BOOK REVIEW: TWISTED BOND BY EMMA HART

Title: Twisted Bond
Author: Emma Hart
Genre: Romance, mystery
Published on: June 11, 2015, self-published

I’m an Italian-Texan woman in a family full of cops. I’m passionate and shoot before I think. You only f*ck with me if you’re stupid.

Photograph cheating spouses. Hand over the evidence. Cash my check.

That was my plan when I returned home to Holly Woods, Texas, and became a private investigator.

Finding the dead body in my dumpster? Yeah… Given the choice, I think I would have opted out of that little discovery, especially since all three of my brothers are cops. And my Italian grandmother is sure the reason I’m single is because of my job.

Of course, my connection to the victim is entirely coincidental. Until I’m hired by her husband to investigate her murder and shoved bang-smack into the path of Detective Drake Nash. My nemesis, a persistent pain in my ass, and one hell of a sexy son of a bitch.

Shame he still holds a grudge from that time I shot him in the foot twelve years ago, or we could have something. In another life.

So now all I have to do is avoid my nonna’s blind dates, try not to blackmail my brothers into giving me confidential police files, and absolutely do not point my gun at Drake Nash. Or kiss him. Or jump his bones.

All while I hunt down the killer.

Sounds totally simple—until a second body proves that sometimes things that start as coincidences don’t always end up that way…

I’m familiar with Emma Hart. She is one of the first self-published authors I discovered. Hart mostly writes romances aimed at women…the kind I don’t read. So I’ve only picked up a small fraction of her works, the few ones I wouldn’t mind others knowing I own. Twisted Bond caught my eye because of its genre. I was intrigued when I found out Hart branched into mystery. It’s one of my favorite genres. I had to see whether the author pulled it off.

Twisted Bond takes place in the fictional town of Holly Woods, Texas. I would know because, well, I’m a Texan. The main character is Noelle Bond, a 30-year-old hotheaded private investigator. She’s the owner of Bond P.I., an agency that mostly handles infidelity cases. Noelle is also part Italian, and it’s a huge part of her character. She has a grandmother (whom she calls ‘Nonna’) who is bent on finding Noelle a husband. And he has to be part Italian, like them. Noelle is too independent and self-assured to  care about having a man in her life.

BOOK REVIEW: ALWAYS REMEMBER BY EMMA HART

Title: Always Remember

Author: Emma Hart

Genre: New Adult, romance

Published on: May 11, 2013, self-published

How long does it take for a long-distance relationship to break down? Sixteen months.

When Jen and Carl put their relationship to rest after Christmas, Jen’s biggest problem is going back to London ten days earlier than planned – and her ever-present attraction to Samuel ‘Bing’ Edwards.

Bing has no idea why Jen left Devon so fast. All he knows is that he wants her as much as he did the first day he laid eyes on her – so spending time with her while Lexy is still in Devon isn’t exactly a hardship for him. When he finds out she’s single, the only thing on his mind is finishing what they started at his dad’s fiftieth birthday party.

Feelings that have been a long time building between the two explode, and they both find themselves sucked into an easy yet passionate relationship, with Bing determined to prove to Jen that she’s it for him. That she is The One.

But in a city like London, the odds are stacked against them, and there’s always that one person ready to stir things up… And Jen doesn’t know how much of that she can take – even for the guy she loves more deeply than she ever imagined, and eventually she breaks.

Bing isn’t down with that. He wants Jen, and he wants her by his side for good.

Jennifer Mason must learn that Samuel Edwards doesn’t do giving up. Especially not when his forever girl is involved.

The Memories duology ends with this book, Always Remember. I liked the story a lot. This book focuses on Samuel “Bing” Edwards (older brother to Lexy, the protagonist of Never Forget) and Jennifer Mason. I didn't expect Sam to change his ways and become monogamous. Jen inspires him to become a different person. That’s what I liked most about this couple. The right girl can change even the most wayward guy. When I read the first book, I wasn't sure why they nicknamed Samuel's character after a search engine. I wrongly assumed everyone called him Bing because he could find anything! Ha ha.

The story of Samuel and Jennifer shows that true love can really change a man, even in very profound ways. Their relationship was very entertaining, as the two were constantly on each other's toes. They really were like dogs and cats at first. When you find out whether they end up together for real, you’ll exclaim “Finally!” I didn't blame Jen for having her reservations about Samuel, given his playboy ways. It seems it’s not easy to gain someone’s trust when your reputation isn’t stellar.

BOOK REVIEW: NEVER FORGET BY EMMA HART

Title: Never Forget

Author: Emma Hart

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Published on: February 12, 2013, self-published

A city girl.

A small town boy.

A summer they'll never forget.

Spending the summer at her Grammy's in Lilac Bay, Devon, is city girl Alexis 'Lexy' Edwards' idea of hell. That is, until she reconnects with her childhood friend, Jen, and meets Alec Johnson.

Alec is the kind of guy Lexy knows she needs to stay away from. He's the village flirt, ridiculously hot and very dangerous to her self control. But there's a problem – she can't seem to keep him out, even though she knows he'll break her heart.

As Alec slowly strips away Lexy's defences and the two embark on a summer romance she never wanted, their feelings grow to more than either expected. But nothing lasts forever, and reality intrudes.

As her world is shaken to it's core, Lexy's self made prediction comes true when she discovers she's spent six weeks surrounded by secrets. Kept out by her family and the only guy she's ever trusted, she falls apart.

And when Grammy tells her that 'you might not end up where you wanted to be, but you'll always end up where you're meant to be,' she has to figure out if her meant to be is back home in London, or if it's been in Devon the whole time.

Emma Hart is among the first indie (self-published) authors that I found out about. Never Forget is one of her earlier titles, and the first of hers that I read. It is a sweet contemporary romance, slash summer romance. The book is told from the alternating first-person POVs of Alexis Edwards and Alec Johnson. Alexis ‘Lexy’ reluctantly spends one summer with her grandmother at Lilac Bay, Devon. Although this allows Lexy to reconnect with her friends, she’d rather be anywhere else.

One morning, Lexy meets Alec. She knows nothing about him, except that she’d rather stay away. Lexy is one of those girls who want to finish their studies before pursuing a relationship. It doesn’t help that Lexy finds out about Alec’s womanizer reputation via Jen, her best friend. This begs the question of will-they-won’t-they? Much to Lexy’s chagrin, she’ll have to get used to Alec’s presence, as he’s her grandmother’s sort-of personal aide.