Tag Archives: Noelle Adams

CARPOOL (Milford College #1) by Noelle Adams-Review Tour

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CARPOOL (Milford College #1) by Noelle Adams-review tour

ebook ONLY 99¢ Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Apple /Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 17, 2019

The last thing I want is to share a forty-five minute commute with the most obnoxious (and attractive) man I know. But I can’t afford a new transmission right now, so I’m stuck with Marcus for at least a month.

He promises to be good, but Marcus Greene is never good. And I’m not sure how long I can resist him.

Carpool is the first book in the Milford College series about the faculty and staff of a small liberal arts college

••••••••••

REVIEW: CARPOOL is the first instalment in Noelle Adams’ contemporary, adult MILFORD COLLEGE erotic, romance series of novellas focusing on the men and women who work at Milford College, a small liberal arts college in Virginia. This is thirty-two year old, Director of Facilities Marcus Greene, and twenty-eight year old, financial assistant personnel Jennifer Raleigh’s story line.

NOTE: CARPOOL was originally released as a newsletter serial in the author’s email newsletter.

Told from first person point of view (Jennifer) CARPOOL follows the building relationship between thirty-two year old, former bad boy and current Director of Facilities Marcus Greene, and twenty-eight year old, financial assistant personnel Jennifer Raleigh. Growing up in Sterling, Virginia Marcus Greene’s reputation as a trouble maker preceded his introduction to our story line heroine. With her car in for repairs, and with no other option for commuting the forty-five minute drive to Milford College, Jennifer Raleigh reluctantly approaches the only person she knows who may be able to help her out with transportation between work and home. Enter Marcus Greene, a man Jennifer believes despises the ground upon which she walks, but the man with whom she will fall in love. What ensues is the back and forth, acrimonious relationship and building romance between Jennifer and Marcus, and the potential fall-out as miscommunication and misunderstanding, and a pattern of failed relationships threatens to destroy Jennifer and Marcus’ fragile hold of one another.

Throughout the story our couple struggle with their one on one time enclosed in a car together for forty-five minutes. Marcus and Jennifer make ‘small talk’ about everything and nothing getting to ‘know’ one another yet revealing very little about their lives and themselves.

The relationship between Jennifer and Marcus is one of immediate attraction but Marcus’ teenaged reputation as a troublemaker has followed our hero into adulthood, affecting friendships, and the possible relationship with the woman with whom he will fall in love. Hoping one day Jennifer will ‘see’ the real Marcus Greene, Marcus offers up a friends-with-benefits relationship as they get to know one another over the upcoming weeks. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text but I struggled to feel any real palpable, sexual attraction or energy. Perhaps if we had Marcus’ perspective we would be more aware of his emotions and mind set as it pertains to relationships and his struggle to ‘close the deal’.

The secondary and supporting characters are few. We are introduced to Jennifer’s grandmother; assistant professor of history at Milford College and Jennifer’s best friend Beck, as well as her best friend from high school Giselle.

CARPOOL is a story of preconceived notions and discrimination based upon youthful exuberance and childhood mistakes. The premise is engaging; the romance is flirty; the characters are energetic but struggle with the little things that shouldn’t matter.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

 

I nod and open the passenger door, reaching down to grab the strap of my purse.
I blink when he gets out too.
“What are you doing?” I ask, my voice sharp because I’m confused.
“I’m walking you to the door. Do you have a problem with that?”
“But why?”
“Why not?”
I don’t have an answer to the question. And since he didn’t give me an answer, I feel like I don’t have to give one to him either.
But I’m shuddering with something like excitement as we reach the front stoop of my grandmother’s house. I stop and stare up at him.
He’s gazing down at me with that same deep, warm expression I saw in him earlier.
Right before he kissed me.
“Why are you doing this, Marcus?” My voice breaks slightly because I’m pulsing with everything I’m feeling.
“I’m just standing at your door.”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
He nods, his mouth relaxing slightly. “I’m doing it because I want to kiss you again, and I think you want that too.”
I lick my lips. He sees it. His expression heats up.
It thrills me so much I quickly get my tongue back into my mouth and swallow hard. “I don’t know, Marcus. I don’t usually do things… just for fun.”
“I know you don’t. But I keep telling you that you’re allowed. Kissing me would be fun for you. And for me. It doesn’t have to mean anything more. It doesn’t have to change anything important about your world. So why shouldn’t we do it again?”
“Because… because I think it would… If we do it again, we’re going to do more than kiss.”
He chuckles softly and reaches up to brush some hair back from my face. “Yes. We probably will.”
“And you think that can be just for fun? No… no… pressure or complications?” I can’t believe I’m even considering no-strings-attached sex, but that’s exactly what I’m doing.
That’s what Marcus is offering.
And I want it so much.
“Yes. I think so. If that’s what you want.”
“That’s all it could be between us. For obvious reasons.”
He gives a slight nod. “Yes.”
This confirms a tiny, lingering question I’d never even acknowledged. And it makes things so much safer.
Safe enough for me to let myself be tempted for real.
After all, sex with Marcus is going to be good. I know it for sure. And if I can enjoy it—have some fun—in a way that both of us agree will lead to nothing disruptive to my life, why the hell shouldn’t I?
Why can’t I be like everyone else and just let go now and then?
It doesn’t have to threaten the security of my world.
I really think I could let go with Marcus and still be safe.
He confirms this by saying in a more serious tone, “I’m here for anything you want, Jennifer. Anything. Just name it. But if it’s not what you want, all you have to do is tell me, and I’ll never make a move on you again.”
I gulp. “I… do want it.”
“Yeah?” He tilts his head down.
“Yeah.”
“So you want to try to have a little fun and see what happens?”
Somehow I’ve made up my mind. I’ve decided. Everything inside me wants to do this, so I’m going to do it after all. “Yeah. That’s what I want.”
His eyes smolder in a way that makes my heart clench.
And other parts of me clench as well.
“So I can kiss you again?”
I nod. “Please do.” 


 

Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she teaches English, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.

She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances.

Connect with Noelle:

Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  BookBub

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Packaged Husband (Trophy Husbands #3) by Noelle Adams-a review

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PACKAGED HUSBAND (Trophy Husbands #3) by Noelle Adams-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 15, 2019

On a Wednesday afternoon, Owen Masterson asks me to marry him.

I’ve never met the man before.

All I wanted was a job repackaging his image. He needs to ramp up his cool-factor to attract partnerships with better designers for his family’s department store. But he wants me to be his temporary trophy wife instead.

I need to get out from under my grandfather’s control and don’t really care how I do it. Honestly, I’ll rock the hell out of being a temporary trophy wife.

So maybe I’ll marry him for a year, even though he has no social skills and he’s a lot older than me. But I’m not going to fall for him.

I hope.

•••••••••

REVIEW: PACKAGED HUSBAND is the third instalment in Noelle Adams’ contemporary, adult TROPHY HUSBANDS erotic, romance series. This is forty-one year old, businessman Owen Masterson, and twenty-four year old Chelsea Greyson’s story line. PACKAGED HUSBAND can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary.

Told from first person point of view (Chelsea) PACKAGED HUSBAND follows the marriage of convenience between forty-one year old, businessman Owen Masterson, and twenty-four year old Chelsea Greyson. Owen Masterson needs a total make-over: from fashion to hair-cut, attitude and emotion, Owen’s outward appearance is a direct representation of the family owned business Masterson’s Department Stores, a business caught in a time-loop, barely able to survive. Enter twenty-four year old Chelsea Greyson, the youngest granddaughter of Pop’s Greyson, and a woman struggling to find her place in the world. Knowing Owen is desperate, Chelsea offers to become Owen’s wife, an offer with an expiry date after one year. What ensues is the slow building and awkward relationship between Owen and Chelsea, and the potential fall-out as Owen panics when his feelings become real.

The relationship between Chelsea and Owen begins as a business arrangement. Chelsea has no experience in the working world, and offers herself up to be the store’s latest intern. As the weeks turn into months, feelings develop between our leading couple, feelings that may not be reciprocated –in one way or another. The $ex scenes are intimate, passionate and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are re-introduced to Chelsea’s sisters and their significant others: Trevor and Melissa (Part-Time Husband #1) Hunter and Samantha (Practice Husband #2), as well as their grandfather Pops Greyson, and Chelsea’s best friend Eva.

PACKAGED HUSBAND is a story of family, friendship, desperation and love. Owen’s cold demeanor, and lack of any personality is less than engaging-even our heroine calls him ‘grandpa’ and ‘old fuddy-duddy’, and in this Owen is a difficult character to like or get to know. The premise is entertaining; the romance struggles in the face of misperception, misunderstandings, and the lack of knowledge about one another; the characters battle issues of self-esteem, issues that are continuously reinforced throughout the story. PACKAGED HUSBAND is some-what heart-breaking in that Chelsea Greyson is hoping for love while Owen Masterson, out of touch with the real world, is oblivious to his wife’s fracturing heart.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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Complicating (Preston’s Mill #3) by Noelle Adams & Samantha Chase-a review

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COMPLICATING (Preston’s Mill #3) by Noelle Adams and Samantha Chase-a review

Complicating

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 17, 2017

Forget all those other accidental pregnancy romances you might have read.

Daisy and Carter don’t have a one-night stand…because it’s thirty minutes in a back room at a wedding reception. And Carter isn’t a bad boy baby-daddy…except for the motorcycle, tattoos, and attitude. Daisy doesn’t have the typical issues with her pregnancy…if you don’t count the morning sickness, food cravings, and occasional horniness. And Carter doesn’t hang around all the time, wanting both her and the baby…until he falls in love.

But they definitely don’t become a happy family…right away.

Daisy has always been a good girl. She’s never done anything wild or spontaneous until she has a little too much to drink at a wedding and has a fling with a sexy stranger. She thought they were careful, but accidents happen. And now she’s going to have the baby of a man she barely knows.

Carter is her opposite in every way and completely the wrong man for her. They can still work out a reasonable arrangement regarding the baby. But the more time she spends with him, the less reasonable she feels. And he’s acting all possessive and protective, so it gets harder and harder to convince herself that he’s just the father of her baby.

She wants him to be so much more.

•••••••••••••

REVIEW: COMPLICATING is the third installment in Noelle Adams /Samantha Chase’s contemporary, adult PRESTON’S MILL romance series focusing on the town and people of Preston’s Mills. This is Daisy, Preston’s Mills librarian, and Norfolk mechanic Carter Hayes’s story line. COMPLICATING can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Daisy and Carter) COMPLICATING follows the building relationship between Preston’s Mill uptight, shy librarian Daisy, and motorcycle riding, tattooed mechanic Carter Hayes. While attending Chris and Heather’s wedding Daisy was challenged by her best friend Chloe to hit on three men throughout the evening, and in doing so Daisy came face to face with the man who would become an integral part of her future. A quickie in the closet with Carter Hayes leads to an unplanned pregnancy, and Daisy is all but willing to go it alone without the help of the child’s father. Carter maybe a little rough looking for the small town of Preston’s Mill but he is a man who is determined to be a part of his child’s life. What ensues is the back and forth, emotional roller coaster as Carter tries to support the mother of his child while said mother does everything to push Carter out of their lives with her fierce need to be totally independent.

COMPLICATING is a story about two people unprepared for the future that is about to change their lives. The heroine’s immature attitude and lack of compassion as it pertained to the father of her child made for many difficult moments throughout the story. For most of the story line Daisy was unwilling to compromise or let go of her preconceived notions and ideas . As hard as Carter tried to be a part of Daisy and his unborn child’s life, he couldn’t quite live up to Daisy or the town’s perception of the perfect father image. And of course, to complicate matters, Carter panics on more than one occasion as the reality of the situation hits too close to home.

The relationship between Daisy and Carter begins as a dare that quickly morphs into a lifelong connection with the impending birth of their son or daughter, and because of the forced situation the emotional ties that would have otherwise developed in a loving relationship were few and far between. Months will pass before any semblance of love or togetherness is permanently offered due to the heroine’s inability to accept what Carter was willing to offer, and even then, the profession of love felt forced and underwhelming. The limited number of $ex scenes are mostly implied.

COMPLICATING was a difficult read for me as I struggled to accept the heroine’s attitude and immature behavior. Carter, as the expectant father, was willing to stand up and do everything he could for the mother of his child but Daisy’s need to be independent of the man with whom she would fall in love, was disconcerting and uncomfortable especially at a time when some men are unwilling to accept responsibility for an unplanned child. This was not a case of rampant feminism but of a woman  unwilling to look at the bigger picture. Although COMPLICATING is a story of fiction, the heroine’s attitude was unacceptable (for me) under the circumstance, as Carter never gave any indication that he would be an unwilling or unacceptable father, and yet he was quickly judged unsuitable by the people of Preston’s Mill-small town mentality not one of my favorite tropes. As with everything in life, opinions are subjective, and other readers may see a different side to the story line heroine.

Oh, and the cover is completely wrong. Carter is said to be well-built, with unruly dark hair, covered in tattoos; and Daisy is a woman with long red hair. Not quite the image portrayed on the story-book cover.

Copy supplied for review.

Reviewed by Sandy

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