Consumed by J.R. Ward 4 ✭

Title:	Consumed
Author:	J.R. Ward
Publisher:	Gallery Books
Series:	Firefighters
Genre:	Romance, Mystery, Suspense
Publish Date:	October 2, 2018
Sold by:	Simon and Schuster
Pages:	416
Ages:	18 +

Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Thank you Gallery Books for giving me this ARC copy of consumed. Reading Consumed was like coming home. When you read a book, and you easily enjoy the complexity of each individual character instantly for however brief the introduction you get to them, you know that it is going to be a good series. To me, it felt like meeting a new set of characters with that same quality of the OG Black Dagger Brotherhood characters.  I say OG BDB because I haven't read the last few books and I lost a little interest in them. I want to continue but it isn't high on the list. This makes me not a superfan but a fan. So when I say I have that original feeling of expectation to a great new series, I mean it.

There are a ton of good characters that get some screen time here. It isn't just a story about Anne and Danny, although their story is amazing, you don't have to focus on them. This is a whole crew of people who all have their own life problems. So seeing everyone in this world interact through the rest of the series as it comes out should be really good. They're all relatable in their own ways, and if you can't relate, you understand the character type in general.

One of the things that I really liked was reading J.R. Ward's acknowledgments section in her new book. She wrote about how she worked with police and fire while there were working. It sounds like they gave her some job shadowing time to help her learn more about the careers behind her characters. They answered her questions and got to see their selfless heroism, her words not mine, in action. I think that truly helped her story feel even more real. You get the feeling of pride in what they do, but also that they're regular guys/gals who are just doing their job.

I really recommend Consumed. It is a great beginning to a series. It isn't drawn out building a world or characters, they develop as you go. The cliffhanger is just enough that you want to continue the plot without having to stress out about it until whenever the next one is. I personally appreciate this. I hate when books leave you with more questions than answers. Thankfully this doesn't do that.

 Consumed is slated to release on October 2, 2018. The prices at the time of this review are $12.99 for Kindle, $17.70 for the Hardcover.

Indecent Exposure by Tessa Bailey 5 ✭

Title: Indecent Exposure
Author: Tessa Bailey
Series: The Academy
Release Date: January 30, 2018
Genre: New Adult & College, Romance, Contemporary Romance
Advanced Reader Copy: Yes
Total Pages: 384
Ages Recommended: 18+ Available in Paperback & Kindle Formats
My Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Indecent Exposure is a prime example of how I think a New Adult genre book should be composed. When I think of New Adult & College books, I expect to feel hopeful for love or the chance of falling in love, almost still like you're in high school. When you read it, you want to feel like the characters are mature enough to be confident or at least responsible in their lives as if they are finally beginning their life as an adult. Tessa Bailey has captured the time of being hopeful to fall in love and the maturity of having more confidence in yourself and the responsibilities of being an adult.

The characters are still young enough to be naive, and they can learn and grow as the story goes. The character development is impressive. I will say that I feel like the focus is more on Jack Garrett and his past rather than Katie. However, Katie is the perfect counter to his problem. 

Let's just say that at the start of the book Jack comes off as a typical twenty something male who is smoking hot and he knows it. He is always out bar hopping just to make the day go by. As the story develops you realize that it is more than that. Jack is a young man with a problem that he himself isn't even aware of. He is broken but oblivious to how broken he actually is. Katie is innocent and witty. I fell in love with her to a little. Jack at one point notices that she has a sense of humor but doesn't use it to flirt. That felt like a key attribute about Katie McCoy to me.


This was my first book to read by Tessa Bailey. I was #blessed by the books gods with getting an ARC to read, and I do mean blessed. I am looking forward to reading more by Tessa Bailey. This is a book that I would willingly buy no matter the cost and the cost is worth it. I was beyond happy with this read. Thankfully there is more to the series as this is the second book in the Academy series. So far there looks like there is going to be three books.

I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good romance. This was a charming romance that made me feel like my heart was invested in the characters and the story. I think what made the whole book so lovable was that it was written as such an amazing new adult book. However, it does have mature content obviously, it is not a young adult book. So I would say the reader should be 18 or older.

TL;DR Version - BUY THIS BOOK! It is a real book and not just a happily ever after romp read.



Other current books in the series:
Books One: Disorderly Conduct by Tessa Bailey
Release Date: August 29, 2017

You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone…Police academy cadet Charlie Burns can’t believe his luck when the gorgeous blonde he meets in a bar murmurs those magic words: “Nothing serious, ’kay?” Mind-blowing, no-strings sex with Ever Carmichael—it’s the holy grail of hookups for a guy who’s too busy following in his law enforcement family’s footsteps to think about getting serious. Charlie’s all about casual…that is, until Ever calls it quits and his world tilts on its axis.
Ever knows that when you control the relationship game, you can’t get played. But for the first time, she wants more than short-term satisfaction. Step one: end her fling with commitment-phobic Charlie. Step two: sacrifice herself to the ruthless NYC dating scene. Yet everywhere she turns, there’s Charlie, being his ridiculously charming self. No online match or blind date compares to the criminally hot cop-in-training, but they’re over. Aren’t they?
If love is a four-letter-word, why does the idea of Ever seeing someone else tie Charlie up in knots?  Now he’s desperate to win her back…and a little date sabotage never hurt anyone, right?

Disorderly Conduct by Tessa Bailey 3 ✭

Title: Disorderly Conduct

Author: Tessa Bailey

Series: The Academy

Genre: Romance

Publish Date: August 29, 2017

Pages: 354

Ages: 18 + 

Rating: ✭✭✭

I read the first and second book backwards. It didn't really change much for my perspective of how much I like Tessa Bailey's writing and her characters. I think she does an excellent job of writing characters who develop relationships that feel completely natural. It's not just trying to mash two archetypes together and turn out a book.

This book was a fun ride. I wouldn't call it the best. I loved the second book in the series a he'll of a lot more. It had characters that develop and grow through the story and they actually change. While Disorderly Conduct makes you think they may have grown and they really don't they just stumble into the realization they've been ignorant and immature. I guess I just wasn't super into this one as the others. I delayed on writing my reviews because of the thanksgiving holiday time frame and it really gave me a better idea of how I felt.

Ever comes from a line of family with this really weird idea that they are mistresses who should just use men for sex and have no emotional entanglements. Ok so your mom having a sex talk is one thing but having your mom say just bone that's it... weird. generations go one by accident it seems. However, Ever is an interesting person. She is nice, she is stable in her career, she has a hood sense of humor and determination. I liked her, just not this weird background.

Charlie is an obsessive stalker, but it's written in a way you want to almost forgive him. I guess the theme for this book could be determination. He was determined to have Ever. Charlie not only comes across as a stalker but also like an immature school boy. He's like running around town sabotaging Ever' s dates and stuff.

So both Ever and Charlie are like immature kids who are products of their upbringing. Neither have a clue what a relationship is or how to approach it. So obviously there with be misunderstandings, conflicts, devastation, betrayal, swooning, yada yada. Not a bad book at all. I liked it.

Check out a Free Preview of Tessa Bailey's Book Disorderly Conduct below without even leaving the page: