She's the One review by Erin Nicholas

She's the One by Erin Nicholas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


4.5/5

She’s the One is the 1st book in a 5 part Counting on Love series by Erin Nicholas. It is apparently a continuation of sorts to Nicholas’ Bradford series with some characters bridging the gap. I haven’t read the Bradford series as of yet but with some characters I’ve met I definitely will start asap.

Amanda Dixon is the oldest of her 3 sisters. Her brother Connor is their oldest sibling and has been a father figure in their lives since their Dad died unexpectedly years ago. She is the leader, the mother hen, the one she wants her sister to come to for advice, help or anything really. She doesn’t want to let her brother or sisters down, even as she has a secret in her past only Connor knows about. She knows she needs to have more of a life for herself but she can’t seem to stop. Can she find a way to work and have fun too?

Ryan Kaye is an all around manly man. He is a top-notch paramedic, football player and party guy. He knows the Dixon sisters as well as their brother Connor, his quarterback, and can honestly say he is interested. Emma has flirted with him in the past but they’ve never hooked up, not that he corrects the assumptions on that rumor.

Amanda assumes Ryan and her sister Emma have hooked up in the past, she envys Emma and how she handles herself. During a birthday party for her youngest sister, Olivia makes a birthday wish that Amanda and Emma trade places for one weekend. Each living life the way the other one would. That leads Amanda to make some wild choices for her weekend and she wants Ryan along for the ride. A motto of WWED (What Would Emma Do) makes her realize she had the wild child inside already.

Ryan can’t believe Amanda wants him to be a part of her wild weekend. He is definitely the man for the job. What he doesn’t count on is being the tame one during their night out. He realizes Amanda needs to get something out of her system and he doesn’t like the way she thinks about him and his past. He does the hardest thing by walking away. Can he make her realize she needs him for more than just one wild night?

They have quite a few obstacles to overcome, Connor, a car accident and missed signals but Amanda and Ryan are both strong characters who know what they want.

I read this book 2nd after reading book #2 first. I can honestly say that usually bugs the heck out of me. Not so with this author and this series. Each book is individual even though part of a series. You can easily read each on its own and know pretty much all there is to know to enjoy the story. I love that about books in a series. It doesn’t always help my OCD with reading order but it wasn’t unbearable.

I will most certainly read more from Erin Nicholas (and have already).






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Surprise Daddy by Nicole Snow ARC review

Surprise Daddy by Nicole Snow

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


3.75/5

I’m really struggling with this review, so let me just put it all out there. Surprise Daddy is the first book I’ve read by Nicole Snow. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m going to be honest and say I’ve never heard of Nicole Snow before, which isn’t a bad thing by any means. Word of mouth or social media is sometimes how we find our next favorite author. That being said I don’t know if I would consider her a favorite of mine, just yet anyway.

The writing style of this author, or at least this book since I have no frame of reference for any of her other novels, is not one I usually enjoy. It is written in 1st person POV and at times it rambles on so quickly I lost track of what was happening. Now I will admit, this is only the 2nd author I’ve read that uses the 1st person POV for storytelling. 99% of what I read is the standard 2nd person or even 3rd person storytelling with secondary character interactions. With the previous novels I read using this format, it took me a few pages of the 1st book to catch on but then it was easy to keep track in the subsequent novels. In Surprise Daddy it took me almost a full chapter to get the flow and even then it moved so fast sometimes I lost track of who was talking. Little Mia would sometimes get lost in the adult narrative and I would have to re-read to see her little girl wisdom in the story.

Surprise Daddy is a novel about Sarah “Sadie” Kelley and Marshal Howard. Sadie is back home trying to get herself established after leaving school to help out at home. Marshal is ex military and the town outcast trying to raise his young daughter as a single father. Sadie applies for a job as nanny to little Mia and gets involved with Marshal and sees the stigma he carries. There is also a backstory between Marshal and Jackson (Sadie’s brother).

I must admit the strong warring character personalities of Marshal are a little off-putting and far apart at times. He is a hard-nosed, rude talking, arrogant, know it all who dotes on his daughter. He rudely speaks to each person he encounters in the first few pages while sweet talking Mia. He obviously struggles with who he is now but it seems so manic sometimes I find it not realistic. Then it takes only a few speaking up moments by Sadie to get him falling in love already with her, sweet-talking her up and down. I’m all for the fall in love fast scenarios but even this one seemed rushed. And it so randomly comes up that she is a virgin, didn’t understand that one but it didn’t have a great impact on anything anyway.

This book has some typos, missing words, spelling errors etc. Reading an ebook I never know if that is just typing input errors not reflected in the paperback etc but it’s all I have to reference at the moment. There are lots of nicknames in this book, some good, some cute, not ignorant and rude. Marshal calls Sadie “Red”, the town calls Marshal “castoff”, Marshal calls Mia “honeybee”, Sadie calls Marshal “crasshole” it goes on and on. I’m not sure I am a fan of having a character have that type of stigma associated with them to where even Sadie’s parents call him “castoff”.

I would have liked to dive more into Sadie’s mothers mental issues and see if we could better understand her. She seemed to only have a placement as a conflict back ground player.

I did look at some other reviews after I finished the ARC. I did see a few that mentioned Surprise Daddy wasn’t written in the same style as some other books written by Nicole Snow. Even though this book had me confused and trying to stay focused throughout most of it and some places felt extremely rushed, I would probably give the author another chance to wow me. This story had potential, loads of potential but I didn’t feel like it was addressed well enough to make me invested in this story.




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All I Have by Nicole Helm Review

All I Have by Nicole Helm

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This was a cute novella I read as part of a 4 pack ebook bundle. It was a quick story but filled that short time with good story bones.

Mia and Dell have neighboring farms and they both set up shop at the local farm market. Dell is known as the naked farmer and it drives Mia crazy. They start a little boy vs girl competition to bring more customers to the farm market and their perspective farms. Dell has more to lose than Mia though as his farm is holding on by a thread.

Throughout the story they find they have more in common than they thought. Can they come up with a way to be together and also keep both of their farms productive?

I have read a few Nicole Helm books and this was a cute quick novella to keep me motivated through more books by this author.




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It Takes Two by Erin Nicholas Review

It Takes Two by Erin Nicholas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



It takes Two is the first book I’ve read by Erin Nicholas. It was also the first I read in the Counting on Love series, and I hate when I read a series out of order. The good news is that these books can stand on their own with minimal carrying over and lots of explanation to previous happenings.

Isabelle Dixon thought she could have a wild and crazy night before she has to settle herself into a new lifestyle because of a medical issue. She thinks Shane Kelley is the perfect candidate for the job. 6 months later she can’t believe she is still seeking him out and can’t seem to let go.

Shane Kelley has fallen fast and hard for Isabelle Dixon. He has asked her to move in with him multiple times and won’t take no for an answer. He thought their biggest obstacle was her brother Connor but it seems like they can’t get past something bigger. He won’t give up even when she seems to be keeping something really big from him.

Isabelle and Shane take a humorous road trip to find out if they can truly make it work between them. Each stop, on their way to a vacation house, has humor, angst, trials and truths. There may also be a little fun game included in their adventure, not known to all the parties involved.

I love the dynamic between the Dixon sisters, each with their own strengths and issues. Isabelle seems like a good mix of a party girl with a stay at home girl. She has to make some big choices with an unexpected health issue that hits her. She wants to hide herself away from the world but also loves being with Shane. Can she have it both ways and have them both happy?

Shane is the over the top, romantic boyfriend we all crave in life. Well maybe. He does go a little over the top sometimes but hey props for creativity. He loves Isabelle and wants to be with her all day every day. He knows she is hiding something from him but can he overcome the issues to make her happy for forever?

If you haven’t read anything by Erin Nicholas, what are you thinking? The Counting on Love series, which apparently is a semi continuation of the Bradfords series with brief appearances by some Bradford characters, is the perfect place to start. I haven’t read the Bradford series yet but I’m anxious to now since completing the Counting on Love series.




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Christmas time stresses

Ugh, does anyone else have a love hate relationship with the holiday season? I love Christmas, love all that it represents but man does it stress me out. There is never enough time, never enough money, never enough {insert anything here}. At the start of every year I say, "this year I am going to start shopping early etc etc". Yea that never happens, what do they say about the best intentions? I wish there was a way to just let go of the stresses and just full out enjoy every minute leading up to and encompassing the holidays. Family dinner with underlying tension, shopping malls filled with slow moving rude people, people on vacation for the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas just everywhere. Deep Breaths, deep cleansing breaths. It's the magic of the season, or so they say.......

Royal Baby Maker by Nora Flite review

Royal Baby Maker by Nora Flite

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This novella was the first I've read by Nora Flite. I really enjoyed this re-release, it was a nice fantasy for a plain jane like myself haha.

Nellie and Bishop could not be more different. She is a dog walker he is a prince. She walked into his world looking for a job and winds up with so much more than she ever imagined. Could this fairy tale have a happy ending?

Bishop is tired of being a prince, he just wants a normal life. Time to receive his family wealth is running out unless he produces an heir soon. His mother has a long list of suitable wives waiting in the wings but none of them spark his interest.

Bishop entices Nellie with a plan but will she agree?

This is a quick read but I don't felt like much was left untouched or rushed though. It was a thorough story with backstory, mischief makers and epilogues. I would definitely give a novel Nora Flite a place on my shelf.



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