Not Catching Love by Saxon James (Accidental Love #5)

TITLE: ⟫ Not Catching Love

AUTHOR: ⟫ Saxon James

SERIES: ⟫ Accidental Love #5

RATING: ⟫ 5/5

BLURB: ⟫ Xander

There’s something seriously wrong with me.

For once, I’m not talking about the health anxiety that randomly pops up and wreaks havoc on my life. I'm talking about, well, everything else.

All my roommates have found someone to love them, and it hurts to see the guys who used to have me at the center of their worlds pair off and grow up, especially when it’s a reminder of everything wrong with me. I’ve always had an issue with relationships. With forming a connection with people outside of Seven, but this is more.

Because I want to find my someone.

Except the one person my brain has latched onto is the one person I can never have. The one person who’s there to help me when my panic attacks get too much.

Nurse Derek.

Derek

I should never have offered to treat Xander Moore.

And now here I am years later, my life on hold, while I wait day in and day out for the call that Xander needs me. It always comes, and I always answer, but I’m starting to dread those visits.

Lately, I’m looking at Xander in a way a medical professional should never look at their patient.

When Xander starts volunteering at the same nursing home that I do, I get to see a new side of him. The artistic, charismatic side that draws the residents in. I get glimpses of a man who’s so much more than his anxiety, and it does nothing to help my feelings for him.

When lines begin to blur, I have no choice but to stop treating him. That at least allows us to be friends. The only problem is, being friends isn’t enough for either of us.

It’s wrong, unethical, and unprofessional, but my heart won’t listen. It’s decided on Xander, and it doesn’t want to wait. Neither does Xander.

But if I want to keep my job, I have to resist.

I just wish he didn’t make that so difficult.

REVIEW: ⟫ Serious bit first – I am blown away by how well Saxon James handled Xander’s mental health issues. There was no magic cure, no easy way out or through – this took solid work, determination and a whole lot of love from the people who cared about him.

Now, onward into the last adventure with the Bertha Boys, and Saxon saved the best until last. Derek may well be one of my top ten favourites of her characters – it was how open he was, how caring, how understanding – he was absolutely everything that our Xander needed. And then some.

I literally steamed through this read with only a couple of bathroom breaks and I don’t regret a thing. Well, other than this was the last Bertha story because oh my goodness, I am going to miss these guys. I spent pretty much the entirety of the last few chapters reading through tears because it was all just so absolutely right. Like – Derek completely understood how Xander felt about Seven and Molly and wasn’t needlessly jealous; how much all of the boys love each other; Aggie – oh my goodness, Aggie – we all need an Aggie in our lives.

The volunteering at the retirement home touched me so deeply, especially since Xander didn’t water himself down even the slightest and yet still showed so much care for these people. I just – I could ramble for a very long time about all of the different things I loved about this story, but suffice it to say I began February with an excellent book, a snuffly nose from the quiet sobbing and a deep desire to see these books made into a series!!

Just Bromantically Invested by Saxon James (Accidental Love Book #4)

TITLE: ⟫ Just Bromantically Invested

AUTHOR: ⟫ Saxon James

SERIES: ⟫ Accidental Love Book #4

RATING: ⟫ 4/5

BLURB: ⟫ Madden

My best friend is uptight, gorgeous, the greatest person I know … and I might be a smidge in love with him. Just a small amount. Barely worth the mention.

Which is a stupid choice on my part when the guy is straight.

Starting a landscaping company with him was the perfect mix of doing what I love and an excuse to spend time with him, only it hasn’t completely taken off yet and now he’s telling me he’s lonely.

Lonely.

Apparently having one friend in your life isn’t enough.

So I’m determined to help him find love. With someone other than me. Maybe if I can pull that off, it’ll mean my heart will finally get the message and move on.

Or finish breaking into a hundred pieces.

Same thing, right?

Penn

Being besties with an overenthusiastic, gold-hearted, nudist of a man is a challenge sometimes. Madden makes everything sunshine when he’s around.

The problem is that he hasn’t been around as much lately. We work together, sure, but he’s got his roommates and I have … no one. Just him. So I feel the distance acutely.

My one reassurance is that we have work tying us together, but when an old client calls with a proposition for us, it feels like our once solid friendship is unraveling fast.

He wants Madden to help him open a nudist resort, and if Madden’s doing that, he won’t be working with me.

I’m trying not to panic over the thought of losing him, which is a typical, common best friend reaction. Nothing out of the ordinary.

And neither is the way my body has been reacting to him lately.

Everything is totally, completely normal between us.

While there’s still an us at all.

REVIEW: ⟫ I readily admit that I’m a Saxon James stan – I love her characters, the situations they find themselves in, the hot sex – yeah, I’m a fan for life I think. And I wanted a lot from Madden’s story – maybe because he was always so giving and caring in the other stories.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about Penn. I couldn’t quite picture him – maybe if he had been the cover model instead of Madden? But because I couldn’t picture him properly, I couldn’t get the right image of him and Madden together which affected my reading of the story. I fully believed in their relationship, especially how honest they were with each other. I loved how they talked – about the good and the bad – and I really enjoyed reading the naturalist aspects and why Madden is, well, Madden.

But I also found myself half hoping Damien might tempt Madden away from Penn which was a surprise to me. This was a very good addition to the Bertha Boys – as always I’m switched between irritated and scared for Xander, and catching up with the others was lovely. I think I need to maybe re-read to get a better understanding/love of Penn but that’s not exactly going to be a hardship. A solid read and looking forward to Xander finally finding his person next!

The Revenge Agenda by Saxon James (Accidental Love #3)

TITLE: ⟫ The Revenge Agenda

AUTHOR: ⟫ Saxon James

SERIES: ⟫ Accidental Love #3

RATING: ⟫ 4/5

BLURB: ⟫ Rush

When I show up to surprise my boyfriend in a barely-there festive outfit, I’m expecting him to be alone.

Not hosting family.

His fiancé’s family.

Down one boyfriend and up a lot of embarrassment, I flee with my tail between my legs. The broken heart will fade. My humiliation, not so much, but my saving grace is the fact that I never have to see either of them ever, ever again.

Until I walk into work and come face to face with my new boss.

Hunter

I never, in a million years, would have guessed the man hiding under his desk at work would be the one person I hoped to never see again.

My ex-fiancé’s side piece.

Apparently I can’t fire the guy because of personal issues, so I try to play nice, which is a whole lot harder to do when I find out my ex is still texting Rush. The same ex I haven’t heard from since I walked out on his begging.

Rush tells me he didn’t know about me. He tells me there were others. He also tells me our ex still wants him and so, we come up with a plan. To show him what it feels like when you want someone who doesn’t want you back.

All we need is a camera. His number. And one shared kiss.

Revenge has never been sweeter.

REVIEW: ⟫ This story was all kinds of sweet! Rush is an absolute darling (as are all of the other Bertha Boys) and it broke my heart when he seemed to accept what Ian had done to him – his view of himself is severely skewed because of his ADHD and the belief that no one would be willing to put up with the way his mind works.

Until, strangest of all things, the man who should by rights absolutely hate him seems to ‘get’ him better than anyone else in the world and he makes Rush feel calm and safe. How else can he repay Hunter for this than by helping him get a little revenge on Ian?

Hunter made me laugh – mainly because of his confusion about Rush and how he found himself dragged into an adventure and relationship almost against his will. I loved how supportive he was of Rush and the way his mind worked (P.L. Ant will live on in my heart forever), his willingness to be open to new suggestions both at work and in his private life, and for the way he saw the Bertha Boys – naked, inappropriate, scary – but ultimately quite possibly the best found family he could have hoped for.

I really enjoyed reading this book, catching up with the other boys and learning more about Rush. The romance was sweet, sexy and steamy and the way in which they got their revenge against Ian was absolutely brilliant. A very good addition to the series and I look forward to reading more about how Xander and the others find their own, well-deserved happily ever after.

Not Dating Material by Saxon James (Accidental Love #2)

TITLE: ⟫ Not Dating Material (Accidental Love #2)

AUTHOR: ⟫ Saxon James

RATING: ⟫ 4.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ MOLLY

Moving to Seattle is supposed to be all about getting a fresh start and leaving the bitter man I was becoming behind.

I have new room-mates–quirky, sometimes strange, room-mates–a nosy, next door neighbor and a grumpy kitty for company, but even surrounded by people, I still don’t feel like I belong. Plus, it turns out the men in Seattle are exactly the same as the ones I left behind, and my string of romantic disconnections continues.

It’s not until one of my room-mates, Seven, hits me with some hard truths that I realize where I was going wrong.

Maybe the men aren’t the problem.

I am.

And there’s only one way to fix that.

SEVEN

Being found tied up naked to my bed by my cute new room-mate isn’t an ideal way for us to start a friendship.

But apparently a quid-pro-quo is.

He keeps his pretty lips zipped about the compromising position, and I step in as his dating coach. We go out, I point out where he’s going wrong, and he magically becomes dating material.

The problem is, between my codependent brother Xander and a new best friend I can’t get rid of, Molly and I are the target of a matchmaking scheme. My life is way too busy to add another person to it, and Molly is the kinda guy who needs to be made a priority, which I just can’t do. Xander’s medical anxiety takes up too much of my time, and I’ve never found a partner who doesn’t resent it.

I’m determined to help Molly find his ever after.

But that guy will never be me.

REVIEWS: ⟫ I really wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about Molly after his appearance in Ford and Orson’s story, but Saxon made me feel so bad for him that I forgave his rash behaviour. He’s moved all the way to Seattle to get a fresh start, and what a start – meeting the boys from Big Bertha is an eye opener in so many ways.

I enjoyed how vulnerable Saxon allowed Seven to be – he presented as this big, tough guy, covered in tattoos and intimidating until you got to learn more about him. Refusing to swear, his badly hidden inner marshmallow and just the way he was always there for any of the boys (and Aggie) made me fall in love with him.

I liked the way in which the subject of Seven’s no dating rule was brought up – he thought he was being upfront, honest and direct whereas throughout the book, we see that HE might not have thought he was dating people, but others were not quite so sure.

There was background angst, especially with regard to Xander and Seven, but it didn’t really filter through to the main story – it more formed a background thread that you were aware of but didn’t have to suffer through. I loved the dates that Seven and Molly had; loved the way that Seven helped Molly build his confidence; the relationship between Molly, Seven and Xander; and the return to Big Bertha.

One of my favourite parts was when Madden asked Rush how come, if he wasn’t aware of the no-sleeping with room-mates rules, then how come he hadn’t made a move on Madden – that made me laugh so hard, although what a knock to Madden’s ego! I’m looking forward to more in the Accidental Love verse, especially after Seven met Molly’s dad and his initial reaction – that too made me giggle, and I loved the ease with which the two verses intermingled.

This book kept me entertained and gave me a HEA I could sigh happily about after reading and I can’t ask for more than that!