Three of Hearts           
Buy Amazon
Add to Goodreads

Mae Turney is searching for the type of life and happiness she has never known but has only dreamed about. She's fortunate enough to find a great opportunity to live in an exterior apartment of a beautiful lake house in a small town in Vermont. When she realizes the apartment and scenery are not the only gorgeous appeal but the home owner, Seth Finn, is as well, she puts it all on the line for the chance at love. When she becomes comfortable and confident in her own skin and sexuality, Mae realizes that this place and this man is exactly what she came looking for. Knowing Seth and his three children are as special as they come, Mae bets the house, and prays she and her gamble are enough.



Welcome to Hamden, Vermont...

Mae has just relocated from Boston to this small town. She wants to get away from the hustle and bustle and be part of a community. She is a caring Oncology nurse with a big heart. She is a curvier woman, used to being alone and does not have the best sense of self esteem. She ends up renting a beautiful apartment on a lake front property next to an amazing house.  The woman vacating the apartment it is all too happy to introduce Mae to her brother, the owner, Seth Finn. He is  hot, sexy, big as a brick wall, widowed, and father of three. It does not take long for them to quietly lust after each other and eventually get involved. 

Seth wanted to come here and talk to her and talk with her, but as soon as his hands touched her talking was the last thing on his mind. His desire for Mae was like an inferno. If he didn't have her he was going to burn alive. 

The more he tasted and touched the more he needed Mae. She had somehow gone from his libido to his heart.

I really liked Seth and Mae together. They both had huge hearts and really needed to have a connection with someone. They were hot and sexy(yes, lots of steamy sex scenes) and things seemed to be going well. His three kids added more excitement and personality to their lives. At this point, I have to admit that this couple seemed to be too good to be true and I was wondering what the rest of the book was going to offer. Seth is honest, sweet, loving, romantic, successful, and finally finding happiness again. Mae is such a warm, compassionate, and understanding woman. And together they have chemistry, passion, and strong feelings. 

"God D, she is like nothing I've ever known. I crave her as if I can't survive without her."

"Mae is the best thing for you and the kids. I've seen you react to her, you are aware of her in every sense as she is to you, man. She is who I think Maggie would pick for you."

"...just as I respect her, I'll respect you. You are not a replacement in any way; you are your own person and what I feel for you, is yours and wholly yours."

But in any good book, there has to be drama and tension from somewhere and it definitely came. And the last part of the book, I realized just how invested I was in Mae, Seth, and the kids. I wanted to alternately smack them both in parts of the book. I was heart broken and frustrated. 

God, how did he make such a giant mess of the priceless blessing he was given? Tina hit the nail on the head; he could screw up a free lunch.

I found the ending so touching that I have to admit I shed a tear. It was really a sweet story of second chance at love, the love of family and friends, and community of small town life. She really created a wonderful group of friends and family in this book. Seth has two best friends that have been with him since childhood. Dylan, is the flirty, hot, ladies man with a chip on his shoulder who does not think he will ever settle down. Wes, is the more sensitive, sweet, type of hunk. Seth's sister Robyn and her fiance' Bryan, Mae's friends Leo and Robert, and a whole town full of characters really enriched the story and made you wish you lived in Hamden.

The author uses POVS from multiple characters intermingled throughout the scenes and not clearly defined by chapters. At first, that was a little different for me, but I got used to it.  I have to admit that the copy I read had some editing and grammatical issues. The author says that there has been more editing done. But it did not take away from my love for the story.  

Book 2 Three of Spades is about Dylan...see next review...
Book 3 Three of Diamonds will be Wes' story...it is currently being written...

Thanks to Wendy Ferraro for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Three of Spades      
Buy Amazon
Add to Goodreads

Dylan Cross is the type of man that enjoys everything female, and enjoy it he does, but always on his terms. However, his terms are pushed to their limit when Natalie Parker proposes an offer; teach her and her delectable little body, all about sex and desire. There is one catch. He has to play the part of Natalie’s madly in love boyfriend for her dying mother. Dylan signs on, and finds that separating the two is harder than he thought. Natalie’s days of shyness and lack of confidence come to a quick close as she learns what her body craves and demands in the bedroom. Soon, Dylan becomes the student as Natalie teaches him things he didn’t even know he wanted. Will Hamden’s notorious playboy, bachelor be able to keep calling the shots, or will he find that, he, himself, is just another player at the card game of life, as we all are?




Dylan. Tall, dark, and handsome as the cliche goes... 

Now I already adored Dylan from the first book and was looking forward to seeing the cocky, flirty, playboy to find his match. And I can honestly say that this book drew me right in, made me stay up til 1:30 am, and I completely loved it. 

Dylan loved women. He loved how different one could be from the next. He saw beauty in all female forms. In his opinion, there was nothing better than the softness that only a woman could offer. Little else was above the respect and enjoyment he received from each woman he bedded and he made sure none of them had any complaints about him as a lover. 

Natalie is an isolated bookworm and kindergarten teacher who has prioritized taking care of her ill mother and not really lived her own life. She is sweet, loving, nurturing, and has never really had a relationship or lover.  Natalie is about as far as possible from Dylan's "type" as you can get. 

...she picked up her recent cowboy novel and started to read. Reading was not only one of her few gratifying pastimes for Natalie but it also helped her cope with the ongoing stress of Gloria's disease. Natalie enjoyed how she could transport from reality to the story. She imagined that she, herself, was the heroine. It was easy to relate to the heroine's less than attractive looks and self-image. She was intrigued as she read how the heroine made a simple business proposition to a local rancher and how the turn of events and feelings made for a sensual story. 

A challenge and a chance meeting changes everything. 

Natalie looked at Dylan Cross, notorious sex god and heartthrob, directly in his gorgeous dark eyes and said, "Yes, I'd like to pay you to have sex with me."

Dylan is fascinated by the shy young woman who seems to have no idea of her own appeal and no clue how to be involved with a man. She wants something and Dylan seems like her best candidate. He is not sure it is a good idea, but he is already intrigued enough not to want her to ask anyone else. So he signs on to be her "fake" boyfriend and to teach her about sex. 

He suddenly could not help but question if he were really lucky or ultimately just accused of not having any ethics or decency at all. 

It does not take long for things to progress. They are remarkably well suited for each other despite their pasts and differences. I loved them as a couple. Dylan was so patient, supportive, protective, and loving towards her. I loved seeing the changes in Natalie as she found a sense of self confidence and worth. It was interesting seeing Dylan realize that sex is more when you feel something for the woman.  And it was fun to see his friends torture him about going from the guy with an attitude to someone who seems happy. They were hot, passionate, and out of control. 

He stared down at her wondering how a so-called inexperienced virgin could rival any sex siren he had ever known, even as he tried to convince himself that she was, in fact, who she said she was not some evil femme fatale.

"Babe, once again, you made me lose control and I never lose control."

When their time was over, he would go back to his usual way of fun times, short times. But now, with her, he wanted to be someone else. He wanted to be what she needed and ultimately deserved.

And they are clueless about each other's feelings. Fear, miscommunication,  and outside influences all conspire against them. And I was totally turning pages trying to see if they were strong enough to make it work. I could not put it down.  Dylan literally made me swoon in this book. And I love that these books have epilogues! 

I enjoyed seeing more of the characters in Hamden, including Seth and Mae and Robyn and Bryan. And learning more about Wes and being introduced to his love interest in the next book. The prologue at the end of this book already has me intrigued and a bit confused about what is really going on in Three of Diamonds. I am looking forward to their story.

Thanks to Wendy Ferraro for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.