Leanne DavisReseñas

Wow was my first reaction to this book. There were a lot of reasons for that. First it was a slow burn romance. The story was well developed and not at all rushed. Relationships were given plenty of time to play out in a realistic manner.

One of the things that was very interesting was that the heroine was severely dyslexic. The author really did a good job portraying a woman whose whole life was severely affected by the fact that she couldn't read at all. Reading is something we take for granted and not reading can really impact your self esteem and your ability to get jobs and etc.

Another thing that was different and realistic was the fact that the heroine, Erin, had first fallen into a casual sexual relationship with the youngest brother, Joey, and it turned out that she and the oldest brother, Jack, were really a much better match. So now all three of them had to try to come to terms with that. Jack had a very hard time making a move on a girl who had slept with his brother first. The language and dialog of the love story was very well done and moving. Even though Jack was a widower who had loved his first wife, I had no trouble believing that he loved Erin and she was not second best.

The secondary characters were well developed and diverse and interesting. The setting was a definite factor in the story and there was just enough description to be vivid without the story becoming bogged down with details you didn't care about. Also this story takes place on a horse ranch and you all know how picky I am about horse details. Here the author didn't make any missteps. The horse elements were portrayed realistically without the wide eyed glamour and anthropomorphizing that most non horsey authors put into western books. So kudos to the author there.

Totally did not enjoy this one as much as the first in the series. I guess I just didn't care much for the heroine. I didn't really see why the hero liked her. She was a surly whinny bitch. I felt like she just used her home situation where she was enabling her father and brothers to take advantage of her as an excuse not to take a chance and move on. The hero was quiet and came across as much less of an alpha male than the author tried to convince me he was. I guess it had a couple of things that I appreciated. The heroine stopped crushing on the hero's brother once she had slept with the hero. And it was different in that the hero was the one to move to make the heroine happy and that doesn't happen often in romances. Wasn't horrible hence the 2 stars but I didn't enjoy the journey.

Loved this third book in the series. Here again as in the first book there were real world problems that the characters had to overcome. The heroine had a stillborn child and was not dealing well with it even after 4 years.

The hero and heroine did not seem to be a good match at first, the local grade school teacher and a bike riding man 'ho. He was not a perfect hero by any means. He was a womanizer who slept with anyone and committed to no one. But after he met her he began to change to try to be a better man for her. Very emotional over all and I loved how all in the hero was. Great romantic dialog if you like that kind of stuff.

This one was sort of a different kettle of fish. The heroine was pretty much a ball buster. I was not real fond of her but that was probably just personal preference. She wasn't stupid with it but she did seem to push the hero around a bit especially at first. The hero was pretty beta and hangdog. He didn't have much confidence in himself. So these two ended up together which seemed a bit weird since the author didn't really sell me on what they saw in each other except sex. Still it was a pretty decent addition to the series.

Darn it, I really wanted to like this. I've totally been enjoying this series but this one fell totally flat. I felt absolutely no heat between the hero and heroine and totally didn't see why they loved each other. The author certainly didn't show me any cool interesting scenes of them falling in love. The most interesting part of the book was the fire. It was pretty well described. Darn well here's hoping the next one will be back up to par.

So I took a break from this series for awhile but came back to finish it up. This one was quite angsty. First let me say that I'm glad the hero's father, Jack, got out of his funk cuz that was upsetting me. Okay, moving on, there was a severe conflict for the hero and the heroine to over come here. Sometimes conflict in romance novels feels pretty contrived but I think this situation was a legitimate road block for the couple. I felt like the author did a good job of believably helping the two of them eventually come together.

Really enjoyed this one. I love when a hero has been not such a hero before and grows and changes into another better man. Bonus if as in this case you are familiar with the hero in previous books so you can really understand that he was a wastrel and needs to change. Here the author didn't suddenly make him all better and let us know that he had just been misunderstood before. He really did grow and change and it was great to watch him. The heroine wasn't quite as interesting but I liked her and I liked them together and I liked how she figured his crap out at the end and called him on it. There was some angst here if you like that sort of thing.

So my least favorite of the series. Charlie was an ass to her really. He kept on about how much he loved her but he didn't really show it. Basically they spent the majority of the book apart and I didn't enjoy it or really like any of the scenes they had together so just no.

Okay, not really about anyone in the family but mostly enjoyable. I thought at first there wasn't going to be enough conflict to carry the story but after Finn met the other deaf people the story got more teeth. I believe it really is hard for these sorts of relationships to work out just as the author stated. But she sold it I believe. I did wonder why the heroine didn't take sign language classes pretty much from the get go. It would have made sense and really seemed like something that this go getter heroine would have done right off the bat.

Another hero who needed to grow and change so I liked that part. He had done most of his growing before the book started but he was still on his recovery journey so that was interesting. The heroine I didn't like as well. On the whole the story was interesting and there was a lot on tension in the story of the two of them recovering from the mass shooting and falling in love. I enjoyed it and am sorry to see the end of this series. I recommend this series though for readers who like a series of books about a large family who are looking for interesting different story lines and not concerned about lots of sexy times. These books are not all about the sex so I was happy with that. I don't mind it but I like my stories to have more meat than just page after page of tab A slot B. And these stories really fit the bill.

I have not read the first books in the series, but you can read this book as a stand-alone. I really enjoyed the book, however the twist wasn’t all that shocking for me once you found out what was really going on. However, it was still an enjoyable read and I plan on checking out the other books in the series.

There is always 2 sides to every story and there's always more than meets the eye when it comes to someone's appearance and actions. Very interesting read! Kept me excited to read the next page!

My Review

Married to a man more concerned with becoming a political leader, Lindsey lives in a world few know of or care to know about. Gripping and emotionally charged this story will change not only your views but your life.

I was not expecting such a gut wrenching experience. I love a book that pulls you in, makes you laugh, makes you cry, that makes you want to murder someone evil.... not much laughter but well worth reading.

The h is very damaged and the H is well ...he is a hero ... he is wonderful... and you will want them to find their HEA .... you won't be disappointed.

I was not expecting such a gut wrenching experience. I love a book that pulls you in, makes you laugh, makes you cry, that makes you want to murder someone evil.... not much laughter but well worth reading.

The h is very damaged and the H is well ...he is a hero ... he is wonderful... and you will want them to find their HEA .... you won't be disappointed.

Well written, bluntly and compassionately addresses domestic violence. I only wish that it had a hotline number prominently put in it (I read the Kindle version..perhaps the print version has it).

I have friends who've been through this - if you're reading this, and this is you - it is not your fault. It's not your fault for staying, for being a victim, for being hit, for being insulted. And it doesn't have to be like this.

http://www.thehotline.org/

I started reading this book after attending an enlightening session on Activism against Gender based violence and on Domestic Abuse. What struck me was the unconscious underrated attention we pay to details while reading books on such sensitive topics such as Domestic violence and abuse. The book, no doubt, appears to be written with a sensitive topic on hand but somehow crams a lot of unrelated issues together as seen in a fictional work that harms the real intention of the book. There were a few things that I personally found incoherent as regards to the story line, and I think it's always best to avoid meddling commercially entertaining angles while dealing with a book on a domestic abuse survivor.

I am not particularly happy with the haphazard treatment of characters especially, the protagonist who is albeit portrayed in quite a rainbow of diverse psychological and emotional turmoil. The book seems slightly unbalanced as regards to the abrupt end of the abusive husband and his entire shenanigans. It would have been great to have read about the domestic abuse survivor seeking legal counsel and reading more about her rights so that it becomes known to the readers as well. Alas, no such thing was attempted by the author. So I am not very happy with the book but not so grumpy about it either. I am/was clearly not looking at a leisurely read here.

This author excels at making me ugly cry reading her stories. She tackles writing about taboo subjects in such realistic fashion your heart is wrenched with each story.

Bulimia is the front and center issue in this book. When Ally McKinley's father betrayed their family when she was a child this set the course for her having trouble managing emotions in a healthy way. She always though she was so much better at how she handled things. Her sister's way was drugs, alcohol and sleeping with everyone. She would never be like that nor like her Aunt Vickie who created havoc in everyone's life with her alcoholism and multiple husbands. No Ally was perfect – 4.0 grade point average, never a burden to her parents, didn't sleep around – problem with that though – it was all a lie. Yes, she was all of those things but what it took for her to maintain that was killing her. When she doesn't ace a test and her grade point drops to 3.9 this fast tracks her downward cycle. Ally's world is black and white – she harshly judges those around her but what they don't realize is she internally judges herself just as harshly to the point of destroying her body from the inside out.

Book 4 in this series is where this family's heartache started. Ally's mother Tracy had to come to grips with the man she has loved with all her heart for over 14 years has done something so deplorable and to avoid going to prison ops to just walk away from her and their children was heartbreaking. In that book we saw how is actions affected the mother. Then in book 6 we saw how it affected the younger sister Kylie. Now we see how it all effected Ally. I am happy to say that by the end of this book everyone in this family is on their way to healing – even forgiving their father Micah.

I havent talked about the romance in this book because I always feel like the disease, addiction, self destructive behavior or the tragedy is the heart and soul of these books. Nate, who Ally hated from the moment she met him years ago, ends up not being who she thought he was. They embark in a secret romance that later when he finds out about Ally's Bulimia has him having to make a decision that rips his heart out and he struggles with his emotions over that. Its not easy for any friend or family member to have to deal with a person they care about having a disease and when they have to be the one to finally confront them about that and let their family know its just as hard on them.

These books are so closely tied together that to get the full emotional effect and understanding they should be read in order.

Realistic portrayal of how sins of the past, whether our own or are parents, effect present day relationships. The emotions, the words said in anger, the holding on to something that happened 10 years ago. I felt like I was reading scenes out of real life not the make believe fairytale of a romance we normally read.
Cassie Reeves had a horrible childhood. No nurturing was given to her by her mother. She did her best to protect her younger sister from that the trash her mother would bring in but wasn’t always successful. She had no self esteem and drowned herself in boos and men for years. Ten years ago she got involved with boy who was 5 years younger than her, not only was it in her eyes taboo due to their ages but when she ended up in a situation her way of handling it left him angry and unable to ever forgive her.

Four years later she finds a man who cleans her up and gets her pregnant right away. She thought he was her savior but after having her son she finds out he is a possessive monster. Six year later she goes on the run after he is released from prison knowing he will come back and finish what he started. She calls upon an old friend and ends up in a small town in Washington called Seaclusion.

Cassie had no idea that when her old friend got her a job at the Dr office that one of the Dr’s would be none other than the 18 year old boy she had betrayed all those years ago.

John Tyler hates Cassie and he doesn’t hold back in his words or feelings toward her. Many of the conversations between John and Cassie were so realistic from the hurt and shaming words we’ve all thrown at someone that has hurt us deeply. The romance in this book isn’t traditional. It’s realistic. Cassie had a self-destruct personality and John always went the way of least resistance. The harm that these two caused each other due to this was heartbreaking to read.

I love finding new authors that bring a fresh and different voice. This is going to be a 4 book series. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

Leanne Davis writes such emotional stories. In the first book of the series we met the siblings of John and Cassie and knew these two had some serious issues. This is their emotional journey to healing from extreme heartbreak and finding the courage to face insecurities that have defined who you show the world.

Luke Tyler lost his wife and their unborn child and sunk so far into a deep dark depression that his brother moved to Seaclusion to live with him to make sure his not wanting to live anymore did not cross over to reality. We saw signs of the real Luke when he befriended Cassie and her son in the previous book. But it was an illusion; he learned how to let people see what they want to see. When he was introduced to Cassie’s sister he instantly disliked the beautiful fashion model.

Kelly Reeves and her sister Cassie had a horrible childhood. Those circumstances made Cassie turn to alcohol and men to ease her pain. The one thing she tried to do through those years was to protect her sister and make sure that there circumstances didn’t taint her. Kelly left home and went to LA and managed to become one of the top fashion models. But the Kelly she lets the public eye see is not the real Kelly. Even though Cassie tried her hardest to protect Kelly there were times she couldn’t and things happened that left Kelly suffering from self-esteem issues that affect every aspect of her life. When she meets Luke she can see he is judging her based on her pictures and things the tabloids have said about her. Kelly also sees through Luke’s façade of making everyone think he is fine.

Kelly and Luke are left in charge of their nephew when John and Cassie go on their honeymoon. From here we get to go on the emotional healing journey of two characters. Is that healing a smooth process – no. Do both Kelly and Luke keep throwing up roadblocks to prevent that process – yes. Was it as a reader an incredibly journey from start to finish – yes. There are two more books in this series and I cannot wait to see what the author has in store for Sarah..

Complex cast of characters that are each hiding their own secrets. It was interesting getting to know the real Sarah and her history after her being just a secondary character in the previous books. Its hard to write a detailed description on this book because of the amount of secrets that all the main characters were keeping. I really liked the secondary character Angie, who was the pregnant niece of the hero of the book. The author wrote a realistic view of what a teen goes through when they get pregnant who was already suffering from self esteem issues from having a mother that was never supportive and stingy on showing any affection. Even though the decision that Angie had to make at the end of the book on what to do with the baby was heartbreaking in terms of Angie it was the right decision for the baby. I look forward to getting to read her story in the next book.

This is why I read. For the emotional depth that’s written on pages that pull you in to the story so deeply you feel every emotion straight through to your core. This author never fails to amaze me with her stories. I devour them and Angie Peters and Sean Langston’s heartbreaking story that spans over 10 years gripped me from the start of their story in Secrets to its conclusion in Seclusion.

There is just no way to accurately describe the emotions you feel when reading this book. For many chapters your on the verge of tears then next laughing out loud and then wanting to scream at the characters for the mistakes they are making yet knowing that they need to go through them all – to come full circle – to finally get their happy ever after.

These two were 15 and 16 when they bonded over being emotionally crippled due to their parents. They had such issues at a young age that made them unable to bond normally with others. They found tranquility with each other for a short time before a pregnancy changed their lives. Angie gave up that baby knowing at 16 and never having had a decent role model herself for a mother that she wanted a better life for her baby. With 15 year old Sean who was the product of rape not wanting to be a father either he also had no problem giving up the baby but one thing Angie didn’t know what that he loved her and that never changed even after she left Seaclusion 6 years ago.

Angie has to run back to Seaclusion, a place she vowed she never wanted to go back to, when she finds herself again in a situation. As her Uncle, who raised her, is married to Sean’s sister its not long before these two run into each other. Their reunion is volatile at first as its to painful for Angie to look at Sean and not think about the daughter she had to give up and Sean cant forget this is the one woman that broke his heart and he knows if given a chance she will break it again.

This author does not write traditional stories. There are still many more years that pass before things come back around to that circle. Hearts are broken many more times before issues can be laid to rest and healing done and move past the past to finally deal with the future.

This is a series that I feel should be read in order. The adoptive parents are the couple from the 2nd book. The uncle and sister are from the 3rd book where we first meet Angie and Sean when they are teenagers. You will not regret reading this beautifully written heartbreaking series.

Words cannot describe all the emotions I went through reading this book. It’s very rare for a book to bring me to tears but the story of Jessie Bains is so heartbreaking and shocking in the atrocities that were done to her. She was violated in almost every way imaginable.

I think you get what the books about from the books description and telling more than that would spoil the experience of reading this gut-wrenching emotional rollercoaster. But this book isn’t typical as far as a romance books go. This book is about a 20 year old who has had to suffer more than most do their whole lives. All that pain has turned her into a broken person that abuses her body in so many ways to deal.

The author takes us on the journey of the healing of Jessie but not before taking us with her to her rock bottom which was an extremely hard scene to get through but yet written so realistically.

There is an unconventional love story during the course of this book that takes place over years. I totally respect how the author didn’t make it a quick romance. After what Jessie had been through there is no way that would have been conceivable or even believable.

Its always a pleasant surprise when I come across a book like this, one that touches you so deeply your left thinking about even afterwards.

As a reader I so look forward to a new release from Leanne Davis. Her books are the most emotional, gut-wrenching tragic stories. You know from the first page you are just going to have to hang on for that emotional ride with the characters as they go through their heartbreak and fight to overcome it right up until the last page.

If you haven’t read the first book in this series I recommend you do before reading this one. Lindsey Bains was the good daughter all her life not knowing the monster she had for a father. She always did what was expected of her so she would never disappoint him like her sister did. In a lot of ways she was very naïve to the atrocities men committed. Even when she found out all the things her father had done to her sister and she denouncing him as her father she still managed to make a colossal mistake with the man she married. She went from one monster to another.

This book shows us an inside view of domestic abuse. Lindsey was in such denial and also suffered from feelings she deserved it from the guilt of what happened to her sister. I love how the writer chooses non-traditional romances in her books. I loved Noah. He was such a different type of hero nowhere near the strong beat on your chest manly alpha’s we typically read. He was a good hearted small country veterinarian that had no idea of the evils that men do to women. He was absolutely the right guy for Lindsey even if he didn’t know how to help her most of the time.

Fans of this series are in for a shock to in this book.. It was great.. Also there was a surprising laugh out loud moment that was most unexpected as humor is not something you typically get from this authors books.

I have read every book this author has released and have loved every one of them. I look forward to reading more from this very talented author.

Once again this author brings heartbreaking issues to the table and leaves you a sobbing mess getting through them. Gretchen Hendricks has been in all of the previous books and we’ve known her as a strong caring woman that has helped many people. What we never got to see was that what she presented to the world was not what was on the inside. Gretchen has the same fears and insecurities as the many women and children she has helped. But helping is also in her nature and she cant help but to get involved with a childhood friend when she sees what he has become after losing his arm in combat.

This is not a standalone book. Gretchen, her ex husband Will (from the first book) and Tony Lindstrom (hero in this book) were all friends since grade school. Gretchen only had eyes for Will and never knew that Tony had always harbored feelings for her from the beginning. Neither Will nor Gretchen knew what had happened to Tony two years ago and are both shocked at his loss and also in the mean and surly person he has become. Even though at times it kinda put Will in a bad light it was great to see that forgiveness for the past was finally brought front and center and dealt with.

There are multiple journeys taken in this book. The main is the healing and bringing back to life of Tony. The author did a great job of not only showing us all the grief and anger a war veteran goes through after losing a limb but also the effect that it has not only on him but also his family and friends. Another is a grandmother with terminal cancer we’ve met in a previous book and her granddaughter that Gretchen will get custody of when she dies. This story plot had me crying more any other. The young girl Olivia not only was instrumental in helping Tony but the issues she brought up for Gretchen were hard to deal with as they made her very venerable and we saw her strong disposition start to crack.

All the previous characters are back in this book and as Gretchen was instrumental in many of their recoveries it was great to see them be there for Gretchen when she needed help. I’ve yet to read a Leanne Davis book that hasn’t touched my heart in some way and this one was no different.