"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them." 












I have loved Ten from the second book when we first met him and we really got to see how far he would go for his mates and yeah he has always been a little bit on the man whore side of things and there is no doubting he was a little bit damaged and had a tendency to be a big bit of an acehole but that’s all part of his charm. He is the crude joke at the funeral, the loud voice in the library but he is also the best person to have at your back. He is loyal to a fault and the more I saw of his rude, obnoxious man whoring ass the more I had to know him and the deeper I fell in lust for him.





He has been a major background character for a while now but even so he managed to make himself known and from the second he saw Caroline we all knew they were meant to be.

We met Caroline just as she breaks and then we got to watch her pull herself back together and grow into her own strength. There were so many times I wanted her to realise her self-worth and  give Ten a huge reality check and move on without him but she never once doubted what she wanted and I think that made me love her more.



Caroline was the perfect mix of vulnerable naïve virgin and seductress. And having watched the covert foreplay between her and Ten in the last book it was hard to see them still no closer to being together at the start of this book.



From the get go Ten knows she is out of reach, there is no way Noel will let his man whore mate date his damaged sister but add to that Ten’s complete belief he will never be good enough for her I was sure this book would kill me from angst overload but it didn’t happen.

Ten spent a lot of time trying to prove he was unworthy of Caroline then apologising for upsetting her when he succeeded. I could feel his desperation for the one thing he knew he couldn’t have as she became the one thing he couldn’t live without and I spent the first half of the book trying to guess when the sky was going to fall on these two and Noel was going to clue in that his beautiful baby sister was madly in love with his best mate that I think I was almost sick with nerves.



But of course Linda didn’t get me stalking her windows at night by writing the predictable over played angst and her Forbidden Men aren’t just sexy they are also strong, loyal, sweet, amazing men so the sky didn’t fall when and where and how I expected and the things I thought I knew about these characters was just slightly left of centre so I ended up even more besotted with them all and even more anxious for the next instalment.

But as Linda is so good at once they finally did get together the sexual chemistry was panty soaking and the complete love was heart-warming.



So well played Linda, you had me laughing, you had me crying, you had me shell shocked and devastated,  you had me waking my husband at 2am and jumping him and then waking him at 9am trying to explain to him why the book was so epic. You have had me in a book coma for the entire day as I continually obsess over everything that happened in A Perfect Ten, And now you have me writing a review at 11pm cause I can’t get it out of my head long enough to do anything productive.

This series has got the absolute best characters and the angst and drama are so superbly written it’s actually hard to put into words how perfect they all have been in entirely different ways but all as equally epic as each other. They all had the smoking hot, panties dripping sex scenes perfectly mixed with all of the heart and love and sweetness you could want. For a NA book they are an amazing blend of romance and Erotica.

 I was expecting Asher’s story to blow us away next but I am only slightly disappointed to see we have to wait on that as we are getting a new man at Forbidden before Asher man’s up and tells us his tale.

So until next round I guess we will have to re-read.





Gah! Right in the feels!





Well I hope you're happy Penny Reid you have made me break one of my life rules and reinforced the fact it was made for a damn good reason.

I normally don't read the teasers for other books at the end of a book but for whatever reason I did read the teaser for this book when I finished reading The Hooker and the Hermit and to be completely honest I think it was that I was so hooked on the writing style and the story I just couldn't put it down yet. So I went off and read the teaser for this book and HAD to read it. So the wait began and this one finally releases.

Normally that would be good but I hate reading trilogies or series about the same couple until they are all out as I have 0 impulse control and a shit memory so I need to know I can read them all in one sitting if I get obsessed. So I put them on my TBR mountain and swear I will come back to them once they are all out. And sometimes I remember and I do that but normally I forget and go off and read a bazillion other books. So this was released but I held off, I was gonna wait for them all to be out. I mean it's only a few weeks right?

I made it 3 whole days before I cracked and 1 clicked and read it like it was going to be stolen from me at any second. Now I have reached the end of this book and idiot that I am I read the teaser for book 2 (cause come on that cliffy was just mean) that I have to wait 3 freaking weeks for. I mean seriously 3 weeks? Why do you hate us?

And if those huge looming 3 weeks aren't already seeming like a life sentence now that I am addicted to Kaitlyn and Martin I already know I have to wait atleast 17 days after that to get the final installment.

So I hope your happy Penny. Now my kids and husband are probably going to go to jail for murder after I drive them all insane obsessing over these books. And my husband is in no way pretty enough to become someones bitch. So you have now ruined all of our lives forever.








Ok ok I will admit it, I have a massive wet soft spot for all the boys from the Woodlands house. And by book four we have a fair amount of insight into each of them as well as a solid knowledge in the fact that they are the kind of men your Dad has nightmares about until they fall in love, cause when they fall they fall hard and they fall fast and there is absolutely no grey (well there’s Gray but he has had his own book  ;) )

http://carmens-pages.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/unraveled-woodlands-3-by-jen-frederick.html

I have to admit that Winter’s backstory hit me too close to home for comfort and I spent a good portion of the book in tears where I am sure the author didn’t intend. So my opinion on things might be slightly skewed by having my emotions so closely linked.

Winter is the adopted sister of an alcoholic. I don’t know if many people can grasp the kind of person that makes you ,not on the surface but in the depths of your soul, but damn did Jen nail it. And even though Winter did stupid things and made decisions I would want to slap anyone else for,  I got it. It’s hard to walk the line between tough love and support when you’re scared to set off the ticking time bomb that’s your sister and for a good percentage of the book I was scared Jen was going to let Winter be the weak, selfless person she started as.



Finn was one of the Woodlands guys I was most looking forward to. However the road he walked to get to Winter was hard and I had moments there where I just wanted to see him say fuck you all and run away leave them all to deal with their own fall out. I mean damn Jen give him a break. But then he is the kind of guy who will weather any storm with his broad shoulders held high and I guess that’s why I loved him from the start.

Of course I should have had more faith in the amazing Jen cause the book was written so perfectly that I honestly could believe she has lived it. The drama and angst were in perfect proportion to the events and obstacles Finn and Winter had to overcome to get to the end of the road they were on. And unlike a lot of New Adult books there wasn’t drama or angst for the sake of it. Every bit of it was valid and justified and just added to the characters and their story. And as with all the books in the series the sex scenes were hot as hell and had my tears forgotten and steaming off my pillowcase.



I honestly can say that if I knew going into this book what the themes were I wouldn’t have read it, so I am seriously glad I went into it blind just knowing it was a much awaited, highly anticipated Woodlands Series novel, not even checking to see who’s story I was getting before I dove right on in.


If you haven’t read this series yet I couldn’t recommend it more. However each book can be read as a standalone but why would you want to when some of the best men live at the same address and you get to see a tiny bit of each of their personality in each novel.



 


Wow, just wow.


It was always a given that Ally's story would be amazing. From the minute we met her she was this bright light of sweet and caring and she looked out for everyone regardless of their failings and faults with complete love and no judgement and having met her beautiful parents you could see why.




When it was announced that we had already met her partner speculation was that it would be Molly's old flame from England.And I figured that could work. I mean I wasn't a huge fan but he could warm up a little and we didn't know much of him so sweet, books written. Ummm wrong.


Elpi could not have been further from him. And realizing it was Axel and having seen all he had done and where he was coming from I just couldn't reconcile him with our beautiful Ally.



I mean don't get me wrong I knew Ally wouldn't judge and I knew if anyone could see passed the obvious negatives to the heart beneath it would be Ally I just wanted so much more, so much better. Knowing her this long and seeing how truly pure of soul she was I wanted epic for her.


But of course as is par for the series the asshole is never set in marble (see what I did there? huh did ya?) and as Tillie peeled away at his layers and showed us his side of his past sins my heart broke and I couldn't help but love him.


 I think Axel genuinely broke my heart. I sat reading this book with floods if tears pouring down my face waiting for him to look around and see what he could have. I just wanted to scream at him "fucking tell them all already and let them love you, you idiot." I love that his road to redemption wasn't easy and I love that it didn't happen because of any one thing.


The depth of character here was astounding and seeing things in past tense from Axel's point of view after we had seen how it affected his brothers and other previous characters just made this book go from perfect to epic.



Although I am devastated to see this series finish I don't think it could have been better. And I will forever bow at the feet of Tillie Cole for giving us the stories of Rome and Molly, Cassie and Jimmy-Don, Lexi and Austin. And for also giving us perfection at every turn with this series.

So until I get the balls up to read her other books I guess I will continue to rant over this Sweet series.






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