Book Review: Wrecking Ball (Hard To Love #1) by P. Dangelico

Cam DeSantis’ life is a hot, steaming pile. How else would you describe losing your husband, your job, and your money all at once? Desperate times call for desperate measures, so when salvation comes in the form of one intolerable a-hole, who just happens to be the starting quarterback for the vaunted NY Titans, she has no choice but to accept his offer as a live-in nanny slash teacher for his eight year old nephew. Now all she has to do is find a safe place in her mind to hide whenever she feels the need to throat punch him into tomorrow…which is often.

Calvin Shaw has zero interest in women. Wait, wait––let me rephrase that. He loves women, he just doesn’t want anything to do with ‘um. Not since his wife, presently ex-wife, got knocked up by the guy she was cheating on him with. Problem is...there’s one living in his house. And he doesn’t know what’s worse, that he promised to be civil, or that he’s attracted to her.

 

To say that I absolutely adored this book would be a gross understatement. Kinda like me saying that I "hardly ever" wait until my kids go to bed and then break out the good snacks and go eat them in the car in shame. Yeah. So I more than adored this book. I loved every stinking period and comma on these damn pages. 

I was NOT expecting it to be so funny!! It was hilarious in parts and then gut-wrenching in others and it was an amazing mix of both of these in between. I immediately connected with the main character, Cam. Cam is my spirit animal. I hope to be like her when I grow up. She's sassy and spunky and just a tad bit crazy. I thought that her relationship with the leading man, Calvin was adorable. Holy shit, he was an amazingly huge asshole when these two first met and I was kind of waiting for her to set him on fire, if I'm being completely honest. I would seriously debate doing that myself if Calvin had talked about me the way he did about Cam. That man is lucky he's fictional. 

The story moved along at a great little clip, never pausing to let the reader get bored or tired of anything. My attention is sometimes hard to keep but not this time. I was totally entertained the entire time I was reading this book. Not that I was reading for that long ... I sped through this book and then wanted to smack myself for blowing through it and not taking my time because before I knew it, it was over and I had to move on to the next novel. 

This is an author that I will ALWAYS follow. I really hope that the rest of the series is this funny and romantic and sweet and infuriating. My emotions were really all over the place with Wrecking Ball and I wouldn't have it any other way. Such a great book and so much more than the blurb leads you to believe. I hope I forget about it so I can experience this one all over again. 

* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *

Available: January 19th, 2017

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Review: Color Me Bad (Curl Up and Dye .05) by Sharon Sala

An original short story by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Sharon Sala links to her full-length contemporary women's fiction novel, The Curl Up and Dye.

The novella centers around the four women who run the Curl Up and Dye hair salon and their relationships with the quirky customers of small-town Blessings, Georgia. Their meddlesome efforts at match-making run awry, but there's always another makeover just around the corner.

When I saw who the author was on this, I really wanted to read it because I enjoyed another book by her last year. Granted, this one was only a novella but it was a good one. Better than a lot of novellas that I have read, actually. 

First of all ... have you seen the movie Friday ... the one with Ice Cube and Chris Tucker? Great movie. Hilarious. Anyway, there is a scene in the movie where both guys say the word "DAMN!!". If you don't know what I'm talking about, Google it immediately. You need to see them say this because that is the EXACT way that I said damn when I was reading this book. 

Getting dropped into the story like you are is great. The author gives you a little moment of sink or swim because there are a lot of things going on. That's not necessarily a bad thing ... there are just quite a few names to keep track of. But it clears up really quickly and you get down to the nitty-gritty of the book and man, was it good. Have you ever heard that saying "A happy wife is a happy life"? Well, it's totally true. Especially in Color Me Bad. If you are a dude, write this down ... don't, under any circumstances, piss off your wife. You don't know how close to the edge that woman is and believe me when I say this, it's easier to just behave yourself than play Russian roulette with your junk. That didn't happen in the book and maybe it's a bit extreme ... but that is probably what goes through a woman's mind when you piss her off to the point that one poor sap did. Stupid, stupid man.

Anyhow ... this novella is full of humor and "damn" moments. Worth the read and it really piques your interest for the first novel in the series!! 

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