The Boys of Jackson Harbour Archives

July 17, 2020January 12, 2021

If it’s Only Love – Lexi Ryan

Welcome back everyone, the final instalment of the Jackson family of Jackson Harbour is here!

I’ve always felt that Shay was a great strong character who knew what she wanted and wouldn’t let anything ruffle her feathers. That was until the epilogue of the previous book where it turns out she’s not as strong and unflappable as I thought!

What I liked best about this book was how Lexi included the key events from the past as they impacted the present. When they’re referenced in the present you’re left like “wait what? What are they talking about?” and then the chapter ends and the next one shows us what happened then.

Rather than bombarding us with all that info that we’d have to then remember, or not showing us at all, I thought this was really clever and done perfectly. I loved Shay and Easton together the whole time. But I’m also glad that they had the struggles they did.

Right up to the very end of the book we’re left on the hook and it’s amazing!

The choices both of them made were true to them and their personality right until the very end.

The way a particular other character acted however was just despicable. How anyone can treat another person that they “love” like that amazes me. The way Shay handled that situation was so much more mature than I ever could! If I was in her shoes, I would’ve beaten the crap out of them and hopefully made sure they lost their job. At the very least, the respect of everyone around them.

I finished the book and was left going “THAT’S how you end a series!” Everything about the book was so well balanced, nothing felt out of character, everything felt like it had a reason for being there and it just worked. Seamlessly. I loved it!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review; on Monday I’ll be reviewing Lovestruck by Bronwyn Sell.

July 10, 2020January 12, 2021

Crazy for Your Love – Lexi Ryan

Welcome back everyone, coming back to Jackson Harbour after not reading about it for a year was kind of weird. But I’m so glad I came back to it!

We’re down to one brother and the sister yet to meet their love match. Except of course they have met them. We just didn’t really know about it!

Teagan and Carter always seemed to be the fun ones that seemed to be in the centre of all the cool stuff and were always happy. I should’ve known there was more to their story. Especially Teagan.

Their back and forth, their fear, their inability to communicate was so relatable on so many levels. I can’t say too much without ruining the book but sometimes tragedy happens because people don’t think through the consequences of their actions. And sometimes tragedy happens because it’s been orchestrated by someone maniacal and that’s exactly how domestic violence happens and why so many women think they deserve it.

In some ways this book touches on and discusses domestic and family violence. Yet, it doesn’t really face it head on. Only the aftereffects are discussed and what happened is talked about generally, with no specifics.

The way Lexi talks about Teagan’s relationship with her family as a result of that relationship is amazing. I found it so powerful and really show’s how people can be twisted and manipulated, while also showing that even then, people can still stand by those they love.

I really enjoyed reading about Teagan and Carter, and yet I felt like something was missing compared to the other books. It wasn’t really anything tangible. It was this sense

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review; next week I’ll be reviewing the final book, If It’s Only Love by Lexi Ryan.

July 3, 2020January 12, 2021

Wrapped in Love – Lexi Ryan

Welcome back everyone, we’ve reached the end of what I’d read up until now. Fingers crossed I’m able to read the last 2 before I’d planned to release reviews for them!

I kinda liked that we had a little bit of the past that we already know at the start of this story. It sets you up and orientates you as to what’s happened in previous books, who we’re following in this one and where we’re up to in their relationship. And a few missing pieces were given to us as well which was handy to put things into perspective.

Overall, I think the struggle Molly has coming back to a town where she doesn’t have a great reputation and trying to make the best life possible for her son is admirable. Braydon’s attitude that those actions don’t define who she is today is amazing.

After being kicked out of her rental because she wouldn’t sleep with the landlord, I wasn’t sure where things were going to go. Do people seriously do that? Or is that why you should always rent through an agency with a proper rental agreement?

The fact that a seemingly innocent and NICE kid decides he has a right to sleep with her was downright creepy. I really didn’t understand where this change came from. In Ava’s book (Straight Up Love) he was this really shy, quiet kid who kept his head down, got good grades and was involved in drama. What could possibly make him flip like he did?

Braydon’s actions after the kid turned into a creep was amazing. The fact that he explained it as something along the lines of “If you walked past a guy you slept with in high school and demanded he sleep with you. Would he do it? No. So they have no right to expect the same that from you.”

This is so true, and I wish more guys could understand that. There’s a line between appreciating that a girl looks good (in a friendly non-creepy way) and eyeballing her while imagining her naked. At the same time, there are plenty of decent guys who feel like they can’t compliment a girl on hard work at the gym paying off in case they get accused of sexual harassment. Braydon’s example feels like it sums it up perfectly. And I love it!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review; on Monday I’ll be reviewing Flying Solo by Zoe May.

June 26, 2020January 12, 2021

Dirty, Reckless Love – Lexi Ryan

Welcome back everyone, I’m continuing The Boys of Jackson Harbour series and WOW!

This one threw me on a bit of an emotional roller coaster!

Not only did it turn out we didn’t know some pretty important info about 3 of the semi-main characters that have been in the previous 2 books. But one of them, Ellie has lost her memory of all her time in Jackson Harbour so we’re learning things about her, Colton and Levi at the same time she is!

Obviously, some of this was quite shocking, while others we did KIND OF know about.

It felt weird having to relearn some of these characters, but I really liked that what we were relearning wasn’t the same side of them that we’d known up until this point. It felt great that it was a completely different side and it showed their development and desire to change for the better.

There were twists and turns throughout this story that I struggled to predict, even all the way up until the final chapter or two. If you’re not really familiar with what I enjoy, I LOVE it when a book can still surprise me at the end!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review; on Monday I’ll be reviewing Circle-A Killings by Sean Heary.

June 19, 2020January 12, 2021

Straight Up Love – Lexi Ryan

Welcome back everyone, from sci-fi to contemporary romance, what a change! After finishing The Wrong Kind of Love I was in the mood to read for me, rather than read the next book in my schedule. So, I read the next book in the series for the fun of it!

I was a bit up and down with my enjoyment of this sequel, which does tend to happen a bit for me these days. I liked that it wasn’t quite the same recipe as the first book. But there were still moments when I wasn’t really sure where it was going.

The fact that our couple went through various ups and downs before getting together is pretty normal for a romance novel. But then right when I thought they were happy together, BAM!

We get blindsided by something we never expected that changes the narrative entirely.

I loved that Lexi did this. It added another dimension to the story that made it so much more interesting and threw me off balance a little bit. I love it when authors can do this to me because I usually find it to easy to anticipate the plot twists so it’s not really a surprise anymore.

Lexi also added a new element compared to the first book where she threw us back to 5 years earlier when Jake first professed his love for Ava and she shot him down. I was a little bit against this at the beginning. But by the end of it I think it added value and was done in a meaningful way. I don’t think I would have connected as much to the story without this, so I’m glad Lexi added this element in.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review; on Monday I’ll be reviewing The Summoned Ones by Darryl A. Woods.

May 20, 2019January 12, 2021

The Wrong Kind of Love – Lexi Ryan

Welcome back everyone, after making the next stop on The Time for Alexander series train, we’re back to modern America. I wasn’t in greatest of places when I read this, in that sinusitis had kicked in real bad and I couldn’t concentrate or really do too much. But since I couldn’t fall asleep, I decided to read. So please excuse anything that’s a bit vague, I did read this while not being able to concentrate properly.

I really enjoyed reading this relatively clean romance that had a surprisingly large focus on depression and how that impacts those around it and how society views those that suffer from it.

In this case you’ve got one person who is open about the fact that they have depression but suffers from people’s perception of her mental state because of it. And on the other hand, you’ve got someone who’s lost someone to depression and doesn’t know if they can handle that in their life again.

Given depression wasn’t mentioned at all in the blurb I wasn’t really expecting it. But at the same time, the references aren’t over the top or what I would consider triggering. But you never know with these things.

Also, I loved this one so much after finishing it that I jumped onto NetGalley (this if my first one that I’ve officially requested and received!) to grab the next book in the series only to discover that #5 was available for request but none of the others.

So, what did I do?

I went onto Amazon.com.au and bought books #2-4 so I can read those before #5 in case I get approved! Fingers crossed I get approved so I can read and review it along with the rest of the series!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review, next week I will be reviewing Make him Howl by Zoe Ashwood.

Tag: The Boys of Jackson Harbour