully is the last book Jane’s Irish mafia series, and as it goes, I think it works really well. It ties everything up in a nice way, but not in an overly neat way, and I think that there is enough room so that Jane could still stick in some updates in there, if she wanted. And it’s not like I would complain if she did. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading her world.

So, we have Tully. We’ve seen him in other books. He’s screwed up in the past, but now he’s one of the trusted inner circle of the McCarthy Clan. (I wasn’t sure of the elapsed time of the series, but there’s a decade between the first book and now.) The Clan has been through a lot, and Tully has been there supporting his clan and his brothers through that. Now, he’s still doing everything he is supposed to, but he’s also fascinated with McKenna.

McKenna is a teacher at the Clan’s school, teaching world history. Her mother was married to a member of the Clan before he died. Now McKenna and Tully have an on again and off again relationship. They are combustible when they are put together, and when I say combustible, they might as well nickname them Nitro and Glycerin. McKenna has a temper, and she’s really independent, and doesn’t want to be owned by any man, so while she really likes Tully’s dominance, it does cause them to have arguments.

They are heading into an on again right now, as McKenna meets Tully at the Craic. They start their encounter, and then Tully leaves the room. He plans to come back, as it’s part of the fun between the two of them, but when he gets back to the room, she’s gone. Of course, being a man of the Clan, Tully is worried that she’s been taken, so there are all kinds of people looking for her. What really happened is that McKenna snuck out and was planning on getting into a cab and showing up at Tully’s house. What she didn’t plan was Tully bribing the cabbie and basically kidnapping her and having his way with her. But, while he was having his wicked way, other, more dire, things were happening to the Clan.

I really like McKenna, most of the time. I understand wanting to be independent, because, well, that’s me to a T. But there are times when being independent isn’t a good thing. Or at least, not so headstrongly independent. I think that there are times when her independent streak hurt her, and may have made McKenna more naive and blind than she might otherwise have been. She was so steadfast on doing what she wanted, she didn’t pay attention to anything else or she just disregarded how her actions would affect others. See above shenanigan for example. She likes Tully and what he does for her, but she doesn’t always like his highhandedness, or what she sees as that.

Tully is a good man. He isn’t just a good man by Clan standards, which he is that, but he’s also just a good man. He’s concerned about his family and friends, about his community, and he will do what he needs to do to keep everything safe. And he consideres McKenna his. The one problem with that is that McKenna doesn’t always agree with him. He is, I think, a smidge more dominating than some of the other brothers, and I think that he’s also a bit domineering at times, and yes, I think there’s a difference.

OK, that’s all for this one. Nothing below the pic today. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Jane Henry & Shanna Handel-Forever My Babygirl

Shanna and Jane put out Forever my Babygirl a couple of weeks ago, and it’s a nice story to read. It’s the latest book in the Vegas Daddies books, and I think that it’s the last one. Of course, my crazy brain may be crazy and remembering things that don’t really exist. It does happen. Anyway, this story is Rawley’s story. He is the brother from the first book, so it all ties in. Of course, everyone ties in with each other in here, in one way or another.

First, we have Rawley. He was with his brother’s ex, Tiffany, until she tried to screw over his brother, and her kicked her to the curb. And, she’s a serious piece of work and quite nasty. He’s decided that he’s going to give up his playboy ways and give up women. And so he does, for a little while. But then, he decides that he’s going to go to his friend Miranda’s escort service, Sugar Daddies, and pay for one night with an escort. He’ll get his rocks off and won’t catch feelings.

Then we have Emmeline. She’s a struggling med student, and struggling is the word. Her school is all paid for and she’s in the homestretch, but it’s all the other stuff, like food and rent, that she is having problems with. Her best friend Lexi’s sister, Miranda, runs an escort agency, and Emmeline figures she can do just one night, which is all she can fit into her schedule, and then have the money that she needs, especially if she moves in with Lexi. Which is what she’s going to do, and it’s almost all good, except for the fact that Lexi is incredibly allergic to cats, which means she can’t take her old cat, Mr. Whiskers, with her.

Anyway, Emmeline goes to Miranda and begs for one night, and since Miranda had just gotten a contract for just one night, that night, she says OK. So, Emmeline goes home and gets ready for her appointment with fate, who is named Rawley in this case.

I love Emmline’s confidence in this case. She showed up at Rawley’s door in a long coat, knee high boots, and lingerie. That is some supreme confidence. And she has no problem with the whole Daddy thing and acting seductive, until she falls into the hot tub. But, Rawley is there to make things all better.

I really like how caring Rawley has. I think that he really wants the best for Emmeline, and he’d really like that to be him. But from the very start, he really is protective and caring. I think that he’s defintely a born Daddy. He seems to take to it really well.

I really, really, really hate Tiffany. Really hate her.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Shanna Handel & Jane Henry-Always My Babygirl

Shanna and Jane have gotten together and given us a new Daddy story. Always My Babygirl is a mostly sweet story with a woman who is trying to do everything she can to take care of her family and an obsessive man.

So, we start with Miranda. We’ve met her before. She runs the Sugar Daddies escort agency, but she doesn’t go out on any of the dates. She’s also helping her sister pay for her wedding. Because Miranda is so busy, she doesn’t always remember to eat. And today isn’t any different, so when she gets to the gym and goes to her spin class, she just doesn’t have anything left in her tank, so she passes out and falls off the bike. The next thing she knows, she’s waking up in the hospital, but she’s kinda sure that she’s dead right now. But then, she hears Gabriel Lord, and discovers she’s not dead.

Gabriel is so attracted to Miranda. He’s sooooo attractive to her that he’s obsessed. He knows everything about her. Ev.ery.thing. (well, except for one thing…) He really wants to be with her forever. For.ev.er. But they’ve never even spoken, at least until now. He goes with her to the hospital, and while he’s there, he finds out exactly what her business is, and he bribes her assistant to set it up so that Miranda has to go on a date with him.

And it’s while they are on that date, that everything starts to go pear shaped. All the things.

I like Miranda. I understand where she’s coming from as the oldest sister. You end up taking care of all the problems, and trying to make everything better. And Miranda really does do that. She’s also determined, stubborn, and driven. She’s been running her own business for years, and it’s in high demand. That doesn’t just happen out of nowhere. She has an awful lot to be proud of.

Oh Gabriel. I think that he just meant well, but I don’t think the man understands a line or boundary. Or maybe he does, but he has no problem stomping all over them. As we go through the book, we learn why he does what he does, but yeah, it borders on the creepy AF line. I do, however, think that he’s a good man, overall. He just wants to make Miranda’s life so much better.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Jane Henry-Tiernan

Tiernan is the latest book in Jane’s McCarthy Clan books. It might actually be my favorite right now.

So, Tiernan is adopted into the Clan. His older sister is married to Nolan, and she brought him, their younger sister Fiona (who is also married to a man of the Clan), and their baby brother. As a teenager with a lot of anger and a huge chip on his shoulder, Tiernan was sent to the Clan’s school where he learned how to fight, among other things. Now, as an adult, he is a valued member of the McCarthy Clan. He does a great many things for them, and everyone trusts him. He gets asked to go back into the ring for a huge fight, with loads of money and the chance of having a night with a high-class escort. So Tiernan talks to Keenan about it, and decides to fight.

Aisling was Fiona’s best friend, but life happens, and now they have fallen out. She is now down and out. She’s strung out and works for Vivian, as a call girl. It’s not a good life, but it is a life, which could be a lot worse. On this particular morning, she wakes up, needing a hit, in the bed of a strange man. He tells her she has about 1 minute to get the hell out, so she rushes away and gets into a cab. When she gets to her shared house, it turns out the asshole stole from her. But that’s OK, her friend and roommate has hooked her up to be a prize at a big fight that night. Yeah, do you see where this is going?

Aisling and Tiernan do come together that night, but it’s not in the way that you might think. There is a whole lot of other moving parts going on at the same time that the fight is happening. In fact, there are a lot of moving parts all over this book. One thing happens here, another thing happens there. Sometimes it seems like the parts might not be connected, but they are.

So, OK, here’s why I think that this one may be my favorite so far. It’s because of Aisling. She is an incredibly flawed person. She goes into this book with some serious problems. I don’t think any of the other heroines went into their books with as many problems as Aisling does. But, she is able to find love, and she is able to be healthy, which is a sign of hope for everyone. That’s why I like her so much.

Tiernan is patient, which seems to be a weird thing to say, considering who he is, but if you watch how he is with Aisling, even when he wants to smack her ass, you can see how he is willing to wait for her and give her what she needs. I really liked that, and it’s a change from angry Tiernan when he was a teenager.

Ugh. That headmaster, right?

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Jane Henry-Lachlan

Lachlan is the latest entry in Jane’s Irish mob series. This one crosses the ocean a little bit, so we aren’t only in Ireland, but we’re also in Boston for part of the action. Boston, especially South Boston, has a huge Irish population, and a lot of Irish mob history, so it makes sense to cross the ocean a little bit. We’re also 5 years in the future from the last book, so there is just more family to love.

Fiona has just this very minute turned 18. She’s been looking forward to turning 18, because hopefully that means the man she has loved for years will actually come to her. She’s been waiting for Lachlan for what seems like forever, but she hasn’t been an adult until now. So, she goes to her big surprise party, which probably wasn’t all that big of a surprise, considering, and while she enjoys it, she keeps looking around to see if she can find Lachlan. When she finally finds him, she goes over to talk to him, and he gives her a present that he tells her to open in private. When she gets a minute, she discovers it’s a locket with a picture of teenaged her in it, and a note that says to see herself as he sees her, love Lachlan.

After her party, she heads out with friends, and they end up going to the Craic (pronounced crack and basically means fun), the local bar and BDSM club. While she’s there, she sees Lachlan with another woman in his arms, kissing her. So, she rushes home and tells Nolan and Sheena that she’s going to go to school in Boston.

Lachlan has spent years working for the Clan. He’s well trusted, and respected. He’s been doing international jobs for Keenan and the Clan, but he managed to be home for Fiona’s birthday. He gives her his present, and then heads out with some of the men to the Craic to get a drink. They talk him into going to the back, where the club is, and some woman literally throws herself on him. Just as he gets rid of her, he looks and thinks that he sees Fiona, but surely it’s not her.

I think Fiona is going to be most favorite heroine of the series, at least thus far. And after Maeve, but Maeve doesn’t really count, since she’s a secondary in all the books, not the primary. But Fiona is just fiesty, and spirited, and sassy. I think that she might get more up close and personal with Clan business than most of the other heroines do, and she manages to accept it and move on. Of course, I think it helps that she’s kind of a new generation of women to marry into the Clan. She’s seen Maeve, her sister, and all these women that she respects as wives to these men, so she may have a little better feel for it. Or maybe I’m just talking out my arse. It’s totally possible either way.

Lachlan, like all the other heroes in this series, is a good man who follows a strict moral code. It’s not my code or your code, but it’s his code, or rather that of the brotherhood, and he adheres to it. Which makes him a good man. He’s bossy and dominant, but Fiona tends to like that, so it works. I think that he’ll keep her grounded, but he won’t take away her fire and spirit, and oh my, does she have a whole lot of that.

OK, with the attacks on the Clan, I have to wonder if what happened to Sheena is part of the attack. I hope not, but Jane never really says.

That’s all for today. Go check it out. Happy reading!

Loki Renard & Jane Henry-Dirty Look

First of all, please forgive any weirdness that may show up in posts over the next few days. WordPress is rolling out a new editor, and I’m not used to it yet. I haven’t had the time to sit in play with it yet. Probably this weekend. 

OK, now that’s been said, let’s talk about today’s book. Today we have Dirty Look, whch is another collab between Jane and Loki. Now, you know that I like both of these ladies, as they have shown up here before, and I’m totally down for a good collab. 

So, let’s talk about the story, shall we? We start with Mia. She has left the family nest in Italy and is now in Boston, so that she can go to college. Huge change. She is as far away as she is because she wants to get away from her family and the Family. Her father is the big boss, and he has kept her in a protective shell her entire life, so going away to college in another country is a huge bit of independence for her, especially since she’s all alone. (Or so she thinks.) All of a sudden, she finds out that she’s not. 

Enzo was specifically tasked to go to Boston and watch over Mia. He had failed his boss once before, and this is his chance to redeem himself. He’s been watching over Mia very carefully. Very, very, very carefully. When he sees a man in Mia’s apartment, he rushes over from his apartment across the street, breaks down her door, and throws the guy out. Then he and Mia get up close and personal. Which only gets worse when it turns out he’s her new prof. 

I think that Enzo is very protective. Very protective. I think that he should’v or could’ve backed off a little bit. I get making sure that his boss’ daughter is safe, but she should get to make some mistakes so that she can learn. But, that probably wouldn’t have been as good a story, so, I guess I’ll take it, lol. 

I think that Mia did go a smidge wild, but I can’t blame her too much. She’s never had the chance to make mistakes and screw up, and if this isn’t the time to do it, I don’t know when is. I think that she is a lot stronger than she has been given credit for. 

brownstone houses in Boston

There is a fantastic line in the book when the boss asks Enzo why he has his daughter’s name in his naked mouth.

OK, that’s all I have to say about this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Jane Henry-Carson

Jane is back with the newest book in her Irish mob series, Carson. This book takes place 2 years after the last one, but that’s OK, we get caught up enough in the first chapter to know what happened in those two years, so don’t worry about missing anything.

We start with Father Finn telling Carson about the fact that his dead wife, who everyone thought had died in a car accident, was probably murdered, but Father Finn doesn’t want to go to Keenan with it, because it would turn into war, and Finn works very hard to walk the line between being a member of the Clan and being a Catholic priest. So, he gives Carson just as much information as he can, which really isn’t a lot, just enough to get him started on finding out what he needs to do. This eventually leads to him working on his computer at his wife’s grave on a Friday night, the night before a big Family wedding.

Megan is celebrating Sheena’s hen night with all the McCarthy wives. She’s really happy that her cousin Nolan has found the love of his life, but she’s a little lonely. All her cousins are in happy long term relationships, but she’s alone. There is one guy that she used to really think about, a man of the Clan, but life got in the way and now, for reasons, she feels like she can’t do anything with him, even though she still would really like to. After all, Carson is still getting over Eve’s death. She decides that she’ll go out for a walk, and walks over to Eve’s grave, where she is going to talk to her friend, only Carson is there, and he finds out that she walked there without a guard, which causes all kinds of trouble.

They end up having to be paired together at the wedding, and it kind of leads to another kind of pairing, iff’n you know what I mean. Megan enjoyed herself, but she’s worried about being involved with a man of the Clan and Carson really enjoyed himself, but he’s worried about being involved with Meagan because her cousins will pretty much beat the living hell out of him. They both know that it might not be the smartest idea to hook up with each other, but they also both know that there is no way that they can’t be together.

I’ve liked Megan from the very beginning. She’s funny, sassy, loving, smart alecky, and just a pretty fun person with a huge heart. I would love to get to know her better, because she just seems like fun. I think that she’s wonderful with Breena, and is definitely a brave and bold person who will do what she needs to do to help her family. I’m happy that she is getting her own story and her HEA. She deserves it.

Carson is a good guy. All the men of the Clan are. Good doesn’t necessarily mean on the right side of the law here, because they really aren’t that. I do think that he, and all the men of the Clan, are just as well as good. Again, just and good aren’t necessarily the same thing, and proper justice doesn’t always align with what the law says. He’s a brilliant father, witnessed by how loved Breena is. He’s a definite asset to the Clan. I think he’ll be so good for Megan.

I can’t wait for Lachlan’s book.

ireland-2910874_1920

Oh, Eve’s story broke my heart, and what we find in her diary was hard.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

 

%d bloggers like this: