Good afternoon, my bookworms! It’s been a minute since I’ve been on to talk to you guys. The post I wanted to bring to you on Thursday would up being a bit more involved than I first expected and I actually wound up falling asleep because my day job is kicking my butt as usual. Anyway, I’m off to the dentist soon, but before I head out for the afternoon/evening, I thought I’d bring you guys a book review. Okay, series review.
Today, I thought I’d talk about a series I enjoyed about a month ago and haven’t gotten around to reviewing just yet. I’m talking about the Roommates series by Kendall Ryan. While there are four books involved, you can technically read each of these as a stand alone since none of the characters are intertwined with one another. These are the first books I’ve read by Ryan and I really enjoyed each and every story, so why don’t I tell you about them?
The Room Mate is the first book in the series. Cannon has always been the nerd. Studious, driven, and wearing braces, that’s how Paige remembered him whenever she was around his older sister, her best friend. Now, Cannon is all grown up, sexy as sin, and just about to finish his medical residency. He also needs a place to stay. When his sister puts in a good word and he shows up to crash in Paige’s spare room, all bets are off. Paige isn’t looking for love and Cannon knows he’s cursed when it comes to the relationship department, so everything should be fine. Except, it’s not. Cannon’s had a crush on Paige since they were kids and now that they’re under the same roof, he can’t seem to help himself when it comes to her.
This was a really sweet and sexy story that I found myself getting through pretty quickly. I really enjoyed the tension and chemistry that these two offered.
My Final Rating: four out of five stars
The Play Mate might have been my favorite of the entire series. Smith Hamilton was absolutely dreamy and I loved how much he adored Evie.
Smith is a suave and savvy businessman who could have anyone he wanted, and he wanted his best friend’s sister (don’t worry, these books aren’t all about some weird friend’s sister/brother fetish), but there was once a time when he had no one, and he doesn’t want to lose his best friend, Cullen, who is like a brother to him. That means Cullen’s baby sister is off limits. Even if the trio find themselves in Paris, and even if Evie somehow makes it to Smith’s room to crawl into bed with him and take what she wants.
Evie was blessed with privilege, a good family, good education, and is spending time abroad before she moves on to the next chapter in her life. She is, however, determined to shed herself of her virginity before she heads home, and she knows exactly who she wants to take it from her. She’s always adored Smith, but knew he only saw her as his best friend’s little sister. She knows that now is the time to get him to see more. So much more.
Smith does everything he can to keep himself under control around Evie, but she pushes all of his buttons because she is everything he’s ever wanted in a woman. When he finally gives into his baser instincts, their chemistry is explosive, yet needs to be kept under wraps. If Cullen finds out the pair are sneaking around behind his back, everything could be ruined.
I’m a huge sucker for a bit of a sneaky relationship. There’s something about the tension and build up of encounters that really thrills me, and Smith and Evie didn’t disappoint. I loved every minute I spent with them and wished I could have ore because I adored their story so much. What a sexy pair!
My Final Rating: five out of five stars
The House Mate introduced me to Max Alexander. Max has spent his life being ambitious and focusing on work. He’s spent years building up a successful company and playing the professional. On the other end of the spectrum, he’s failed at love. He keeps his entanglements quick and as painless as possible, until the day his baby daughter turns up on his front porch. Suddenly playing the role of single father to his daughter, Dylan, he knows he needs help, and quickly.
Enter Addison Lane. She is a young woman looking for change after a bad breakup. Floundering a bit in her life, she decides to jump at the chance for the live-in nanny position Max is hiring for. Addison and Dylan bond quickly, and Max knows his child is in safe hands while he heads back to his work and bachelor way of life. Only problem is, he finds himself drawn to his new house mate.
He knows he can’t afford to lose Addison and leave Dylan without a female figure in her life, so he does the mature and best thing he could possibly do, and ignore his feelings for the sake of his child. Luckily, Addison feels the same. She doesn’t want to jeopardize her job, or risk losing sweet Dylan because she can’t control her libido.
Unfortunately, chemistry is chemistry and the pair can only deny themselves for so long. After several conversations and a few spontaneous kisses, the two can’t hold back anymore, and their lives are forever changed.
Next to The Play Mate, this book was my second favorite of the series. I enjoyed the tension and their denial of one another almost as much as I enjoyed them finally caving and playing house together. Ryan really knows how to write those pent-up frustration scenes in order to make the release of the characters’ bond that much more enjoyable and sexy. I know I sound like a broken record, but my goodness, I love every single one of these books and the level of steam they bring into play!
My Final Rating: four out of five stars
Last up, I’m talking about book four in the series, The Soul Mate. I just found out (as I was writing this blog post) that there is a 3.5 book called The Bed Mate that I actually didn’t read. So, I will have to go back to the drawing board and give that a go and bring you guys a review, but for now, I’ll jump into the last book I’ll be discussing today.
This is a pretty short and sweet summary, and somehow slightly less complicated than the rest I’ve talked about so far today.
Imagine having a one night stand. Imagine that one night resulted in a pregnancy. Now, imagine that when you head to the doctor to confirm your suspensions, it turns out he is also your potential baby daddy? Okay, now you know Mason and Bren’s story.
The pair have a pretty remarkable night together before Bren cuts and runs come sunrise. Mason is left wondering about the girl he thought was his soul mate. He does what he can to try and track her down, but to no avail. Until she turns up in his practice looking for an exam to confirm a pregnancy.
Now that she’s back in his life, Mason knows he can’t lose her again, especially if she’s carrying his child. Instead of finding out about their future, the pair decide to spend time getting to know one another to see if a relationship between them is meant to be, baby or no baby. It becomes quite the adventure.
I adored this story because it wasn’t quite like the others with the instant chemistry and resisting temptation. This attraction is a bit more one-sided. Bren is slightly terrified when it comes to relationships, whereas Mason is completely on board and knows what (who) he wants. Their cat-and-mouse game made for quite the rollercoaster or an adventure, and I really enjoyed how it all played out, despite the fact that it was definitely more frustrating than any of the previous three books in the series.
My Final Rating: four out of five stars
Read These Books:
