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Four years ago, Mitch Lawson moved across the breezeway from Mara Hanover and she fell in love with the tall, good-looking police detective who had an uncanny ability to dress well even though he’s single. It was not a stalker kind of love; she knows she has no hope since Mitch is way out of her league. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s her dream man.

Then one day Mara’s faucet won’t turn off and she knows nothing about plumbing. Being a good guy, Mitch offers to help then he invites himself over for pizza. Mara gives it a go but finds herself running away from him (literally) on their first date, standing him up their second and then she runs into him (again literally) on her way to save her ne’er do well, criminal cousin’s kids who’d just run away from their ne’er do well, criminal Dad.

Suddenly, Mara finds she has on her hands the guardianship of two kids and a gorgeous police detective who’s willing to do anything to help out�� including giving fabulous foot rubs.

But Mara knows who she is and where she came from and she knows Detective Mitch Lawson is better than her. Hot law man Mitch disagrees and his challenge is to convince Mara to let go of her past and he sets about building a family at the same time he finds he also needs to protect them all against known and unknown adversaries that would tear them apart.(less)

Alright Trea. Are you in for this month? If we're good little girls, we can get to Motorcycle Man next month LOL

Yeah, Penni, I'm in. First few days of October are taken up, so I won't be getting to this right away. How's October looking for you?

Trea wrote: "Yeah, Penni, I'm in. First few days of October are taken up, so I won't be getting to this right away. How's October looking for you?"

Busy as always :-) It'll be later in the month and I'm sure it will take me awhile :-)

Penni wrote: "Busy as always :-) It'll be later in the month and I'm sure it will take me awhile :-)"

I'll check in around mid-month, then, and see where we're at. 8)

Trea wrote: "Penni wrote: "Busy as always :-) It'll be later in the month and I'm sure it will take me awhile :-)"

I'll check in around mid-month, then, and see where we're at. 8)"

Sounds like a plan.

Mid-month falls on this coming Wednesday, Penni. How's your week looking?

Probably a little later in the week. I know it will take me awhile.

I'm leaving to go camping tomorrow with my family so will see if I get my current books read - have book 2 of All Souls I'm listening to which is long and a couple Kindle reads I need to finish off.

How about you?

Penni wrote: "Probably a little later in the week. I know it will take me awhile.

I'm leaving to go camping tomorrow with my family so will see if I get my current books read - have book 2 of All Souls I'm l..."

I'm in the SS challenge for The Challenge Factory, so I've got to get to either Paradise Falls or The Gamble before next Thursday. I'm currently reading Minding Molly for the Monopoly game I'm in with Gea over there, and I'd also like to read Love Finds You in Valentine, Nebraska sometime this week. Starting this later in the week, say Friday or Saturday, would actually work well for me!

Hope you have fun on your camping trip!

Trea wrote: "Penni wrote: "Probably a little later in the week. I know it will take me awhile.

I'm leaving to go camping tomorrow with my family so will see if I get my current books read - have book 2 of A..."

Perfect! We'll set that goal.

Thanks!

Well, Penni, I had to start this a bit early, as it's come up in my Monopoly game over in The Challenge Factory group. I'm just a couple of pages in, and already the heroine is driving me nuts! She ranks folks around her based on beauty, then rounds them to a .5 mark. For example, she thinks Mitch is a 10-11 on a 10 point scale, so she calls him a 10.5. Not to mention, she's got such a convoluted social ranking system, that I can tell she's going to be annoying!

Trea wrote: "...that I can tell she's going to be annoying!"

Yup, I'm right, annoying as all get out! She makes every little thing into a huge dramatic production! Not to mention she has no backbone!

My mantra now is: "One more to go, one more to go!" Once I catch up on Chaos, I'm gonna be done with this author. It'll irk me too much if I don't finish Chaos, but I'm tired of her spineless doormat characters.

Yeah - sorry Mara doesn't get any better with the rating/ranking thing - drove me nuts. Wait til you meet her Mom and I think her Aunt (been a while since I read it) - you understand it a bit better then but .....it's a while to you meet them

Oh no :-( I don't know if I'll survive it. That's too bad. I had some hope for Mitch. Ah well.

I haven't read any other KA. Don't think I will jump on any more of her series any time soon thats sure.

Penni wrote: "Oh no :-( I don't know if I'll survive it. That's too bad. I had some hope for Mitch. Ah well.

I haven't read any other KA. Don't think I will jump on any more of her series any time soon t..."

Ok, you remember how much of a jerk the hero of Mystery Man was? Mitch makes him look like a saint right now...

Trea wrote: "Penni wrote: "Oh no :-( I don't know if I'll survive it. That's too bad. I had some hope for Mitch. Ah well.

I haven't read any other KA. Don't think I will jump on any more of her series a...
Ok, you remember how much of a jerk the hero of Mystery Man was? Mitch makes him look like a saint right now... "

AAARRRRGGGGGHHHH. I liked Hawk for the first chapter or so - up until he spoke. That was the end of his usefulness right there lol.

I thought Mitch might be a bit better.

I don't want to spend an audible credit on this, but it might be worth it to listen to it at 3x speed or something (I never up the speed on my audios).

I tried to warn y'all! Mara is a doormat, she is my least favorite KA heroine

Penni wrote: "AAARRRRGGGGGHHHH. I liked Hawk for the first chapter or so - up until he spoke. That was the end of his usefulness right there lol.

I thought Mitch might be a bit better.

I don't want to spend an audible credit on this, but it might be worth it to listen to it at 3x speed or something (I never up the speed on my audios)."

Penni, I wouldn't waste your Audible credit, seriously. At this point, I'm wanting to give negative stars to this book! Mara is so screwed up and convoluted, she makes ditzy Gwen look good, and while Mitch has improved slightly, he's still as big a jerk as Hawk was in Mystery Man.

I'm thinking we should have followed Ezi's lead and dumped the series...

Alana ~ The Book Pimp wrote: "I tried to warn y'all! Mara is a doormat, she is my least favorite KA heroine"

Yes, you did, Alana, but ALL of KA's heroines are doormats! It's just to what degree of doormat-ery they take it to.

I'll read Motorcycle Man, because I'm too OCD not to, but I hate this author at this point, and will A)be deleting all books of hers off my Kindle Library and B)will never be buying or reading another book of hers again.

OK, well, Mara is like the lowest of the low, the most stomped on doormat to end all doormats... well, in KA's books that I have read so far.

Ok, Penni, I'm at about 2/3rds in. I'll more than likely finish it today.

Yes, Mara is a doormat. However, she has a reason for it, but she also stands up to Mitch when it is important for her to do so.

Mitch can be a regular A-hole, as bad as Hawk, if not worse sometimes, but there are times when he dons his "knight's armor" and rescues Mara, both from outside forces and herself. This is not a bad thing.

Tessa from Wild Man reappears in this one, briefly so far, but we also have mention of Jet (from Rock Chick 2) and Roxie (another Rock Chick? Have only read that series to book 2.) I really hate the "cross pollinating" between this series and the Rock Chick one.

Where I am at has pulled it out of negative stars, but I'm not sure if it is a one or two star read yet. I will say that it is most definitely NOT worth an Audible credit, and I'd give you my account information so you can read it without purchasing it, since it's not a lendable book, that's how much I think you shouldn't waste any money on it.

I was right, Penni, I did finish it today. It will be a two star read for me. Tack makes an appearance, near the latter 20% of the book and rides out to the end. The end, and Mitch's role in it, pulled it out to a two star read for me, especially after reading the epilogue.

During the latter 25% of the book, some major stuff goes down, and suddenly, there's a lot more people involved. Rock Chick universe plays a big part here, and I felt a little lost not having read that series entirely as well. That is my biggest gripe about this author's work, that she has to mesh all of her contemporary works together in such a way that you need to read all of her series in order to understand the big picture. I swear, once I get caught up to Chaos, I am so done with this author!

That being said, after my reading of it, are we going to finish the series out next month, or abandon it? May I just say, that since we've moved Scanguards to a buddy read, we should create a poll for the group to nominate and vote on the group's next group read, should we decide to abandon the series.

Trea wrote: "Ok, Penni, I'm at about 2/3rds in. I'll more than likely finish it today.

Yes, Mara is a doormat. However, she has a reason for it, but she also stands up to Mitch when it is important for her..."

Boy, you are powering through it. Go girl!

I haven't read any of the Rock Chick stuff so I will be totally out of my element there.

I just read your next post. Glad to see it improved. I found that to be the case for me in the previous two.

I agree on the group read. Even if we continue (or both want to finish it), we can do that more offline of the group to get something more people are interested in on the books.

I won't be able to get to this probably until the weekend at least at this point. I haven't read a kindle/hard copy word since last Friday, and probably won't get another one in before the weekend. Just finishing up 2nd All Souls (long ) audio and then have 3 more lined up right after it. I'll probably just try and read it hard copy (I have it from the lbirary) and speed through it when I get a chance.

Penni wrote: "Boy, you are powering through it. Go girl!

I haven't read any of the Rock Chick stuff so I will be totally out of my element there.

I just read your next post. Glad to see it improved. I found that to be the case for me in the previous two.

I agree on the group read. Even if we continue (or both want to finish it), we can do that more offline of the group to get something more people are interested in on the books.

I won't be able to get to this probably until the weekend at least at this point. I haven't read a kindle/hard copy word since last Friday, and probably won't get another one in before the weekend. Just finishing up 2nd All Souls (long ) audio and then have 3 more lined up right after it. I'll probably just try and read it hard copy (I have it from the lbirary) and speed through it when I get a chance.

Like I mentioned, I've only read the first two Rock Chicks, enough to remember names and that's about it. Jet I know is the heroine of the second Rock Chick book, but I don't remember Roxie at all. Then she starts mentioning Cam and a few other names, and I got very confused, winding up assuming it was more Rock Chick books I hadn't read.

I've read six of her books now, and of the six, only two were at or above three stars. As I'm now poised to read the one I was aiming for, I'll finish it out, do a re-read on Own the Wind and see if it's worth the rating I gave it in light of the backstory I will, at that point, have, then finish the Chaos series to date with Fire Inside. I'll give up on the author at that point.

Since you're a Mod now, can you set up a thread so that nominations can come in for the next group read and get it set up for November, since we seem to be in agreement on abandoning this series for group reading? Maybe even send out a group wide private message letting folks know to nominate/vote? I just can't see us torturing ourselves any longer with this series!

I will do that. I'll check with the other mods and get it set up tomorrow.

Penni wrote: "I will do that. I'll check with the other mods and get it set up tomorrow."

Cool, thanks, Penni!

WHY DIDN'T y'all tell me this book was good? I am really really liking it.
Of course, I am reading it NOT listening to it. But this heroine is just shy and sweet, not a dingbat like book 1 girl

After I finish this one, I will go back and read book 2 so the universe doesn't disenegrate due to "skipping" and reading out of order

Ezinwanyi~the Troublemaker wrote: "WHY DIDN'T y'all tell me this book was good? I am really really liking it.
Of course, I am reading it NOT listening to it. But this heroine is just shy and sweet, not a dingbat like book 1 girl"

I'm glad you're liking it, Ezi! I didn't, which is why I didn't mention it again. I also had problems with book two in the series. For me, Motorcycle Man was the best of the series, and it makes Own the Wind much better having read it!

Trea wrote: "Ezinwanyi~the Troublemaker wrote: "WHY DIDN'T y'all tell me this book was good? I am really really liking it.
Of course, I am reading it NOT listening to it. But this heroine is just shy and sweet..."

It's weird, but I keep smiling as I read this book.

Ezinwanyi~the Troublemaker wrote: "It's weird, but I keep smiling as I read this book. "

She's smiling while reading Kristen Ashley?!? I don't know if I should *Woop* with joy, or run for cover to hide from the coming armageddon. Surely this is a sign of the apocalypse.

Alana ~ The Book Pimp wrote: "Ezinwanyi~the Troublemaker wrote: "It's weird, but I keep smiling as I read this book. "

She's smiling while reading Kristen Ashley?!? I don't know if I should *Woop* with joy, or run for cover ..."

I fear it is the apocalypse as I skipped book 2 by accident. But I am enjoy how mitch was coaxing her out of her shell considering Mara thinks she is a 2.5 and he is a Ten. LOL!

KA may yet get me as a fan

Alana ~ The Book Pimp wrote: "I tried to warn y'all! Mara is a doormat, she is my least favorite KA heroine"

Mara has been my favorite heroine in the 3 KA books I have read. Her mother really stomped out this girls self esteem but she works hard, she is a nice person and she is respectful and NOT a floozy.

I loved her for persevering despite the TT TWins

Trea wrote: "Penni wrote: "Boy, you are powering through it. Go girl!

Mitch can be a regular A-hole, as bad as Hawk, if not worse sometimes, but there are times when he dons his "knight's armor" and rescues Mara, both from outside forces and herself. This is not a bad thing...."

OMG, I didn't think Mitch was an ass at all. He knew she was in that bad place mentally and he wasn't having her go all "you are a 10, and I am a lowly 1.5 etc".
He bid his time for 2 years. Go Mitch.

I love a man who just took on some kids who weren't his own. Not just a good cop, but a good person.

I wish his sister will buy me some furniture