Tag: K. A. Tucker

This Chick Read: Say You Still Love Me by K.A. Tucker

Piper Calloway works as her father’s right hand as an executive in his real estate development firm. Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, she has fought for the approval of her father and the other executives in a mostly male world. When she see’s her girlhood crush, Kyle, working at the front desk of her building as a security guard all of her life’s ambitions get pushed aside and memories of her first love takes over. Will this be her second chance at love?

I have enjoyed K.A. Tucker’s books in the past and while Say You Still Love Me isn’t my favorite of hers it’s still an interesting and kind of different style of romance. Piper and Kyle’s story was told through a series of flashbacks to when they fell in love while camp counselor’s over a summer when they were teenagers. The innocence and fun of that story contrasted well with the more adult version of their re-connection. The minor problem for me was that I was much more interested in them when they were teenage camp counselors than I was with them as adults.

Piper’s mom wanted her to have the experience she did as a “normal” girl at camp. Normal meaning middle class I guess. Rather than being a fish out of water because of her moneyed background, Piper actually fit right in, made friends and caught the eye of the rather rebellious and tattooed teenage Kyle. While her personality was pretty consistent from teen Piper to adult Piper, Kyle did a 180º. He was flirtatious, fun and kind of a mystery as a teenager, but adult security guard Kyle? Not as much fun….

I did enjoy the emotional punch of their re-connection but didn’t buy into a fantasy romance with a high powered executive woman and a building security guard. Well, at least a security guard that wasn’t part of an ex elite military squad who would swoop in and rescue his damsel in distress. This just wasn’t that type of romance. So, it became a little vanilla for me. Huh. I’m a little surprised, but I have to go with that statement.

Since this was both a YA Contemporary and an adult Contemporary Romance built into one book, I’m going to give it two scores. The YA Contemporary novel gets a 4.5 and the Contemporary romance a 3.5, which rounds this one out to a four. A good solid book, but didn’t hit it out of the park for me.

I received a free copy of this ARC through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest! ❤️❤️❤️❣️

Opinions from around the Blogosphere

“This has been quite a negative review, but I obviously liked the book if I gave it 4 stars. I fell in love with teenage Piper and Kyle. I loved their innocence and sweetness, I just wasn’t a fan of their adult selves. It’s as simple as that.” Sapphic Library

“Overall, I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief for this book. I know romances are sometimes over the top, but I prefer ones that are more grounded in reality. I didn’t think this book had a whole lot going for it outside the romance and since that didn’t cut it for me, it didn’t have a lot to offer.” The Paperback Princess

Click this link to purchase!* Say You Still Love Me: A Novel

Copyright 2019 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick’s Audio Review: The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker

Calla Fletcher was born in the wilds of Alaska but raised in the bustle of Toronto after her mother couldn’t handle the extremities of living an Alaskan life. Now 26 years old and having never met her father Wren, Calla gets a call out of the blue telling her that her father has been diagnosed with an illness. After much trepidation, she flies to Alaska to meet him and get to know him over one week. Can this city girl live the Simple Wild? Her father’s right hand man, bush pilot Jonah doesn’t think so and can’t wait to see her gone. Wanting to prove to herself, and him, Calla makes some big adjustments that see’s her getting closer to her father, but also making friends (and maybe something more) with Jonah, both of which will make leaving Alaska that much harder.

I listened to the Audio book narrated by Rebekkah Ross and was pretty thankful that I listened mostly at night with a big box of tissues at my side. Rebekkah voiced Calla perfectly and did a great job with all of the other characters as well!

I think for most people who live in a big city it was pretty easy to visualize how different an Alaskan setting would be for a girl like Calla. Growing up in a social media world, cell phone in hand, and able to order take out or a pair of shoes is a much different lifestyle than those living in the Wilds of Alaska. Internet is dicey, daylight hours are either 24/7 or zero to none, and beauty products don’t make the news. The growth in Calla from the beginning of her trip to her last day was enormous. She noticed and no longer allowed herself to be defined by those things and I really liked her more for that.

I am a sucker for great father daughter stories and this one was just wonderful. Wren, Calla’s father, was a very quiet, humble man who had let his life and family get away from him. After 12 years of not talking to his daughter I loved how he slowly showed his emotions for her and they grew closer in gradual moments. For me, it was this relationship that made the book so great. Jonah was awesome too, don’t get me wrong. He and Calla’s bitter feud and funny dialog kept the pace of the book from dragging and brought in comic moments that were really needed. He also had an inner heart of gold that made the end of the book special, but it was Calla’s growing love for her father that just touched my heart.

Sometimes a book just fits with your needs at that time and The Simple Wild was the perfect book for me at this time in my life. Not to be overly dramatic or anything, it just hit all the right notes for me and I’m not sure if it would have even a few years ago. I couldn’t help but give this a five rating because of that. Oh, and I wasn’t joking about the tissues. Keep them on hand! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Opinions from around the Blogosphere

“K.A. Tucker is the queen of subtle romances. I love how she slowly weaves them into her stories and builds them up to the point where the sexual tension becomes explosive. Jonah and Calla’s banter was entertaining as hell and I loved the pranks they pulled on one another. These light-hearted moments definitely balanced out the heavier moments in this book.” The Romance Corner

“Ultimately, this wasn’t just a romance book but a beautiful story on a girl learning that family can come from any setting. That, in the end, it’s not about where you are, but who you’re bringing with you along for the ride (I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true)!” Taylor Talks Books

Click this link to purchase!* The Simple Wild: A Novel

Copyright 2019 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads2 Comments

This Chick Read: Until it Fades by K. A. Tucker

Catherine lives in the small town of Balsam, Pennsylvania working as a waitress in a truck stop while trying to quietly raise her five year old daughter. At twenty-four she has already seen her fair share of press due to her involvement with the son of a prominent Balsam family and she wants to steer clear of anything high profile and just quietly live her life. One night while traveling home from a bad blind date she comes upon a sports car that has crashed against a tree and even though there’s danger from the car catching on fire she saves the life of the passenger of the vehicle. Little does she know that by that one event her life will be put back in the spotlight. She has just saved the life of NHL star Brett Madden.

There were moments in this novel that I really enjoyed. I liked Catherine’s fight against adversity. She had gotten involved with a teacher while in high school and because he was from a prominent family she was black balled and treated horribly as the temptress while the teacher who was thirteen years older got off without a slap of the hand. Reading about that subject from Catherine’s perspective was tough. You feel so bad for her and want her life to be better than it is. You also totally get why she doesn’t want anything to do with Brett and the publicity machine that follows him. Of course, it’s a love story and you know Brett’s going to help her overcome that stigma, but that didn’t make it any easier to read although that contrast did make their love story shine brighter.

Brett was a pretty normal guy for being a pro NHL player and son of a super famous movie star and he was written as the white knight in a way. However, the bulk of the conflict centered around Catherine, her daughter, and the town of Balsam. She had some great friends who added character and humor to the novel and I enjoyed how her true spirit was portrayed and how she finally got the respect she deserved. I found it kind of strange that the romance felt underplayed, but Catherine did have a lot of inner turmoil to work through.

If you like romances where your heroine overcomes adversity, Until it
Fades is the novel for you! I enjoyed the outcome because of what Catherine went through in her past and found she and Brett easy to root for. It did take me a little bit to overcome my uneasiness of her childhood romance with her teacher, I’ll admit, so because of that it gets a three and a half rating. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

Opinions from around the Blogosphere

” Unfortunately I didn’t love it – it was enjoyable but nothing in the story stood out making it an average read. ” Faith Books and Pixie Dust

Click this link to purchase!* Until It Fades: A Novel

Copyright 2019 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads