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Hero Complex (Bluestone Series Book 3) by Isobel Reed – Review by Tara Johnson Barnes

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Hero Complex (Bluestone Series, #3)Hero Complex by Isobel Reed
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hero Complex is Book Three in the Bluestone Series. Ivy is struggling to save the studding ranch left to her by her grandparents. When Ivy is approached by a local business owner with a proposition to save her business, she tries to hear him out. That is, until he opens his mouth and starts acting like a male chauvinistic jerk who knows more than she does and treats her like she does not know anything about how to run a ranch. That is when Ivy learns the true reasons behind why her business is failing. With her being single, it seems that men do not want to bring her their business because their old-fashioned way of thinking makes them believe that a woman is not capable of running a business.

Retired Marine, Ace, has been living on Ivy’s ranch and helping her in exchange for room and board. When he learns of Ivy’s meeting with the local businessman, he goes to the meeting with her to act as moral support. Ace gets upset at the way Ivy is being treated and, in an effort, to placate the businessman he informs him that Ivy and he are engaged and that he is helping her run her business. Now the rumor is circulating in the small community that Ivy and Ace are engaged, and things begin to get messy. Ivy is horrified about the rumors but goes along with them because she needs to save her ranch.

As Ivy and Ace play the part of being engaged the sparks fly between them. Ivy is attracted to Ace but wishes that he would stop trying to save her all the time. She is independent, smart, and strong so she does not feel as though she needs a hero running to her rescue. Ace is attracted to Ivy as well, so he only wants to protect her. He would love for the relationship to be more but feels as though his battle scars will turn off Ivy. Both Ivy and Ace do their part in their engagement and try to fight off the intense chemistry between them but find the attraction becoming more undeniable as time goes by. Can there ever be a real relationship between Ivy and Ace?

I loved this entire series and have fallen in love with this author’s writing. I could not put the book down and found the storyline and the characters amazing. The characters of Ivy and Ace are believable and relatable. Ivy sees herself as an independent and strong woman who does not need a man running in to save her. When Ace tries to come to her rescue, she is offended yet realizes that she must accept help, or her ranch will fail. Ivy has trauma from her past that she needs to deal with and is carrying a huge secret that she has not told anyone about. This secret could prevent her from having the future life she deserves. Ace feels damaged and unlovable due to the scars he suffered during his time as a Marine. Neither Ivy nor Ace feel that they are good enough for the other. The events that ensue are gut wrenching and take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Be prepared to laugh, cry, scream, and maybe even swear out loud a bit as Ivy and Ace struggle through the demons from their past and try to push forward.

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Love Tools (Bluestone Series Book 1) by Isobel Reed – Review by Tara Johnson Barnes

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Love Tools (Bluestone Series, #1)Love Tools by Isobel Reed
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Love Tools is Book One in the Bluestone Series. Lily has recently moved from London to the small town of Bluestone County after inheriting her father’s hardware store. Although Lily was estranged from her father and had not since him since she was a small child, she took the move as a fresh start. She needed to escape from the life she had in London. The city was too busy, her apartment was cramped, and she felt like she was going nowhere in her job. Plus, she found her mother to be too overbearing, and she found herself in one bad relationship after another. The excuse to run her estranged father’s hardware store clear across the country came as a welcome excuse to flee from the life she was hating and start over.

When Lilly arrives in Bluestone, she throws herself into cleaning the hardware store and preparing for it to reopen. Lily is wrapped up in cleaning the store when a drop-dead gorgeous cowboy walks into the store. She finds it hard to take her eyes off of him, but as soon as he opens his mouth the attraction rating drops drastically. Lily refuses to get into any sort of a relationship, especially with a man as annoying as Jake. Besides, she figures that nobody that good looking would be interested in her anyhow. Jake cannot seem to help messing up every time he opens his mouth but finds he is intentionally saying things to get a rise out of Lily. Although he has all but sworn off relationships, he finds Lily not only sexy as all get go, but he loves her sassy attitude.

Lily finds that she cannot seem to escape Jake who seems to be everywhere, including at her new friend, Sam’s, place. The two begin to spend time together as Jake helps her with prepping the hardware store for the reopening. As they spend time together Lily lets her guard down a bit and opens up to Jake about her relationship with her father. She is seeking answers about why her father abandoned her and what type of person he was. Why did he move across the country to run a hardware store in the middle of nowhere? Jake and her father were close so he may be able to give her some answers. As they spend more time together the chemistry between Lily and Jake intensifies and the attraction becomes undeniable.

This book was well written, and the characters were lovable and relatable. Lily and Jake both have trauma from their pasts that have left them feeling a bit broken. Both have all but sworn off relationships and have chosen to focus on other projects. For Lily it was the hardware store and for Jake it was the ranch. Jake did not know what love was and had only wanted casual relationships until he met Lily. No woman had ever made Jake feel like he could not live without her until Lily came along. Now he needs to convince Lily that he is serious about her and will not treat her like her exes had in the past. Lily has had one bad relationship after another and is scared to let her guard down for fear that Jake will also end up hurting her. The hurt, drama, angst, and betrayals from their pasts must all be worked through before either can be fully capable of having a healthy relationship. This was a wholesome love story with sexy cowboys in a small-town setting with a bit of sass, humor, and witty banter sprinkled throughout. A fantastic read that immediately made me want to read other books in the series.

View all my reviews@tarab