Review: No Sunshine When She's Gone by Kate Angell

Disclaimer: I've received No Sunshine When She's Gone as an eARC from Netgalley


No Sunshine When She's Gone by Kate Angell
published by Kensington in April 2014

Life's a Beach

Though his family owns the charming beachside town of Barefoot William, Aidan Cates is as down-to-earth as the locals. He's also practical to a fault and doesn't believe some psychic on the boardwalk can predict his future.

Jillie Mac is as free as an ocean breeze, so when the hot stranger and his date mistake her for a fortune teller, she's ready to have some fun. But one devastating secret told, one mistaken identity revealed, and numerous long summer nights later, it's Jillie and Aidan who discover that sometimes love comes with a simple twist of fate.

Genre: Contemporary romance
Series: Barefoot William, Book #3

The Story: I think the blurb for No Sunshine When She's Gone was a bit misleading. Here are some of the details that were left out...

Jillian Mac and her best friend, Carrie Waters, both work for the Community Affairs department of the baseball team, the Richmond Rogues. With the new Richmond Rogues Spring Training Facility being built in the Gulf Coast, they have been sent to Barefoot William and Saunders Shore to connect with the locals and drum up interest for the new spring-training facility. In order to do so, she will be working closely with the Cates family who own Barefoot William, and more particularly, Aidan Cates whose construction company has been hired to build the spring-training facility. However, she never expected to meet him when he and his date mistake her for a psychic and ask for a reading!

From their first meeting, Aidan is attracted to and intrigued by Jillian. He wants her and for more than a fling... However, Jillian doesn't have the best track record with relationship and therefore avoids them. How to convince her?

My Opinion: From my reading experience and reviews on blogland, Ms Angell has a writing style that either works for you or doesn't. It has to do with the fluffiness of her writing, the lack of research sometimes and the secondary characters and romance taking too much pages. I have to admit that the third factor has been a constant complaint of mine with her books and it's no different with No Sunshine When She's Gone ^_^; Despite that flaw, I like her writing style and books and this time was no exception, I enjoyed No Sunshine When She's Gone immensely :)

Funnily enough, it's not the usual elements that stood out in No Sunshine When She's Gone for me ^_^; Sure, Aidan and Jillie Mac were nice characters and their romance started out quite strong. I liked how they didn't fall into bed right away, it just increased the sexual tension between them which was great! It's unfortunate that once they got together though, the romance kind of fizzled out ^_^; Mainly because Jillie Mac had the weird notion that a relationship wouldn't work out. It was too bad because I would have enjoyed scenes of Aidan and Jillian together as a couple, settling into a routine. Oh well. What I did like was Aidan's attitude. He didn't beg Jillian to give it a try, didn't trick or manipulate her into a relationship. Instead, he left her alone to figure it out... and she did :) Had she not, I'm sure he would have gone after her eventually... but I have to say, I liked that he gave her space.

As usual, there was a secondary romance in No Sunshine When She's Gone. This one was between Carrie and Aidan's friend and second-in-command in the construction company, Mike Burke... And no, it didn't outshine Aidan and Jillian's romance. Carrie and Mike's romance was okay. Mike had an interesting back story, but his attitude made it hard to sympathize with him. On one hand though, I liked that he was who he was and didn't apologize for it... On the other hand, I wonder if he was always like that or his injury changed him. I wished Ms Angell had developed his character a bit more and the romance as well. This one was quite rapid and hard to believe in because of how fast it happened. Especially since Mike and Carrie didn't seem to have much in common.

All right, so what stood out for me if it weren't the characters and the romances? First, the setting. Ms Angell really makes Barefoot William and Saunders Shores come alive and oh, how I wish I was there. You can almost feel the sun shining, the sand between your toes, the salty air, the carnival sounds. LOL. Secondly, there was also the tie-in between this series and Ms Angell's previous one, the Richmond Rogues series. It was nice to see some old characters... and there was a nice twist involving Psycho. Also, the baseball atmosphere fit right in the series :) Last and not least, Olive the parrot just stole the spotlight in No Sunshine When She's Gone :) She was first introduced in No Tan Lines and makes a comeback in here. She was so much fun! LOL. Makes me almost want a parrot :P

There's not much that scream more summer than beach and baseball... and as a result, it made No Sunshine When She's Gone a great summer read :) Especially after the long and rough winter we've had! Seriously, this book just cheered me up and that's why I am willing to overlook some of its flaws.

My Grade: B.

Review: Sweet Spot by Kate Angell

Hey everyone!! So how was your week-end? I hope every mom got a nice Mother's Day and caught a bit of a break :) My sister and I... well my sister, LOL, cooked supper and I made a salad. I think my parents both really enjoyed it. Otherwise, let see, we did some yard work on Saturday. It was fun, but so tiring! My parents haven't been interested in yard work in the past couple of years... but they seem into it this year. My dad wants roses again and they've even discussed getting some bushes. I think it's good for them, another hobby :P I know my father will be babying those roses and it will give something else to do.

In other news, I bought new glasses!! Actually, I bought 2 pairs! As soon as I get them, I'll show you :) And that's pretty much it with me these days...

As you've probably noticed, I've been on a YA kick lately :) I don't know, just feel like reading them... Also, they were many just released. To avoid this from becoming YA central, I'm going to try to balance it better with non-YA books review. First up is Sweet Spot by Kate Angell :) I really enjoy Ms Angell's books. I can't pinpoint it, but the style just suits me. Ms Angell was contracted with Dorchester and we all know what happened to that publishing house. So two years after it was supposed to be released, we finally get the ending to her Richmond Rogues baseball series :) Enjoy!


Sweet Spot by Kate Angell

published by Kensington in May 2012

Score

James "Law" Lawless is the star second baseman for the Richmond Rogues, the wildest group of free swingers ever to barnstorm their way through the big leagues. So when he hooks up with a seductive stranger at a costume party, it feels like he just hit the winning run of the World Series.

Extra Innings

Catherine "Cat" May was the hot number in that skimpy Wonder Woman costume. But she's not about to let Law know it--especially after he hires her to help him expand his off-the-field business empire. But how's she going to keep her identity secret when his every touch urges her to make him her very own...

Genre: Contemporary romance, Sports romance
Series: The Richmond Rogues series, Book #5 (End)

The Story: James Lawless plays second base for the Richmond Rogues and he is also independently wealthy, being the sole heir to the Grace Hotels Worldwide. Recently, James has established Prosper, an organization that supports graduates from the Richmond Business College in starting their careers as small business owners. For the program, James intends to buy Haunt, a club where inhibitions are left at the doors and anonymity is key as the customers come disguised. A big fan of superheroes and comics, James - dressed as Captain America - decides to check out the club. There, he meets Wonder Woman and sparks fly between them. When Wonder Woman runs out on him, leaving her Lasso of Truth, James vows to find her again.

The next day, James meet Catherine May who is in charge for looking for good investments for the Prosper program. James is attracted to Cat, but he can't forget Wonder Woman. Also, while attracted to Cat, he knows that she comes with strings attached... and James may never be ready for commitment, after losing his parents in a tragic car accident. Meanwhile, Cat has no intentions of revealing the truth: she was Wonder Woman. Having behaved uncharacteristically that night, she only wants to forget... but James is persistent. And as she comes to know the baseball player, Cat is not so sure of her decision anymore.

There's also a secondary story involving Brody Jones, the Rogues' new short stop. Being new to the majors, Brody is enjoying his success, i.e. the money and the women. When his fiancée shows up, it puts a cramp in his style and all he wants is for Maggie to return to their hometown... Oh and to break their engagement. But Maggie proves to be more stubborn and determined than Brody gave her credit for.

My Opinion: Yay, I finally got to read Sweet Spot! And I really want to congratulate Ms Angell for her tenacity! I really believed at one point that Sweet Spot would never be released, but I was wrong!! And it's instance like this one I'm glad to be wrong :) Because of the wait though, I find it really difficult to write a review for Sweet Spot. On one hand, the expectations are quite high and on the other, I can't really be objective ^_^; However, I'm still going to give it a try, so bear with me :)

All in all, I did like and enjoy Sweet Spot. It was a nice book, but definitively not a wowzer. I'd say one of the reasons it wasn't a wowzer was its lack of substance. James and Cat were likable characters and I loved the scenes with the baseball team. The interactions and camaraderie between the men were great and as a result, it gave a good feel to the book. And as usual, Psycho stole the spotlight for me :) Two of my favorite scenes were when they were betting who'd get his wife pregnant first and when their costumes choices for the opening of Haunt - superheroes or sidekicks - depended on their batting results :) It was so hilarious LOL. Those were great moments, but it was all very light. I felt like Ms Angell laid it out there for readers to read - the characters, the possible conflicts like James' fear of commitment, the romance, but it was never fully developed, fleshed out. I guess what I mean is the story was quite superficial :( For example, you have two good characters that are attracted to each other. They got to know each other a little by hanging out... I actually appreciated seeing them hanging out, but I wonder if that part needed to be so detailed? Because when it came time to really get James and Cat together, instead of developing the romance, Ms Angell switched gear and introduced the secondary storyline with Brody and Maggie ^_^; It left me wanting more meaningful moments between Cat and Law which is kind of weird when they've actually spent quite a lot of time together. The romance simply felt fast and I couldn't really pinpoint when Cat and Law became an official couple :(

I also felt the secondary storyline involving Brody and Maggie was totally superfluous. Especially since Brody acted like a jerk and it made it really hard to root for him. Those pages would have been better spent focusing on James and Cat. Also, as it's been pointed out in reviews for the previous books, Ms Angell's knowledge for baseball lacks a bit of research ^_^; So I did like the actual sport scenes - there were a few. However, other elements really didn't make sense. For example, all the players coming to work for the team once they stop playing ball? Yeah, not going to happen.

Still, despite all the issues, I liked Sweet Spot because it was a light and fun read. I also happen to enjoy Ms Angell's writing style a lot :) Plus, I love the team and am sad this is the end of the series. Speaking of the end, the epilogue was extremely cheesy, but cute :)

My Grade: My initial reaction when I finished Sweet Spot was to give it a B-. However, if I'm being honest instead of a fangirl, which is the point of this review, this book deserves a C... In the end, I'll give it a C+ because I really enjoyed re-visiting some of the characters :) Honesty mixed with some of the fangirl - fair right?

Review: Squeeze Play and Curve Ball by Kate Angell

I've recently discovered this author while I was looking for something funny to read. While her books aren't that funny and even if I have some issues with them, they are quite enjoyable and fun to read.


Squeeze Play by Kate Angell
published by Love Spell in June 2006

Risk Kincaid has just won the World Series with the Rogues from Richmond. Now, he's going back to his hometown of Frostproof where he's going to spend a month; first for the charity event organized by another baseball player and his childhood friend, Aaron Grayson, but also to spend time with Jacy Grayson. Jacy is a sassy and spirited woman who owns a coffee shop... and Risk thinks he is her rebound lover... Basically, Risk and Jacy became an item soon before Risk left to start his pro career and knowing the demands, he didn't want to commit to Jacy, but promised her he would be always there when she needed him most, i.e. when her heart got broken - which is how they first got together.

Genre: Contemporary romance, Sport romance (baseball)
Series: The Richmond Rogues series, Book #1

Why I got this book? I got and read Curve Ball first and enjoyed it... so I decided to get this one too.

My first impression: I enjoyed this book. Of course, it wasn't perfect, but it was quick and fun. My only problem with this book is there were three storylines: 1) Risk and Jacy, 2) Zen (another baseball player) and Stevie and 3) Aaron and Natalie, and we get to follow all three in the same book. In this one, it does work because all three players are here for the same reason and the book spans a short period of time... however, I'd rather follow only the main characters and their sex scenes, instead of all three couples.

The Characters: I really enjoyed all the characters except for Natalie and Aaron. Risk and Jacy were just perfect together... Risk is the mature ball player who's been a pro long enough and the fast and edgy life is no longer appealing. Instead, he wants to make his relationship with Jacy official. I think he came across as everything to the reader - lover, big brother and friend, as well as handsome and sexy man :) I like his protective and jealous side :) Jacy was fun. She's lively, likes colors and changes... think of new-age outside, without the new-age thinking. She knows Risk is a public face with a lot of groupies, but she's confident in herself, enough not to panic and run away. She's also building her courage to tell Risk the truth - that she loves him... and that all those break-ups she had were with imaginary boyfriends, and all she wanted was Risk.

As I said, we also follow Zen and Stevie's relationship and Aaron and Natalie. I liked Zen and Stevie... Zen was the serious type, the one that doesn't simply see the outside appearance of a person. Very logical man who falls in love - always fun :) Stevie always thought she would marry Aaron, but then get dumped without notice when Aaron announced his engagement to the very rich and spoiled Natalie. It doesn't help that Stevie has gained quite a lot of weight in the past year, ever since Aaron has been distancing himself from her. I liked Stevie, she was genuine... of course, she took the break-up hard, but Zen was there for her and she quickly got over him... Aaron and Natalie were my least favorite couple... basically, I think they are fake and phony and that Aaron is very stupid. I also didn't believe in Natalie's love for Aaron at the end. We're also introduced to the Bat Pack, three young ball players with a lot of powers... their job was to provide the comedy relief and they delivered :D

I guess that's pretty much it. I think that everything tied in quite well - the characters, their relationships to each other and the events/what is happening. Like I said, I just simply didn't like Aaron and Natalie and the fact that all three couples had sex scenes. I don't know, I prefer to follow one couple... I don't mind the knowledge of them having sex, but don't like to read about it. Of course, I don't think that everyone will mind that :P

Grade: B


Curve Ball by Kate Angell

published by Love Spell in August 2007

The Bat Pack are the bad boys of baseball and have always live fast and hard, but all this comes to an end when they actually fight with their new star pitcher on Media Day, just before the start of the season. As a result, they are being benched for 13 matches... and all have to find how to spend that time...

Genre: Contemporary romance, Sport romance (baseball)
Series: The Richmond Rogues, book #2

Why I got this book? I was looking for something funny. Someone recommend this to me at the used bookstore.

My first impressions: For some reason, I really liked this book... probably for the characters. I don't think that most of you will find it as enjoyable as much as I did. Again, we follow 3 couples. The three main guys were introduced in Squeeze Play, but I read that book afterwards... Unfortunately, I don't think that the author did as good as a job in this book intertwining the three relationships with the events. I guess it would have been better if each player had their own book, but all three books happened at the same time... understand what I mean?

1) Psycho (Cody McMillan) and Keely Douglas (his decorator): Psycho is the crazy one, the dangerous one, the one no one can predict... he's also a confirm nudist. In Squeeze Play, he was a funny PITA, but he comes across much more dangerous in this book. I liked him... as Keely says, "Mr. McMillan says and does what he pleases. He doesn't give a damn. That fascinates ppl." I totally agree :) As for Keely, she's the poor girl, fed up of small job and trying out as a decorator. It's kind of unbelievable that she pulled it off, but aside from that, I liked her. I guess because she can stand on her own and even say no to Psycho, without being too ass-kicking... Personally, I think they were my favorite couple... there's just something about Psycho :)

2) Romeo (Jesse Bellisaro) and Emerson Kent (a sport reporter): Romeo is the playboy, the one with way too many women buzzing around him. Emerson is a sport reporter and she intrigues Romeo, mainly by not falling at his feet. Basically, I don't have much to say about them, because I think this one was the most boring out of all three couples and their story was the most cliché...

3) Chaser (Chase Tallan) and Jen Reid: Jen is Chaser childhood friend and neighbour. Basically, they're still living next to each other and after a surprise kiss, sparks fly and they realized that the person they've been looking for was there all along. Seriously, who doesn't like the whole best friends turn lovers plot? The only problem was this was way, way, way too short. We were introduced to them, they kiss and then, didn't appear for awhile. Then, went on a couple of blind dates and realized that they want to be together, had sex and then, we didn't see them anymore, at all! I mean, come on... why write their story then?

So obviously, there were some problems; however, the book wasn't all that bad. The characters were fun and I enjoyed seeing professional players outside of sports. All the charity activities they participate in and their interaction, that I liked. Still, I'd have like them to have all their own books.

Grade: B-

ps. Anyone has read Ms Angell's previous books? They are not sport books, so I don't know if I'll enjoy them as much... so I want others' opinion :)