Tag: Margaret Watson

For Baby and Me (Welcome to Otter Tail: Book 4) by Margaret Watson

3 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: September 12th, 2018

Genre: Romance

Series: Welcome to Otter Tail

An Unlikely Setup—Book 1 (review here)

Can’t Stand the Heat—Book 2 (review here)

Life Rewritten—Book 3 (review here)

For Baby and Me—Book 4

Where you can find For Baby and Me: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads synopsis:

Nick Boone is a brilliant architect, focused completely on his job. In his personal life, he’s a serial dater, with no interest in marriage or even a long-term relationship. And fatherhood? Absolutely not. He has no idea what family even means. 

But even a single-minded boss like Nick can’t abandon his employee Sierra Clark on the night her parents are killed. When her deep distress melts his professional distance, long-simmering attraction takes over and he indulges in a night of comfort and connection. 

He has no idea how deep that connection is going to run.

My review:

I didn’t like For Baby and Me as much as I liked the rest of the books in the Welcome to Otter Tail series. Which made me sad because the other books were so good!!

I thought Nick was a grade A jerk in this book. He was condescending towards Sierra. I couldn’t believe that he thought that throwing money at her would take care of everything. I wanted to smack him upside the head during certain points in the book. I couldn’t believe that he didn’t understand why Sierra was so reserved with him. That whole speech in the hospital made me go “Are you effing kidding me. You put her through hell and then expect her to open her arms and let you in.” Yeah, I was kinda mad about that. But, I do understand where he was coming from. What he went through as a child traumatized him.

I felt awful for Sierra. I couldn’t imagine losing my parents that way. I have also been in her shoes when I saw that stick go pink (my oldest was unplanned). I did think that she had high expectations for what Nick’s reaction was. I also think that her expectations kept getting smashed every time she saw him. I would have acted the same way towards him.

I did find their profession fascinating. I didn’t know that there was so much planning into going into building a house. I also didn’t know that contractors would switch out materials for ones that were not as good and pocket the money. I was fooled by who the person was switching out the material. I thought it was the other guy.

I felt awful for Sierra when she fell and hurt herself. I can relate to the stress she was under at the hospital. Not to feel your baby move is frightening.

I didn’t feel much of a connection between Nick and Sierra. The whole “I don’t want to be a father” vibe killed that romance for me. I will say that they had some pretty hot sex.

I did like the end of For Baby and Me. I loved the epilogue. Love, love, loved it!!!!

I would give For Baby and Me an Adult rating. There is sex (not graphic). There is language. There is mild violence. There are triggers. They would be the death of a parent. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I am on the fence if I would reread For Baby and Me. I am also on the fence if I would recommend it to family and friends.

I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review For Baby and Me.

All opinions stated in this review of For Baby and Me are mine.

Life Rewritten (Welcome to Otter Creek: Book 3) by Margaret Watson

5 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: September 12th, 2018

Genre: Romance

Series: Welcome to Otter Tail

An Unlikely Setup—Book 1—review here

Can’t Stand the Heat—Book 2—review here

Life Rewritten—Book 3

For Baby and Me—Book 4 (review here)

Where you can find Life Rewritten—Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads synopsis:

Delaney Spencer erased every trace of Chantal – the wildly popular rocker she used to be. She’s a carpenter now. Her only connection to her old life is drumming in a local band. 

Until Sam McCabe shows up in town. The sibling of her late lover and bandmate Diesel, Sam has been searching for her. For the sake of his brother’s children, he needs the unreleased songs she and Diesel created together. 

Delaney wants to do the right thing and help Diesel’s adorable kids. But not if she has to reveal she’s Chantal. She won’t do it — not even for Sam.

My review:

In my experience, books later on in a series tend to kind of fizzle out. I can count on one hand how many times I have given a 5-star rating to the 3rd book in a series. Life Rewritten is among those elite few.

Be warned, have tissues nearby. This book is going to make you cry. I wasn’t expecting it and had to go scrounging for tissues. There are some pretty emotional scenes that will rip your heart out and put it back in.

The author did a fantastic job of showcasing how hard alcohol/drug addiction recovery is. You can never say that you were an addict or an alcoholic. You always are one. The fight to stay clean/sober is often exhausting. It was showcased beautifully here.

I knew that Delaney was hiding something but I wasn’t prepared to find out that she was a rock star in her former life. I was floored. Other than her singing and playing the drums, there were no clues about her past. From what was discussed in the book, Delaney’s alter ego wasn’t a very nice person when she was a rock star. Again, such a difference from the woman that I had grown to like through reading the series.

I felt for Sam. To assume guardianship of two young children when you don’t have any of your own is hard. Even harder is that those kids were damaged. I understood why he wanted those CDs. He was trying to protect the kids.

I felt for Rennie and Leo. Their mother was mentally unstable and an addict. Their father died in from an overdose. They were placed with their uncle, who they barely knew. Then they were uprooted and brought to Wisconsin. It had to of been terrifying for them. I wanted to reach through the book and hug them.

When the press found out where Delaney had been hiding, she was pissed. She had every right to be. She worked hard to keep her identity hidden. I was so mad at Jen and Maddie for their reactions. That almost sent her over the brink. Almost.

The sex scenes in Life Rewritten were emotional. Both Delaney and Sam didn’t want to fall for each other. Their sex scenes reflected that. They were some of the best written scenes that I have read to date. Not explicit but graphic enough to know what was going on.

The end of Life Rewritten was satisfying. I have never said that about the ending of a book before. I am not going to go into what exactly happened but I was thrilled with how it turned out. Let’s say that Delaney deserved it.

I would give Life Rewritten an Adult rating. There is sex (not graphic). There is language. There is mild violence. There are triggers. They would be the talk of past drug use and talk of past alcoholism.

I would reread Life Rewritten. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

Can’t Stand the Heat (Welcome to Otter Tail: Book 2) by Margaret Watson

4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: September 12th, 2018

Genre: Romance

Series: Welcome to Otter Tail

An Unlikely Setup—Book 1 (review here)

Can’t Stand the Heat—Book 2

Life Rewritten—Book 3 (review here)

For Baby and Me—Book 4 (review here)

Where to find Can’t Stand the Heat: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads synopsis:

When Walker Barnes walked into Jen Summers’ catering event, all the shame, guilt and regret for what she’d done to him in high school roared back to life. As well as the feelings she’d once had for him. 

But this Walker isn’t the shy, awkward geek from high school — he’s tough, successful, brilliant, confident… and sexy. And he hasn’t forgotten how she used him. Hasn’t forgiven her, either. This Walker is looking for payback. 

How on earth can she be falling for him all over again? 

My review:

Jen is a hardworking divorced mom of 2 who dreams of opening her own restaurant. When she sees Walker at her friend’s wedding, Jen is filled with regret and shame. What she did snowballed into something that affected 3 lives. It has haunted her for years. How can she make it right? Will there be more fallout from her actions all those years ago?

I loved this book. Honestly, I was expecting it to be a fluff book. You know, a book where the plot is forgettable and the sex is hot. Instead, I got a book with an intriguing plotline and hot sex. I was hooked from the first page.

The plotline of Can’t Stand the Heat was interesting. I thought that the author did a great job at creating a situation where paternity could be questioned. But I didn’t like how Walker made assumptions about things. He saw Nick and assumed that was his son from the first glance. All because of a grin. Then he treated Jen horribly when she got defensive when confronted. Heck, any normal woman would have acted the same way. I know I would have if an ex-fling (technically it was) came back into my life and started making claims that one of my kids were his.

I did feel for Jen. She was put in a hard situation. How does she explain to her ex that Walker might be Nick’s father? And how would she explain that to Nick? It would open up a can of worms that could backfire on her. No wonder she didn’t want to do the DNA test. I didn’t blame her one bit.

I am going to admit that I didn’t like Walker until halfway through the book. I thought he should have left well enough alone. But then came the scenes where he was looking through his mother’s album. I got teary-eyed because his regret over the past was palpable. It was at that point where I started to like him. He redeemed himself in my eyes.

I liked Jen. I thought that she was a sweetheart. Yes, she made mistakes and yes, she paid for them. But she was making an effort to try and move past them. She was a good mother. I loved the scenes where she went all mama bear on Walker. I was doing fist pumps and saying “You go, girl”.

Walker and Jen definitely had some serious chemistry going on in the book. The sexual attraction was there and was kept up until they had sex. Now, talking about the sex scenes, I was actually happy that they weren’t graphic. There is a time and a place for graphic sex scenes and I am glad the author went the less graphic route with this book.

The end of the book was emotional. I am not going to get into it. But I will say that I thought everything was handled perfectly. Also, the epilogue made me smile.

I would give Can’t Stand the Heat an Adult rating. There is sex (not graphic). There is language. There is mild violence. There are no triggers. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Can’t Stand the Heat. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review Can’t Stand the Heat.

All opinions stated in this review of Can’t Stand the Heat are mine.

An Unlikely Setup (Welcome to Otter Trail: Book 1) by Margaret Watson

4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: September 12th, 2018

Genre: Romance

Series: Welcome to Otter Trail

An Unlikely Setup—Book 1

Can’t Stand the Heat—Book 2 (review here)

Life Rewritten—Book 3 (review here)

For Baby and Me—Book 4 (review here)

Where you can find An Unlikely Setup: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads synopsis:

Maddie’s teenage crush humiliated her fifteen years ago. Now Quinn runs the Otter Tail pub that Maddie inherited and needs to sell. Too bad Maddie’s high school crush on Quinn is still alive and kicking. 

Quinn wants to buy the pub, but can’t afford Maddie’s price, so he plays dirty. His smile, bright blue eyes, and broad shoulders are just his first bid. As they get reacquainted, they realize someone else has plans for the pub. Plans that endanger Maddie and Quinn – and the rest of Otter Tail. 

Can Maddie and Quinn save the pub? Can they put their past behind to create a future together?

My review:

Maddie has returned to Otter Tail after leaving 15 years earlier. When her beloved godfather passed away from leukemia, he left her a house and a pub. Otter Trail has no good memories for her and Maddie plans on leaving as soon as the pub and house are sold. But she is forced to face those memories when she learns that Quinn is managing the pub. Quinn is the reason she never returned to Otter Trail. Quinn and Maddie are soon at odds over what will happen to the pub. Can Maddie and Quinn get over the past? Will they have their HEA or will everything blow up in their faces.

I enjoy reading books where the hero and heroine have to overcome the odds to be together. An Unlikely Setup is such a book. Maddie had to overcome what happened in the past to be with Quinn. Quinn had to overcome his anger and grief to be with Maddie. Both had a hard time of overcoming past and current hurts to forge a relationship with each other. I loved it. I loved that it showed how hard it is to overcome the past. Maddie and Quinn struggled with it. Quinn more than Maddie.

I did like Maddie and I did feel bad for her about what happened between her and Quinn in the past. I had some of the same issues that Maddie did when I was a teen. It hurts to be rejected like that. But, dwelling on it for 15 years? That was a bit much. And judging a whole town on how their teenagers treated her 15 years past was a bit much too. I did like that Maddie was able to finally reconcile her hurt feelings when she talked to Quinn about what happened.

I wasn’t too sure about what Quinn wanted with Maddie. I was starting to think that he was only doing things for her because he wanted the pub. And that the attraction he had to her was part of his end game. I hate writing that because he did keep me guessing. But after Maddie’s house got vandalized, I realized that he cared for her. I do wish that his “secret” was addressed sooner in the book. I did kind of figure out what was going on but still. It would have been nice to hear about it upfront.

The sexual attraction between Quinn and Maddie was understated at times but when it flared up, it was red hot. I loved the whole scene when she wore the skirt to work. I loved seeing Quinn getting turned on. I loved knowing that Maddie knew what it was doing to him. The sexual attraction gave away to some amazing sex scenes. I had to fan myself after some of them. Sex on the beach in the moonlight? Thank you very much!!

The plotline involving Maddie, her secret, Quinn and the pub was well written. I was surprised by Quinn’s reaction to the naughty secret (you have to read the book). His reaction to her main secret was what I thought it was going to be.  I mean, how else was he supposed to feel? Happy that he destroyed a teenage Maddie’s confidence. His reaction to Maddie meeting with the store rep was a bit much. But I get it. I would have freaked out too.

The secondary plotlines and characters were as well written as the main plotline. I liked how she merged the secondary plotlines with the main one at the end of the book. Also, I liked how the secondary characters added that extra “Oomph” to the storyline.

The end of the book was amazing. I had a huge smile at how everything ended. It was perfect!!

I gave An Unlikely Setup a 4-star rating. This was a fast-paced romance novel. The plotlines were fantastic. The characters were well written. This was a book that I enjoyed reading. I also cannot wait to read book 2!!

I would give An Unlikely Setup an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is language. There is violence. There are triggers. They would be the death of a parent/parental figure and bullying. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread An Unlikely Setup. I would also recommend this book to family and friends. I would include a note about the triggers, though.

I would like to thank the author and Dragonfly Press for allowing me to read and review An Unlikely Setup.

All opinions stated in this review of An Unlikely Setup are mine.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Have you read An Unlikely Setup?

Love it? 

Hate it?

Meh about it?

Let me know!!!

Family on the Run (Into the Storm: Book 5) by Margaret Watson

Family on the Run (Into the Storm, #5)

4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: June 6th, 2017

Genre: Romance, Suspense

Number of pages: 250

POV:3rd person

Series: Into the Storm

To Save His Child – Book 1 (review here)

An Innocent Man – Book 2 (review here)

An Honorable Man – Book 3 (review here)

The Dark Side of the Moon – Book 4 (review here)

Family on the Run – Book 5

Where you can find Family and the Run: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

For three years, Andi McGinnis had haunted Chase Remington’s dreams. She was the one woman in the world he would never trust – or ever forget. Now she was back, as infuriatingly brazen – and alluring – as ever. But this time, he vowed their mission was all that could exist between them…

Driven by revenge, Andi had dreamed of the day she would meet Chase again. Now that she had, an innocent child’s life depended on her ability to pose as his loving wife. Together, the undercover agents set out through the perilous South American jungle to deliver the orphaned baby to safety, bound by their common cause – and tortured by a passion that refused to die…

Trigger Warning: None

Continue reading “Family on the Run (Into the Storm: Book 5) by Margaret Watson” →

The Dark Side of the Moon (Into the Storm: Book 4) by Margaret Watson

The Dark Side of the Moon (Into the Storm, #4)

4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: June 2nd, 2017

Genre: Romance

POV: 3rd person

Series: Into the Storm

To Save His Child – Book 1 (review here)

An Innocent Man – Book 2 (review here)

An Honorable Man – Book 3 (review here)

The Dark Side of the Moon – Book 4

Family on the Run – Book 5

Where you can find The Dark Side of the Moon: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Disturbing things are happening in the small town of Eagle Ridge. Veterinarian Tory Holt had come here seeking sanctuary after her life in Chicago fell apart. But the violence she’d escaped has followed her to northern Wisconsin. A serial killer is preying on single women, and Police Chief Holt Adams has appointed himself Tory’s keeper. 

Although Tory is drawn to Holt, she realizes he’s hiding secrets. As the violence escalates in Eagle Ridge and Tory and Holt grow closer, Tory is forced to make a decision. Can she trust Holt? Or will she pay the ultimate price for her trust?

Trigger Warning: Police brutality, stalking

Continue reading “The Dark Side of the Moon (Into the Storm: Book 4) by Margaret Watson” →

An Honorable Man (Into the Storm: Book 3) by Margaret Watson

An Honorable Man (Into the Storm, #3)

4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: June 2nd, 2017 (first published 1996)

Genre: Romance

Number of pages: 244

POV: 3rd person

Series: Into the Storm

To Save His Child – Book 1 (review here)

An Innocent Man – Book 2 (review here)

An Honorable Man – Book 3

The Dark Side of the Moon – Book 4

Family on the Run – Book 5

Where you can find An Honorable Man: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO?
Two years ago, Luke McKinley had gone too far. One wrong move had cost him his badge, leaving him nothing – except burning anger at the woman he blamed for his dismissal.

WHAT PRICE WOULD YOU PAY?
The guilt had followed Julia Carleton ever since. But now she desperately needed Luke’s help. Yet the rough-edged P.I. would never agree to her plan if he knew the whole truth.

WHEN WERE THE STAKES TOO HIGH?
She had put Luke’s life on the line – and gotten her heart caught in the crossfire. For the first time in her life, she was in love. But one ugly secret could cost her everything… 

Trigger Warning: None

Continue reading “An Honorable Man (Into the Storm: Book 3) by Margaret Watson” →

To Save His Child (Into the Storm: Book 1) by Margaret Watson

To Save His Child (Into the Storm, #1)

Title: To Save His Child

Author: Margaret Watson

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: June 2nd, 2017 (originally published in 1996)

Genre: Romance

POV: 3rd person

Series: Into The Storm

To Save His Child – Book 1

An Innocent Man – Book 2

An Honorable Man – Book 3

The Dark Side of the Moon – Book 4

Family on the Run – Book 5

Where you can find To Save His Child: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Caine O’Roarke regretted vanishing into thin air and leaving Lexie Hollister asleep in his bed – but he had no choice. The mercenary had been called in for an urgent mission in the middle of the night. He’d miss Lexie, but the former Seal told himself that he and Lexie would both get over it. They’d been completely wrong for each other – in all but one way. 

Eleven months later, when Lexie’s father asks Caine to rescue his daughter from the civil war in San Rafael, he barely recognizes Lexie. The former party girl has grown up, and she’s the only nurse in a small village. And she has a child. His child. 

Will Caine be able to save the woman he hasn’t been able to forget? Will Lexie be able to forgive him for disappearing? And will they be able to survive the jungle and figure out how to create a family?

Trigger Warning: None

Continue reading “To Save His Child (Into the Storm: Book 1) by Margaret Watson” →

Catch Me (The Donovan Family: Book 9) by Margaret Watson

Catch Me (The Donovan Family Book 9)

Title: Catch Me

Author: Margaret Watson

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: March 31st, 2017

Genre: Romance

Number of pages: 342

POV: 3rd person

Series: The Donovan Family

Love Me – Book 1

Watch Me – Book 2

Find Me – Book 3

Trust Me – Book 4

Cover Me – Book 5 (review here)

Protect Me – Book 6 (review here)

Save Me – Book 7

See Me – Book 8

Catch Me – Book 9

Where you can find Catch Me – Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

When Chicago Bearcats baseball player Sam Marini witnesses a brutal confrontation outside a bar, he can’t help the victim. So he does the next best thing – shoots a video of the attack.

He assumes he’ll hand it over and be done with the case. But when the investigating detective is Julia Carleton, a woman he’d met at his sister’s wedding, he can’t walk away. Julia, however, hides dark secrets, and can’t get involved with Sam.

As they work together to ensure justice, their simmering attraction heats to combustion. But the father of the attacker is a wealthy, powerful man who doesn’t like to lose. When Dean Kirby grows more and more desperate to protect his son, the threats against Sam and Julia escalate.

Julia vows to protect Sam, but can she keep her heart safe? Choosing him means risking the job that means everything to her.

My review:

Catch Me is Sam and Julia’s story. Sam, if you remember from the past novels in The Donovan Series, is Priscilla younger brother and Julia is a cop on the force with the Donovan siblings/Priscilla. Both Sam and Julia have made appearances in the past books, so I was waiting for them to have their own story. I was a bit surprised that it was with each other.

I loved the storyline. Sam, a professional ballplayer with the Bearcats, was walking home from the game when he witnesses a crime. Having caught the crime on his phone, he is the star witness in the case….which was just assault and battery. Julia is the first detective on the scene and takes the scene over from an overbearing, woman-hating cop who was trying to intimidate Sam into giving his phone to him. When Sam’s name is released in a police blog, he becomes a number one target for the bad guys. When that doesn’t work, they move onto his mother. Which was a mistake.

The chemistry between Same and Julia sizzled. That is one thing that I look for in a romance novel when I read it. Chemistry that comes off the pages in waves and oh boy, did they have it. Poor Julia tried to keep it under control, tried to stifle it and well, let’s just say that it made for a pretty memorable first sex scene. Talk about needing a fan.

I thought the bad guys were pretty stupid in this book and not very bright. One was a roid head and the other one thought he could use his wealth to bully people around. Not going to go much into them but they got what they deserved in the end….all of them did.

The ending was very fitting for this book and I loved that everyone was at the hospital waiting for Priscilla to have the baby. I also liked that they were taking bets. I kinda laughed at that one because I had something similar happen with my youngest. Except no one won because she was in a hurry to be born (I had her 10 mins after being admitted to L&D).

How many stars will I give Catch Me: 4

Why: A well-written romance with a great plotline and characters that had some sizzling chemistry.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex, language, and violence

I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it

For the Children (Cameron, Utah: Book 2) by Margaret Watson

For the Children (Cameron Cowboys Book 2) by [Watson, Margaret]

4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: October 7th, 2016

Genre: Romance

Series: Cameron, Utah

Rodeo Man – Book 1 (review here)

For The Children – Book 2

Cowboy with a Badge – Book 3

The Fugitive Bride – Book 4

The Marriage Protection Program – Book 5

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

His assignment is FBI agent Damien Kane’s worst nightmare – guarding two young children who witnessed a murder. Since he lost his family, Damien goes out of his way to avoid children. Now he’ll spend every day and every night with two of them. Their aunt won’t let the girls out of her sight – which means Damien is also spending every minute with Abby Markham. That wouldn’t be a problem, except the emotions, Abby stirs in Damien are feelings he thought he’d buried long ago.

Abby’s only goal is keeping her nieces safe until their mother comes home. She’s determined not to be distracted by the sexy FBI agent assigned to guard them. But in spite of Damien’s cold façade, she longs to ease the pain in his eyes and lose herself in the warmth he tries to hide.

Damien won’t let himself love again. Abby can’t give in to her desire for Damien. When love and danger collide, will either of them survive the explosion?

My review:

Abby is not a stranger to watching her sister’s twin daughters when she went on business trips. But something was different this time. Her nieces were suffering from nightmares, were clingy, and had personality changes. What is concerning Abby even more, she cannot get a hold of her sister.

Everything changes when Abby hears some strange noises in her basement. Terrified, she leaves with them to eat ice cream and calls the police to her house. Abby is scared because she noticed a person sitting in a car outside her home, watching her, the day before. She doesn’t know what is going on, but she has a feeling that her sister and nieces are somehow involved in it.

Her questions are answered when an FBI agent shows up at the ice cream parlor to escort her house. The agent, Damien Kane, believes that her nieces saw a murder at her sister’s job (she worked at a construction site), her sister found out and was able to get her daughters’ to Abby before being whisked off for a “business” trip out of the country.

Damien is there to protect the girls until they are ready to tell him what they saw that day. So, after a disastrous trip to the FBI psychologist, Damien decides to take Abby and the girls to Cameron, Utah. He figures that there is no safer place than there. Well, it doesn’t end up that way. The killers somehow follow them there, and from that point on, it is a game of cat and mouse.

Damien was such a tortured person for most of the book. The author did a great job of not telling everything about what made him so tortured. All I knew, until almost the end, was that he tragically lost a child three years before. But, when the full story was revealed, I cried. No wonder he shut himself off, and no wonder that Maggie and Casey affected him so much.

Abby irked me. While she came across as one of those people who took in strays, people, and animals, she didn’t act like it at times. I understand she was scared for her nieces, but she hindered the investigation when she put off letting the psychologist talk to them. And when he did and made the girls cry, she swooped in and put an end to it. But, I can understand where she was coming from. She just found out that they might have seen a murder and she can’t get in touch with her sister. She was scared to death.

The romance between Damien and Abby was bittersweet. Damien was caught up in his grief that he couldn’t give Abby anything but sex. Abby, however, started off the same way but quickly fell in love with him.

The sex scenes between them were great. The only thing that I got weirded out about was when he was feeling her up when they took the girls swimming. That made me go kinda “Eh” when I read it. But the other sex scenes were fantastic, and they were boiling.

The ending was standard but pretty good. I did like that Damien had to go looking for Abby and the surprise that she had waiting for him and his reaction got me teary-eyed as did the reason she didn’t contact him. The other storylines were wrapped up in a pretty satisfactory way.

While this is a book 2 in the Cameron, Utah series, you can read it as a standalone. There are mentions to book one, but, and I liked this, this book was taking place at the same time as the events in Rodeo Man. You know something is going on, but the focus is on the events going on in this book if that makes sense.

I would give For the Children an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread For the Children. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**