ARE YOU READY FOR SPRING BREAK!!?! ...because I'm surely ready for some sun, beach and warm weather! Be ready to be whisked away to Key West for one week as three best friends, Mackenzie, Quinn and Cassie take off on a week that will change their lives forever (duh duh duhhhhhhh). These three novellas make up the Sex on the Beach series by three awesome authors (who all happen to be named Jen lol). Enjoy today's triple review!
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Between Us by Jen McLaughlin
Mackenzie is a famous country singer labelled America's Sweetheart. She's spent a lot of her life in the limelight doing all that she can to keep her image clean. Hoping to get lost in the crowd during spring break, Mac takes her two best friends, Cassie and Quinn, to Key West for a week of uninhibited fun. She's ready to let loose and finally lose her virginity to some Spring Break guy...so long as he can prove that he's able to keep his mouth shut and not sell her out to the tabloids. Local bad boy--and talented singer, to boot--Austin seems to fit the bill perfectly. He seems just as secretive about his own past and he is hot as hell so why the heck not? Things are perfect until she starts to fall for him and realize that she may want something more than a no-strings-attached vacation fling.
Austin can't believe that his luck finally seems to be changing. After being dealt a shoddy string of it where he ended up being a young guardian to his kid sister, he's given up his dreams and ambitions to care for her. So when Mackenzie Forbes walks into his life and takes him by storm, he's ready for a short and sweet fling like she offers but is anything but prepared when he realizes that he likes her--a lot. He'll never be good enough or have anything to offer to a girl like Mac, so what's he doing?
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Between Us was a cute story and the first I read in this series. I liked this one--two people trying to have a good time thinking that they can both keep their pasts hush until they both realize that they want more--and that means letting the other person in. As secrets start to slowly leak out from either side, the two are forced to get to know one another and complicates things. AH. Spring break fun never stays easy peasy, ever, does it!!?
My Rating: 4 Stars
About Jen McLaughlin
Jen McLaughlin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She writes steamy New Adult books for the young and young at heart. Her first release, Out of Line, came out September 2013. She also writes bestselling Contemporary Romance under the pen name Diane Alberts.Since receiving her first contract offer under the pen name Diane Alberts, she has yet to stop writing. She is represented by Louise Fury at The Bent Agency.
Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal clear water. She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, a schnauzer mutt, a cat, and a Senegal parrot. In the rare moments when she’s not writing, she can usually be found hunched over one knitting project or another. Her goal is to write so many well-crafted romance books that even a non-romance reader will know her name.
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Beyond Me by Jennifer Probst
Quinn has always been the taker-carer of her family and friends. She's putting herself through school while working two jobs and finds herself in the care-giving role more often than she's been taken care of. When her best friend Mackenzie and Cassie drag her down to Key West for spring break, she's not so convinced she can let loose and have a good time. Taking a step out of her comfort zone, she heads out to a house party by herself where she meets James. When she quickly finds out that he's hiding things from her, she walks away--one thing she can't stand are lies.
James has all the money in the world but no real aspirations in life. So when he meets Quinn, he's stunned at her beauty, direction and ambition--there's no way he could ever be worthy of her. When he friends put up a bet for him to try to get her into his bed, he has no qualms until he starts chasing her and realizes that he wants her to himself, all bets aside. Is it truly possible that he's finally met someone who's inspired him to take a handle on his life and create himself a future?
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I'm generally not a big fan of novellas because I find that they're rarely well developed and I normally crave so much more from a book and its characters. Beyond Me is short and sweet--Jennifer does not disappoint. I found that, of the three novellas, this one is a bit more emotional in the sense that there's a whole sob story behind James (though, really, who feels sorry for the rich boy who's got everything at his hands but just isn't smart enough to do anything with it?). Maybe because I relate to Quinn where she just wants to help and fix people, I just felt a need to help James out and, well, I might have married the tattooed bad-boy but I've always had a thing for the preppy frat boys ;) Definitely enjoyed this one most out of the three.
My Rating: 4 Stars
About Jennifer Probst
Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She took a short hiatus to get married, get pregnant, buy a house, get pregnant again, pursue a master’s in English Literature, and rescue two shelter dogs. Now she is writing again.
She makes her home in Upstate New York with the whole crew. Her sons keep her active, stressed, joyous, and sad her house will never be truly clean.
She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of sexy and erotic contemporary romance. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, was ranked #6 on Amazon's Best Books for 2012. She loves hearing from readers. Visit her website for updates on new releases and her street team.
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Before You by Jenna Bennett
Cassie is down in Key West for Spring Break with her two best friends Mackenzie and Quinn. Out of the three girls, she is the most out of her comfort zone. Being the preacher's daughter, she's really stepping outside of her usual comfort zone to try to meet a guy (at the suggestion of her bffs) and have the time of her life. Her sweet and innocent nature is zoned in on by Tyler almost immediately. She hits it off with this mysterious hot guy and he's more than caring but :o he has a girlfriend, OF COURSE. Cue pining. But then things get serious when they start discovering girls that are being drugged and assaulted. As they embark on on their week filled with drugs, cops and trying to find out who's committing these crimes, Cassie tries to remain indifferent to Tyler's hot and cold attitude towards her but things get interesting quickly (well, they have to, these novellas have a one week time span, ok??!)
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To be completely honest, I didn't like this one as much. I think maybe because I really didn't care for Cassie's character. She seemed much too naive for her age (yes, I get it, she's the sweet and innocent preacher's daughter...but some of things that come out of her mouth have me asking *wtf, did she seriously just say that!!?*) and I found it harder to enjoy because of how awkward I found her. I didn't get what was so awesome about her, but that could just be because I don't love people who have no clue (sorry, Cass, I know you're not a ditz but there was just something about you...). I also found that because of their story and how Tyler can't act on anything because of his job, etc., when they finally got together at the end, it seemed really all of a sudden and almost forced. Almost as if there was an *oh, shit, forgot the sex scene--here it is* moment... The story was enjoyable, though, because it was different from the other two and it was nice to read something different but it threw me off a bit because it wasn't the kind of story I expected.
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
About Jenna Bennett
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jenna Bennett (Jennie Bentley) writes the Do It Yourself home renovation mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime and the Cutthroat Business mysteries for her own gratification. She also writes a variety of romance for a change of pace.
Connect with Jenna Bennett on:
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The series as a whole was decent. It's relatively easy to get through and overall a great read despite a few *wtf* moments. And, common, it's gearing up for Spring Break so what's not to love (I'm sitting here typing as the SNOW is falling outside) and dream of!? I loved how the three novellas had a few scenes in common that tied the three together without being annoyingly repetitive. The point of views were definitely interesting--you get more than three which is nice (I almost always love reading the stories in the eyes of the guys). Definitely worth the read--it won't take you long to get through!
Overall Series Rating: 4 Stars
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