Review: Falling for Gracie

Title: Falling for Gracie
Author: Susan Mallery
Publishing Date: 2005
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: A
Sensuality: Warm
Book Disclosure: I received this book at the RT Convention 2016.

Falling for Gracie is the second book in the Los Lobos series.  (Come to find out I own the first of the series and hadn't read it.  Ugh!  I hate it when I read books out of order!)  But it didn't really matter too much.  It's just that the characters from the first book are in the second, but the romance is definitely stand alone.  Gracie Landon, a successful cake maker, comes back home after 14 years for her sisters wedding.  When she was a young girl she had this massive crush on the neighborhood bad boy, Riley Whitefield.  She made such a mess of things that her mother sent her a way to live with her Aunt and Uncle.  Gracie has done a lot of growing up since then, however fate keeps throwing her and Riley together again.

I chose to read Falling for Gracie because I wanted something light-hearted and fun to read to take my mind of off things going on in my real life.  I am happy to say that I couldn't have chosen a better book!  Falling for Gracie was just what the doctor ordered!!  It was funny and sweet.  Gracie is such a genuinely nice person and goes out of her way to help her ungrateful sisters.  As Gracie tries to help her sisters it often puts her at a disadvantage and causes her lots of problems.  The thing is, Gracie is really strong.  Even when life beats her down, she doesn't stay down for long. 

It doesn't take Riley long to notice all the wonderful attributes Gracie has.  He is drawn to her positivity and determination and begins to become a better person because of her.  I love that.  He stands up for her when her own family won't.  I adore the ending and how Riley expresses his love for Gracie.  Heart-melting!!  I loved this one!

Review - Lip Service

Title: Lip Service
Author: Susan Mallery
Publishing Date: June 2009
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: D
Sensuality: Hot

Skye Titan fell in love with the neighboring rancher's son when she was just 18 years old. Only her father put the kibosh on their budding romance and Skye was left with no choice but to leave her feelings for Mitch behind and marry the man chosen for her by her father. She had a daughter with him and they had a nice marriage, albeit a passionless one for several years until he died leaving Skye a young widow. Mitch did not take being dumped by Skye very well and left his Texas home to join the Navy. He became a SEAL and saved lives on a daily basis, until he lost his leg to an explosion. Now he is back on his ranch, bitter and angry with the world. He wants to make Skye pay for the hurt she has caused him only his passion for her still hasn't diminished over the years, nor hers for him.

Lip Service frustrated me dearly to no end. It has nothing to do with Mallery's talent as a writer. She is extremely competent, but if only her characters Skye and Mitch could be too, would this book have been a better reading experience. The first part of the book, Mitch is a complete and utter ass to everybody he encounters, his own family and of course Skye. He is bitter and angry and feels like he has nothing to live for. Skye is frustrating because she has no backbone when it comes to her father, Jed. She is constantly trying to prove herself to him, even though it is obvious to the reader that nothing Skye does will ever be good enough for Jed. She just needs to get away from him because he is a poison in her life. Skye needed to come to this conclusion much sooner than she did in the book.

The real kicker that made me want to throw the book at the wall came towards the end of the story. Skye finally manages to win Mitch's trust back and not two seconds later she is off repeating the same mistakes that she made eight years before. Once I could understand, but twice pushed me passed tolerance. I was extremely disappointed with Skye's growth in the story. On a positive note, I am curious to see how the plot with Skye's half-brother Garth will turn out. I am not sure I want to devote anymore time to this series, as the first two books have been less than stellar reads. Maybe I'll wait and see what the word on the web is about Izzy's book (#3).

Here is what others had to say:

Talk About My Favorite Authors

You can purchase this book in print or kindle format from Amazon.

Review - Under Her Skin

Title: Under Her Skin
Author: Susan Mallery
Publishing Date: May 2009
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: B-
Sensuality: Warm

Under Her Skin is the first book in Susan Mallery's Titan Series. Lexi Titan owns her own day successful day spa. Unfortunately for her, the lender of her loan is calling it in and she has three weeks to come up with two million dollars. In walks Cruz Rodriguez with a proposition that will benefit both of them. They both agree to to a fake engagement for the next six months. He will give Lexi the two million she needs and she will introduce him to all her family connections that will give Cruz the 'in' he needs into high society. Cruz and Lexi have a past history and both are determined to guard their hearts, as this is only a business deal. Bet you can't guess where this leads!

Here is another classic case of me getting my hopes up for one thing and the book delivering something different. I was expecting more romance, and while it was there, sometimes Lexi and Cruz's relationship felt overshadowed by Lexi's problems with her family. Much of the plot of this book revolved more around Lexi's interaction with her sisters and her mysterious lender, than with Cruz.

Lexi quite clearly has daddy issues. Jed Titan is the type of man who is incapable of showing affection or love to anyone. Lexi all her life has been desperately trying to win his love, by being a successful business woman. When she starts falling in love with Cruz she panics. This is because she sees he shares similar qualities with her father. Knowing she has never had her fathers love, she believes she won't ever have Cruz's either. So there is a lot of denial between Cruz and Lexi, which brings a lot of angst to the table. However, I felt there was something missing. Maybe it was that the romance with Cruz felt more secondary in comparison Lexi's problems with her family and her spa.

The relationship between Lexi and her sisters Sky and Izzy is complex. Lexi and Skye are in direct competition for the inheritance, because Jed won't choose who will get it. He wants them to constantly be proving they deserve it. Really, Jed is a complete ass in this book. I liked the interaction between Lexi and her sisters. Despite their father, they do get along for the most part.

Susan Mallery has back to back books coming out from this series. In June Skye's story Lip Service will be released and then Izzy's story, Straight from the Hip in July.

Here is what others had to say:

The Pink Heart Society
Monkey Bear Reviews

Review - Sunset Bay

Title: Sunset Bay
Author: Susan Mallery
Publishing Date: March 2009
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: B+
Sensuality: Hot

Megan Greene's life is going just the way she wants it. She has a successful accounting job at a prominent firm, and she is getting married in two weeks to a handsome cardiologist. Her mother is a self-centered hypochondriac, but that's okay because she has her father to make up for it. They have always had a very close relationship. Just as Megan thinks how perfect her life is, she gets an unexpected visit from a lawyer and receives the shock of her life. Right before her very eyes, all she holds dear is falling apart.

Megan had a short affair with bad boy Travis Hunter. He was her first love at eighteen. Things didn't work out for them. They were young and in love, but Megan was too young to see things through and it ended badly. Now ten years later, she is reevaluating everything she knows. Megan takes a good hard look at her life, maybe things could have been different.

Sunset Bay was a very griping emotional read. From the first few sentences I was entranced with Megan's story. Her mother is a total bitch. I'm talking Wicked Witch of the East here. The stuff fairy tales are made of. Her Mom is constantly beating her down emotionally. But Megan is a survivor. She has her father to lean on and get support from. I really connected to Megan early on in the story.

Sunset Bay is all about Megan working out her relationships with her fiance, Adam and her lost love Travis. It is about Megan dealing with her relationship with her father, mother and sister. It is a life affirming story of one woman's struggle to deal with what life has dished out for her and none of it is easy. Megan is a fighter and this is her journey. There is a reality to this story in the relationships Megan has with everyone. Her problems are those that anyone could have and probably has had to deal with.

There is an underlying theme about unconditional love throughout the book that really got me thinking. It was cleverly done by using Megan's relationship with her sister and parents and also Travis's relationship with his Mother and Father. It was interesting to see how Megan's and Travis's relationships with their parents strained their ability to work through their own problems. Megan and Travis stumbled around a bit before finally figuring out how to make it work.

I couldn't read this book fast enough. My one complaint would be at what asswipes Megan's parents are. They really made me angry at how selfish they acted. I guess that is a testament to how well Ms. Mallery wrote them, because my emotions were definitely engaged in the Megan's plight. There is a small secondary romance involving Megan's sister Leanne. I enjoyed this brief portion of the story, as well. I would definitely recommend this story to fans of contemporary romance or women's fiction.