Off the Shelf : The Billionaire's Wake-Up-Call Girl by Annika Martin

*ARC REVIEW*

Please note that this book was provided for free by the author's publishing PR in exchange for an honest review. Feel free to check out my full book review policy here for more details.

Whew boy, this was all sorts of steamy and delicious! 

Ok so this is the story of Theo, a chemist with a burning desire to perfect his latest invention, a sad past and the deep desire to control everything and everyone around him. It’s also the story of Lizzie, a former bakery owner turned social media strategist, a woman avoiding the loan shark at her door and a woman who definitely doesn’t need anyone telling her what to do. 

When the two meet its hate at first “no” and there doesn’t seem to be anything that can be done to change that...until Theo needs a new wake up call service to wake him up every week day at 4:30 AM (because he apparently hasn’t heard of alarm clocks) and Lizzie gets tasked with finding him one...well a new one. It turns out Theo goes through wake up call companies like Lizzie goes through cake flour and she gets left with no choice but to make the call herself. Too bad she shouts “wake up motherf-er!” (and yes, you read that right).

Things take a crazy turn when Theo likes the brusque tone of his wake up call girl and soon he and operator Seven (her name for herself) gets caught up in a web of steamy phone sex, using donations to a turtle charity as a cover and getting to know more about a man she previously thought of as cold and aloof than she bargained for. 

The romance with these two took a back seat to the steamy sex scenes and I will have to say Miss Martin sure knows how to turn up the heat! This novel was funny, the main characters were easy to fall for and I found myself rooting for them so hard in the end. I love surprises and when a female character takes the lead and goes for it I am pleasantly surprised and impressed. Lizzie had her hang ups, having being burned in love before, but so did Theo, having experienced tragedy so personally. That they were able to find their way to each other was beautiful!

Speaking of Theo, that chemist had me fanning myself. Since when are heroes the total package and more?! Smart, funny, built like a dreamboat and yet so unaware of his need for happiness? I was completely drawn to him (read, in love) and I wish he were real so I could call him up and tell him I’ve arrived already! He was clueless in a way scientists can be, smart about things no one cares about and yet also so compassionate! Miss Martin wrote him really well! I loved his drive and passion to succeed at finding a formula for dehydrated gel (read the book it’ll make more sense).

Overall this book was a 4 star read. I wanted more mushiness but I completely understood the lack thereof. Besides, those jumping baby goats made up for the lack of angst because urgh, jumping goats - who can resist them?

Visit Miss Martin here for more!

TK MAJ

Off the Shelf: Riven by Roan Parrish

Ok I have a new appreciation for rockstar romance! I tried a rockstar romance before and loved it and this time was no exception. I may have found a new sub-genre to obsess over, authors beware because I’m going to be devouring your works!

Riven is the story of the lead singer of Riven, Theo and recovering drug addict and former musician Caleb. The former is a reluctant rockstar and the latter would give anything to be able to make music again without giving once more into the allure of drugs. 

Theo has this edgy look that’s all unintentional, smudged eyeliner because he slept in his makeup and worn jeans and black tees because he can’t be bothered to wear anything else. He has fans stop him on the streets of New York on his way from picking up takeout and band mates who see him as a means to song lyrics and sales. He has this deep anxiety about his current situation and this is all coming to a head when he stumbles on a man strumming a guitar in a bar. He’s attracted to the man on sight but more attracted to the music the man is making, hearing the brilliance in composition and itching to add to it to make it even better. 

The man in the bar is Caleb. He’s trying to make music at the same time as he’s trying to stay on the road to recovery. Having been down the road of music, fame and drugs more than once before, Caleb, in addition to being a little older than Theo, is more jaded about life and the music industry in general. While he’s doing his best to keep his recovery separate from his love of music, he can’t help but give into his attraction to Theo and the path back to music and fame that it leads to.

Theo lives in the city, having an apartment in New York City but Caleb has used his family farm out of the city as his place of recovery, growing vegetables in the fields and eating most of them in the form of hash. At first blush it doesn’t seem like the two could make it together but Theo, in his desire for a refuge from the storm of his life, finds himself spending more and more time at the farm. This leads to its own challenges when the media gets a whiff of the brewing relationship and soon the love beginning to grow between the two faces more and challenges. 

This book was amazing at providing this angst inducing and angst full view into the music industry and addiction. It was so great at showing what people think of as the alcohol, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle without being cliche. 

I sympathised with both Theo and Caleb’s struggles. Theo had these band mates who didn’t seem to get him, who thought of him as this fame monger and who seemed content to have him as a lead singer and song writer but nothing else. He seemed really naive about a lot of things, from his rights to demand better treatment to the motives behind people’s actions. I really loved how Caleb was his perfect balance, having worked in the music industry for longer. He constantly encouraged Theo to seek better for himself and to see his own worth. It was pretty ironic because he struggled with his own identity in the wake of his repeated trips to rehab. It was so eye opening to see into his daily struggle to stay clean and how it led to him distancing himself from Theo in moments when it would have been better to lean on him. 

I love Roan Parrish as an author. Her writing grips you, thrills you and really takes you there emotionally. This book was no exception. It’s hard to get into just what I loved about it except to say it was really well done. It was so good at revealing the realities of the music industry and recovery from addiction. The parts about music composition were well written, realistic and really had me admiring Theo and Caleb. The characters emotions leaped off the page and I can’t wait for the next book in the series! I’ve already pre-ordered it!

Obviously this was a five star read! 

How about you visit Roan Parrish here to see if you think so too?

TK MAJ

Off the Shelf: Epoch by Jewel E Ann

This book ripped my heart out and put it back together again. So much happened and it left me torn in two directions, much like Swayze was. 

The book picks up where Transcend leaves off. Swayze is dealing with the death of her friend Erin and her growing memories of Nate. She suspects that there is more to the death of her friend, not to mention Morgan’s death all those years ago. 

Nate is also dealing with a lot, including his growing feelings for Swayze and his concern for her safety as she decides to trod a path of investigation of her memories of Morgan and the deaths of Erin and Morgan. 

Griffin is also torn, worried about Swayze, worried about Nate’s relationship with her and worried about their future. He feels that Swayze’s preoccupation with Morgan will destroy her, destroy them and he has to make some difficult decisions during the course of the book in a bid to support her and do his best for her. 

As you can probably tell, the angst meter on this book was off the scale! I love angst in a novel and this took me through all the emotions from frustrated to angry to sad to elated! 

Jewel E Ann knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat and this book was no exception. It was incredibly well paced but I did find myself galloping towards the end there just because I was so anxious to see how it would end. One criticism I do have though is that I felt like the danger to Swayze was too neatly resolved. This is probably (definitely) my love of romantic suspense novels speaking here but I really wished there had been more of a confrontation between Griffin and the threat to Swayze. I struggle when the pivotal part of a novel is dealt with in past tense. It’s like I got cheated of the best part and I couldn’t help feeling that way with this one. 

Overall I thought this book was a lovely conclusion to the duet. I definitely enjoyed the first part of the duet more but the way this ended had me so happy. It just ended on such a hopeful and beautiful note that I was left thinking “I would read this book in every century...”

I gave it 4 stars...and I seriously can’t wait for more from Jewel E Ann!

To see what she's up to visit her here.

TK MAJ

Off the Shelf : King Consort by J.R. Gray

In light of recent royal fever this book came at the right time! I loved every minute of reading it and I honestly felt so gutted when it was over. This was the story of Louis, British prince who is very much gay and very much unable to tell his grandmother and Queen and Xavier, scarred paparazzo focussed on keeping calm throughout his days and not really looking for love. When the two meet Louis is enamoured but Xavier isn't so sure...Soon the pair have a love affair of epic proportions going on and neither one of them knows whether it will end with Louis's trip to Canada or if it'll become a lasting relationship that'll last forever.

Louis was amazing! He was hilarious! I loved how he was portrayed by the media as a womaniser and his character was the exact opposite of that. He loved using his position as a royal for good and then retreating to play board games (you read that right) with his sister Anna and the Queen! He was this hilarious introvert who was so polite and well mannered (even when trying to send dirty text messages to Xavier) that you couldn't help but love him! He was so sweet and I loved that Xavier would pick at him and try to get him to loosen up!

Speaking of Xavier. I really loved him! He was this paparazzo who stumbled into the career and tried to make the best of it. He was scarred all the way down his face and it made him shy and retreating at times but he was so snarky and feisty in private with Louis that I just knew that they had to be meant for each other. Their attraction just leaped off the page and it was so fun to read! I really identified with his anxiety and it just endeared him to me more. He tried so hard to do the right thing and even if I raised an eyebrow at some of his choices (sleeping with the subject of your mission?) I understood his reasoning.

Anna, Louis's sister was a hoot! She had been given a bad run of things in the media and had suffered from drug addiction but didn't let it keep her from boldly living her life. I really loved her relationship with her brother and his with hers and how they would protect each other at all costs, having lost their parents at an early age.

This book was full of witty banter, boys being boys and a grandmother who knew what was what! I appreciated how each character told the story from their perspectives and how the book ended in a way that I didn't quite expect! Let's just say that the way the differences between Louis and Xavier were resolved was very typical of boys and I really appreciated how the author stuck to that realness!

Anyway gushing aside, this book was a true 5 star read and I have added it to my favourites on goodreads! More please JR Gray!

Go get a copy like right now!

TK MAJ