A Duke By Default by Alyssa Cole

4 Stars

The Reluctant Royals - Book 2

So this is a daunting book only because it's one of the darlings of 2018.  EVERYONE loves this book and it's a darling of Romancelandia.  So I was a little wary going into it.  The last time I read a book that was so universally loved, it was The Bollywood Bride, and I hated it.  Did not see what any of the fuss was about.

Thank God, this book was a different experience.

So, I had been advised that I didn't need to have read the first book in the series to enjoy this one, but I'll tell ya, I wish I had.  There were so many instances where the heroine's past was mentioned that had important bearing on the plot but were never explained that my wondering took me out of the story.  And the story was GREAT, so this was quite bothersome.  I STILL don't know the deal with Portia's (the heroine) sister.  And it BUGS me.  So YES, READ THE FIRST BOOK.

So, Portia is a screw up, who, it turns out, suffers from ADHD.  This explains many things about her and her issues.  I liked her.  I liked her a lot. I liked that she was smart and clever. I liked her smart mouth and like many of her friends and her sister, I often wanted to shake her to make her believe she wasn't the mess she thought she was. 

I liked the hero, Tav, the Duke by Default of the title.  He was older, 37 to her 30 (THANK GOD for mature characters!!) and your typical taciturn Scot.  And he was HOT.  And he forges weapons, swords, daggers, axes... the whole thing!  That's darned sexy.  Anyway, he hit all the right buttons for me. 

From my lofty 62 years of life, I thought that if they only would take an hour or two to actually talk about all these things that bothered each of them about themselves, the whole emotional mess could have been dealt with quickly and easily.  But we wouldn't have a story then.  *LOL*  And it was a good story, maybe a little heavy at times with the ADHD and the immigration problem, but the author's writing style is breezy and fun (a big reason why AC is a fave of mine.) which saved it from being too lecture-y. 

In the end, it was a really good romance.  I totally enjoyed it and I can easily see how it garnered so many accolades and such noisy support. Just read the first book first!

Signal Boost by Alyssa Cole

3 STARS

Off the Grid - Book 2

I have been sorely slacking at updating My Thoughts on the books I've read recently. No good reason. *LOL*

Anyway... Signal Boost. This is the second of the Off The Grid trilogy and it stars the younger brother of the first book's hero. He comes across another young man in the family garden who he's immediately attracted to and in a couple of days they're heading off to the university to offer their help to whoever, they assume, is doing something about the flare that knocked everything... well... off the grid. *g*

So, this one is definitely more like a New Adult novel and as a result I was not as enamoured of it as I was hoping. I have a very hard time relating to the characters, most of them, because they are young and, well, need a bit of a shake. *LOL*

While not my speed, I'm pretty sure that many will enjoy this book as much as if not more than the previous one. :)

Radio Silence by Alyssa Cole

4 STARS

Off the Grid - Book 1

Do you enjoy post-apocalyptic romances with a goodly amount of steamy chemistry between the main characters? I do and if you feel the same, then Radio Silence is for you.

The plot is simple. Something has happened and the power has gone out. Set in northern New York state, our heroine, Arden and her best friend/roommate John, set out from Rochester to further upstate and John's family's home, in a somewhat remote area near the Canadian border. There we meet John's brother, Gabriel and sister, Maggie. Sparks smolder and fly between Arden and Gabriel as the four try to come to terms with their new reality.

The plot is fast-paced and the dialogue is quick and bantery, both which kept me turning the pages (so to speak - I was reading on the Kobo) to see what was going to happen next.

Oh, BTW, if you`re into this whole MUST READ DIVERSE BOOKS AT ALL COSTS! This will easily fill that need. I had no idea when I started the book which probably allowed me to enjoy it as much as I did because I didn't feel browbeaten into being a good person by reading it.

It was a really good and enjoyable and I totally recommend it! I'll be hunting down book 2 very soon. :)