EVERYTHING AT LAST (MAGNOLIA BEACH #2)

In the second Magnolia Beach romance by USA Todaybestselling author Kimberly Lang, a small Alabama waterfront town is the perfect place to start over...

At first sight, Molly Richards knew Magnolia Beach, Alabama, was the perfect place to escape her unhappy life. And though she's proud of the small coffee shop she’s opened, something is missing. But she won’t let herself be burned by love—again.

Veterinarian Tate Harris finds the local dating scene awkward, since he's known most of the eligible ladies his whole life. But he's finding it hard to resist the unassuming charm of the sweet-faced owner of Latte Dah. And when a late-night pet emergency finds Tate at Molly's house, that fascination turns into a potent mutual attraction.

But just as their relationship begins to take off, Molly's haunted past returns. Fortunately, Tate is determined to help Molly fight for the life she's been wishing for...

Release Date: January 5, 2016

Magnolia Beach #2

Penguin Group Signet

Review copy provided by publisher

Liza’s Review:

I really have enjoyed the first couple of stories in the Magnolia Beach series, one being a novellas and one a full-length story, so I was excited to get our next full-length story in the series. Ms. Lang did not disappoint with the next installment in her Magnolia Beach series.

First of all I have to say I absolutely loved Molly Richards. Even without know her full history, the fact that she has moved to Magnolia Beach and basically started her life over shows what a strong character she is. I love that she has made a new home for herself and I adored her coffee shop, Latte Dah, and how she had become an important part of the community. 

Tate Harris took a bit longer for me to warm up to. I liked him, but only started to really love him the more time he spent with Molly. I loved that he stepped up to help Molly, and liked the slow growth of their relationship. I liked that Tate and Molly truly became friends before they moved their relationship into more. I think since neither of them had really had a relationship in some time, if they had jumped into one too quickly, I wouldn't have bought their relationship as well. They had really amazing chemistry and the slow build to them being a couple made perfect sense to me.

I knew that Molly had come from a bad marriage and there were major issues with her family from the few times she mentioned them to Tate or Helena, but was still pretty thrown when her past showed up in Magnolia Beach. I loved that Helena and her other friends totally had her back, and really hated how Tate handled the situation. I'm not saying he wasn't justified in his reaction, but I expected more from him than what he showed Molly initially. I will say that I loved how Tate made amends to Molly and it helped me get over my anger towards his initial reaction.

Everything at Last was a wonderful addition to the Magnolia Beach series. I'm already looking forward to more stories in this series and have a few characters picked out whose stories I want next. Everything at Last is the perfect romance for fans of contemporary romances. While Everything at Last is part of a series, it can be read easily as a stand alone story.

BLOOD KISS (BLACK DAGGER LEGACY BOOK #1)

Title: Blood Kiss
Series: Black Dagger Legacy Book 1
Author: J.R. Ward
Genre: Paranormal

Paradise, blooded daughter of the king’s First Advisor, is ready to break free from the restrictive life of an aristocratic female. Her strategy? Join the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training center program and learn to fight for herself, think for herself…be herself. It’s a good plan, until everything goes wrong. The schooling is unfathomably difficult, the other recruits feel more like enemies than allies, and it’s very clear that the Brother in charge, Butch O’Neal, a.k.a. the Dhestroyer, is having serious problems in his own life.

And that’s before she falls in love with a fellow classmate. Craeg, a common civilian, is nothing her father would ever want for her, but everything she could ask for in a male. As an act of violence threatens to tear apart the entire program, and the erotic pull between them grows irresistible, Paradise is tested in ways she never anticipated—and left wondering whether she’s strong enough to claim her own power…on the field, and off.

Heather’s Thoughts: I've had a love hate relationship with the Black Dagger Brotherhood ever since V's book. At one point I refused to read her ever again. I was however talked into reading Payne's book, which I loved.

Since then I've gone into each book expecting to hate it, that way when I liked or loved one my feelings were honest. It also means I was free to hate it if I wanted. Believe me there have books I've not necessarily hated but not loved in this series.

From the moment I found out about this book I've been excited, as the brothers were going back to what they were when I first fell in love with them.

Unlike the last few books in her BDB series, Blood Kiss only has TWO story lines and they run parallel to each other. Butch and Marissa and Paradise and Craeg.

The first book I read in the BDB series was Butch and Marissa's...I know I know it's the fourth book and HOW could I? In my defense I'd checked it out of the library and that was the only one they had. But that was all it took, I was hooked. So to go back to Butch and Marissa and to see where they are in their mating was one of my favorite parts. What I particularly loved was how their mating has hit a rough patch, like all relationships do. Their problems aren't huge, but how each of them deal with what is going on impacted their relationship.

I enjoyed this glimpse into their relationship. And yes they deal with that pedastal Butch has Marissa on. 

Paradise and Craeg, I have a feeling about these two, and that they are going to be one of my favorite couples in this series.

When they met in The Shadows, I really hoped that they would hook-up because hello, that pulse between them leapt off the page. I had a feeling, hope really, that they'd hook up and their road to HEA would be what had me initially falling in love/obsession with this series.

It was that and so much more.

For the first time we get to see how the massacres from the Lessers affected the lower classes, and man is it heartbreaking, but it also gave us some great characters like Craeg and  Axe, who's story I can't wait for because of something that happens with him and Butch.

One of the things I liked about this book was how Butch reacted to not just all the recruits, but Craeg and Axe. It showed us how he would be as a big brother, father. There's this scene between Butch and Craeg towards the end that is just awesome.

The rest of the brothers are there, though the ones who get any real page time are V and Lassiter...except for the Magic Mike scene. There's also a hilarious scene with Lassiter and Marissa.

If you didn't just love but wanted to have babies with the first five books in the BDB series you won't want to miss this book as it reads like those earlier books.

Blood Kiss is Ward doing what she does best, give us characters we love, with story lines that have us laughing, crying and cheering.

Grade A

Heather normally reviews for TheBook Reading Gals.