Wild For The Girl by Starr Ambrose

 

Available: Now Amazon/B&N

Type: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Pocket E-book

My Copy: Sent

Reviewer: Nikki 

Horse trainer and stable manager T.J. Grady has little patience for anything that doesn’t involve her beloved animals. She’s been burnt before by men who breeze through Barringer’s Pass and think she’ll be an easy love-‘em-and-leave-‘em type, so she keeps to herself and spends her quality time with her strong, patient horses. Reese Barringer fled Barringer’s Pass years ago looking to escape the privilege—and scrutiny—that comes with the notable last name. He’s made a life for himself (complete with picture-perfect Daddy’s-girl ex-girlfriend) in Boston, but now finds himself in his hometown to take over the resort while his father—the formidable Michael Barringer—recovers from an illness. But city-boy Reese and country-gal T.J. must work together because notorious womanizer/actor Tad Prescott is coming to town and someone has to teach him how to ride a horse. When Tad takes a shining to T.J., Reese finds himself wishing he could ride the actor out of town and claim the hot-tempered woman for himself.

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Starr Ambrose brings readers back to her quaint town of Barringer’s Pass in this contemporary novella from Pocket Star’s e-book line. I have enjoyed past books by Starr and I found her voice to be refreshing and direct with each story drawing me in with its well wrote characters .  Wild For The Girl introduces golden boy Reese Barringer who is back in town to help his father run his resort. Reese hates small town life and is counting the days down till he can go back to his fast paced life in Boston. Reese instantly finds friction from T.J. who has been working with his father on setting up trail rides for their guests and working with the horses on training. T.J loves small town life but hides herself away having been rejected once by a man just like Reese.

Reese quickly finds himself jealous when he convinces T.J to give a cocky movie star riding lessons. They had a lot of sexual tension between them and I found that aspect to be what stood out the most about this one. Once the tension breaks I was ready for the novella to be over. The overly obnoxious personal assistant to movie star Tad was also a nice addition but I wanted more there. Ambrose goes out of her way to make this woman threatening to T.J to the point of obvious harassment and possibly stalker-ish to Tad. Nothing ever happens there though and I was left feeling like I hit a wall. Why the buildup to nothing? I wanted the scary chick to come after T.J or something. After a small confrontation though she exits stage left and the story moves a long toward its happily ever after. T.J. while smart, also makes the classic mistake that most heroines make in they jumping to conclusions. When faced with Reeses recent ex,T.J assumes they have reconciled and runs for the hills. This of course sends Reese searching in a desperate attempt to make her understand.

Readers that want something fluffy to fill in between meatier novels should enjoy this one. As well as anyone who enjoys horses since they play center stage throughout the book. I enjoyed it for what it was, a quick contemporary romance. While I don’t think it stands out, it’s still a well wrote, cute read.

I give Wild For The Girl by Starr Ambrose 3 stars!

Gold Fire by Starr Ambrose (Larkin Sisters #2)

Available: November 27,2012 Amazon/ B&N

Type: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Pocket

My Copy: Sent

Reformed wild-woman Zoe Larkin meets her match in saloon-owner Jase Garrett in this lighthearted, steamy romance set in a picturesque mountain resort town.

Welcome to Barringer’s Pass, Colorado—a mountain paradise with a long memory. The Larkin sisters have tried for years to make the town forget the wild ways of their youths, but Alpine Sky Resort assistant manager Zoe Larkin can still feel the judgment, despite her guarded manner and sensible skirts. Her big chance to be taken seriously as a business woman comes in the form of a land deal: all she has to do is persuade the owner of the rundown Rusty Wire saloon to sell so the Alpine Sky can build a golf course on the land.

Jase Garrett made a name for himself as a world-class competitive skiier and won four Olympic medals. But the tragic death of his best friend nine years ago threw him off course, and the Rusty Wire is both his sanctuary and his hideaway, so he will never sell. No matter what.

Zoe goes back to the drawing board with a little assistance from her very attractive boss. But when Jase is the victim of arson, Zoe becomes the number one suspect. Has she sunk to new lows to gain a promotion? Or is she the victim, too?

Zoe and Jase must work together—very closely together—to clear her name, save the Rusty Wire, and see if the sparks fly as well in the bedroom as they do at the negotiating table.

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It’s been just about a year since I read Silver Sparks, the first of the Larkin Sisters books. When I received this one for review I had to go back and re-read my first review to try to reacquaint myself with the females from this strange family. Zoe was raised on a commune for a good chunk of her life by her free spirited mother. When she and her sisters were shipped to her grandmothers to live Zoe became the free spirit of the town. Her and her sisters ran wild and with that attitude came a powerful reputation that even years later, they can’t escape.

Zoe has made her life about order and structure. She focuses solely on her career at the local posh resort and in her quest up that ladder she finds herself at the local bar looking to make a deal with the owner. Except instead of finding it an easy acquisition, she finds the owner Jase to be completely obstinate and unwilling to wheel and deal. Zoe and Jase butted heads constantly and I found their budding relationship both well wrote and funny. Starr does this great combination of sexy, funny and suspenseful without crossing into the suspense genre.  I wanted Zoe to loosen up and let Jase in a lot sooner then she did. I could understand her resistance but at some point, come on…he’s practically begging her to let him in. Knocking down those walls of hers until she has no choice but to confide in him. The push and pull and Jases’s arrogance (yum) were engaging and just….fun.

I enjoyed Jase immensely. He was sexy without being overdone. Jase spends most of the novel talking himself out of liking Zoe because he doesn’t feel he deserves to be happy after the death of his best friend years earlier. In an attempt to make amends and assuage his guilt, he hires his friends widow and his father on at the bar and lets them take over never noticing the hints of the widows failing psyche.

When things start happening around the bar everyone is quick to blame Zoe because of her past and even though the thought does enter Jase’s mind, he believes her innocence and instead thinks someone is out to frame her. The intrigue and “who done it” was enough to keep my attention without it becoming a full on suspense novel. It stayed in happy middle ground and it kept me reading.

I liked this book a lot! It made me smile in a sea of books that made me want to scream “MEH!”. I look forward to reading the last Larkin Sisters book…I just hope I don’t have to wait an entire year.

I give Gold Fire by Starr Ambrose 4 stars!

Silver Sparks by Starr Ambrose (Larkin Sisters #1)

Available: Now Amazon/B&N

Type: Romantic Suspense/Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Pocket Star

My Copy: Sent

The Larkin sisters are used to hearing whispers behind their backs. Being raised by hippie parents in the small resort town of Barringer’s Pass, Colorado, they were always considered oddballs, and for a while, they did everything they could to earn the name. But now, older and wiser, they’re discovering that it’s not so great to be the wild child, and are struggling to earn a new place for themselves in town.

When Maggie Larkin resists the come-ons of a sleazy actor in town to shoot a film, she pisses off more than a pretty boy and his manager. Turns out that Rafe DeLuca isn’t just a movie star…he’s possibly a killer, and Maggie’s landed herself in more trouble than she could imagine. Enter Cal Drummond, cop extraordinaire, who’s been trailing DeLuca himself for weeks, convinced that his recently murdered sister is one of Rafe’s victims. He’s determined not to let another woman be victimized by the dangerous Rafe, and if that means sticking like glue to Maggie, so be it.

Maggie and Cal seem like perfect opposites, but as we all know…opposites attract!

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Decking the infamous Rafe DeLuca in the face for putting his hands on her isn’t the most impulsive thing Maggie has ever done. It is however, probably the most dangerous. Raised by a hippie mom and notoriously naughty Maggie has worked hard to get her reputation back after her carefree teenage days. Now a hardworking store owner, Maggie can’t stand when people bring up her and her sisters pasts. After her fight with Rafe though, her past is all over the news and she is reliving the pain of those rumors all over again.

Cal is on leave from his police department in Oklahoma because he has been tracking De Luca for months. Girls that date him seemingly disappear into thin air, including his baby sister. Except they found her, throat cut and thrown by the side of the road like trash. Now DeLuca has his sights set on Maggie for threatening his playboy reputation and Cal feels responsible for her safety. Battling memories of his own, Cal needs to figure out how to keep Maggie from getting into more trouble now that she’s set in motion a chain of events that can’t be stopped.

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Silver Sparks is a light hearted contemporary romance with just a dash of romantic suspense. I wouldn’t call it gritty in the least. Ambrose writes with a real day feel and her characters are well rounded and at times hilariously funny. Maggie Larkin is such an example. She is completely hard headed and her witty comebacks were incredibly funny. I had to laugh at her stonewalling Cal at every turn. Even when faced with outright danger the woman was still defying his every suggestion. I had to admire her tenacity in a way. Her ability to stand firm even after being attacked and having strange occurrences happen around her and lies told to newspapers about her daily. On the other hand I thought she was incredibly stupid. Just shut your mouth already, geez. Let Cal handle it. Things wouldn’t have gone nearly as far as they did had she actually listened to him just a little bit at the beginning.

Saying Maggie was reckless was one thing but at times I did agree that Cal was way controlling. I think it must stem from being a policeman and having to watch someone he knew make some of the same mistakes Maggie was making. I got that. Obviously he thought that by trying to control the situation he could keep Maggie safe. From my own life I know, the more someone tries to control me, the more rebellious I become. This was definitely the case with Maggie and Cal.

While their romance was slow to start, once they realized their feelings weren’t going to be repressed, it really got going. Ambrose is excellent at the love scenes without making it erotic. Skilled writing in the love making scenes are a must with any good romance and Ambrose has it down pat. I felt their connection as if it were my own and I appreciated the level of writing I get from her.

While the suspense aspect could have been played up much much more what we are given is somewhat suspenseful. I didn’t really see the end coming at all. Could it have been better in that aspect? Yes. But what is there is well wrote in an easy flowing way. I wanted more in the suspense category then what I was given overall. It seemed tied up way to neat. I like things a bit messier.

Silver Sparks is the first in the Larkin sisters trilogy. We meet both of the other sisters, Zoe and Sophie and I am really looking forward to continuing this connection with the next book!

I give Silver Sparks by Starr Ambrose by 4 stars!