Mystery Man (Dream Man 1) by Kristen Ashley

Night time is the right time...

Gwendolyn Kidd has met the man of her dreams. He's hot, he's sexy, and what started as a no-names-exchanged night of passion has blossomed into a year and a half-long pleasure fest. Sure, it's a little strange that he only appears in her bed at night, but Gwen is so sure he's the one, she just can't turn him away...

Hawk Delgado knows more about Gwen than she could ever imagine. She's gorgeous, headstrong, and skittish about relationships. But Hawk is facing his own demons, demons that keep him from connecting with anyone. Yet when Gwen is drawn into Denver's lethal underground scene, Hawk's protective nature comes out full force. The problem is, when Gwen gets a dose of Hawk's Alpha attitude in the daylight, she's not so sure he's the one anymore...

Book: Mystery Man (Dream Man 1) by Kristen Ashley
Published: July 11, 2011
Pages: 494
Genres: Romance, Erotica, Sexy Alpha Male, Series
Format: Kindle
Date Read: January 31-February 4, 2021
Rating: 4 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔🥔

I have read at least a half a dozen of Kristen Ashley's books and I always enjoy them. In fact, one of my favorite books to reread over and over is one of hers!

Mystery Man had me hooked from the get go and I truly enjoyed it. I thought the characters were very realistic and I loved each of their different personalities.

I find myself going back and forth with how I feel about the heroine, Gwen. She is a very wishy washy character. I completely understand why she is that way and the way she is portrayed is very realistic but it drove me nuts to read! I found myself yelling at her and rolling my eyes over and over.

Hawk. Cabe. Whatever you prefer to call his character, he was one I enjoyed a lot. For the most part, once he decided he wanted more with Gwen, he jumped right in and I loved that about him.

Bax, Meredith, Gwens friends, Mitch, Dog, Tack; I loved all of the other characters and would truly enjoy reading more about them.

I throughly enjoyed the ending of this book so much. I'm a sucker for a happy ending and I was so impressed with how well this author wrapped everything up! I feel like this book was closer to a 4.5 rating but Gwen drove me nuts so much that I'm keeping it at a 4.

When the Night is Over by Lily Foster

The last time Charlotte Mason saw Simon Wade, he was shoving a paper bag from the pharmacy into her hands with a morning-after pill inside.

Even though he literally left her holding the bag, when love is true it’s limitless...and sometimes it's blind. She wants more for Simon than the ties that bind him to their dead end town. He has one shot at a better life, and she’ll stand aside so he can take it.

Nearly four years later Charlotte is still nowhere to be found, and it’s not as if Simon hasn’t been looking. How can he forget the girl who still haunts his dreams?

Book: When the Night is Over by Lily Foster 
Published: September 20, 2020
Pages: 346
Genres: Romance, New Adult, Freebie on Amazon
Format: Kindle
Date Read: January 25-27, 2021
Rating: 3.5 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

I almost stopped reading this book several times during the first 20%. I didn't like the tone of the prologue and the first few chapters didn't pull me in enough.

I continued on because the summary for the book sounded so interesting to me but the book had a completely different feel than the summary did. I'm glad I continued because the book started to get really good and I did not want to put it down again.

There were many parts of this book that I did not like but I loved how raw and realistic it was. This book read like something that could have truly happened and I know similar versions actually have. The characters flaws were real and not over the top.

I enjoyed this book and I did like Simon some of the time but I loved Charlotte. Was she perfect? No. But she made her choices and stuck with them. She went with the best decision for everyone and always tried to do the right thing. She was a very strong heroine.

I liked Simon and Charlotte as a couple but I felt like there was no emotion between them. They loved each other, yes, but I couldn't feel it through the book like I normally can in romance books. And I don't know why that is.

Overall, I did like this book but I feel like it was lacking in a lot of areas. To me, the premise did not live up to the book itself.