Mercy Celeste - Let It Go

When alcohol and fierce tempers land two cowboys from the rodeo circuit under house arrest, it may be time to Let It Go. Can hidden secrets and a common enemy hold the key to happiness or... will they destroy them both?
Creed was the main focus of Eli’s fierce temper. For ten years the two men left a trail of destruction in their wake, with rodeo, beer, and fists all they had in common. Until a judge had enough and sentenced them to house arrest—in the same house. They’d either learn to get along or they’d kill each other.
Trapped on Eli’s rundown Florida ranch, Creed discovers Eli’s secret, one that he shares. But he didn’t count on Eli learning all of his secrets, especially the one that would shatter their newfound truce.
Scarred to his bones, Eli avoided relationships like the plague. Yet something about the quiet Creed had always pushed his buttons. Falling in love with him was never part of Eli’s plan. When it happens he’s unprepared and out of his league.
When a shared enemy comes calling Eli can only think of keeping Creed safe. He never dreamed that their lives were linked or that Creed’s former life could destroy them both. Will love be enough to save them?

Comment: This story has been waiting to be read a few months after it was released in 2012. As always, most books are in the pile for a while before I get to them and this one wasn't an exception. This month, I decided to read it at last.

This is the story of Eli and Creed. They have been enemies in the competitions they entered from the beginning. Why that was so they aren't sure but it just was. Then, one of the times they fought it over at a late party, they are sent to prison. The judge, someone who knows Eli, forces them to work together at Eli's ranch as punishment and sentence.

The guys have trouble letting go of the animosity between them but with time and the forced cohabiting, they start to admit their lives might not be as different as they think until the day a common enemy comes and makes it all bad. Can they save themselves?

What a great blurb! I can't just dismiss and ignore a good blurb where the potential and expectation about how the romance will develop seduces me completely. If I remember well, the blurb really got to me and I imagined all kinds of sexual tension and falling in love in a romantic story I couldn't wait to try.

Well, there's the other shoe, though.

With such a seductive blurb to me, I really can't stress out enough how disappointing it was to see such a promising story going down the drain.

But here's the thing: The story is hard and full of angst and issues, but that's not the problem for me. In my opinion, the real problem in all this is the deceiving blurb that portrays an idea and then the story is very different than what I think I'll get.

I thought I'd read a sweet romantic story - sure with some angst or villain to balance things - but this is more a drama with really disgusting content.

This is a serious story. It deals with serious situations, emotions, problems, scenes and I think the blurb makes it all seem unreal, like this would be only a romance about two guys overcoming their mistaken animosity for an obvious attraction.

I don't mind that the author wrote a serious and dramatic story and that she focused on (too) many difficult obstacles to be conquered. But when I started it, I dare to say I was led to believe it wouldn't be so.

Anyway, as for the story itself, I liked some things but others were really too much and I can't tell if it's the author intend or if things just went that way... the truth is, Creed and Eli have had seriously complicated things happening to them and it seems they couldn't go past that. Both their pasts are full of hardships, some harder than others and I confess it all seemed slightly too much. The story starts deceivingly easy but it evolves to a complex line of problems. In a way I could say this adds matter to the content but this content is hard to get past and I often wondered if anyone could ever live with the things the guys did and just go through life like that. I really think the two guys dealt with everything too easily. I'd say counseling wouldn't be enough to help them.

Creed is hit more harshly with a past no one should ever face. How he manages to seem balanced in the end I can't say. Still, I understand his reactions, the self explanations to justify hie behavior, his answers in some situations. Rationally, it's understandable.

Eli seems more steady, both in life and in his head. But he hasn't got it easy and I felt glad he could reach happiness with Creed.

I wish I could they their love was brighter than the sun and extinguished all evil, but in reality I think their lives were hit too many times with bad things to be credible they could live on love alone. Nevertheless, it was good to see a HEA happened. One that could happen, anyway.

The plot has a lot to be said. I think it's really difficult to separate the fictional parts from the human reactions to those situations they went through which are surely very real if we were to know it happened in real life to someone. I guess I'd say this isn't a romance. To me, this is a dramatic fictional story which happens to be ended with a HEA although not one of those sugary ones we see in other  - lighter - kind of novels.

It's not that bad, despite the disgusting parts, but I wish I weren't mislead by the blurb and the seemingly simple cover. I could have prepared myself for what was to come.

Grade: 6/10

Mercy Celeste - Sidelined

After leading his team to two Super Bowl wins, being cut leaves quarterback Levi Brody reeling. Betrayed, scared, and picking up the pieces from a failed love affair, he abandons New Orleans for the speck-on-the-map Alabama town he left behind. He wants nothing more than to hide out and lick his wounds, but an interfering brother thrusts him back into sports—coaching high school football. Where once he’d ruled the field as star player, now he’s taking orders from a very young, very attractive head coach. A coach with a deep-rooted hatred for all things Levi Brody.
Head coach of the newly formed East County High, Tracy Wright has his work cut out for him. Forming three former rival teams into one working unit is all that he can handle. The last thing he needs is an interfering golden boy. He has no use for Levi Brody, until discovering how much Levi has to offer both the team and Tracy. 
Small town jealousy plus big city secrets converge, and just might leave both men Sidelined.

Comment: I got this ebook because the plot seemed intriguing. I always like stories where the main couple doesn't agree on things from the start. I thought I'd be getting a story based on that old theme of opposites attract and I couldn't wait.

This is the story of Lev Brody, he got injured in a football game and his team told him to go. He returns home with a broken heart, a hurt pride and a will to forget. This is how Tracy Wright finds him at a bar, getting drunk.
Tracy was told he had to work with Levi, he's nemesis and crush from high school years. However, the man in front of him isn't the cold person only interested in money or glory he thought he would be and a one night stand will change into something much more..personal.

Well, when I started this story I thought the characters talked to each other in a very rude way without having to, I mean, they were going to have sex but did they need to talk like that? I thought it was a little way over the top for them, but ok...

Then the story would develop and we would learn all about Levi's passion for a fellow football player who had lost the love of his life in Iraq and after starting a sort of healing relationship with Levi, his partner returned alive after all and thus making Levi's heart break painfully. Then Levi's career issues with his injury were the last bullet to his sanity. Levi returns home to mend his head and heart and he starts meeting people, he has a relationship with Tracy which was fast but not that unbelievable and he even jumps to help the ids with the job promised to him and he is a natural in teaching young kids and has the patience for that.

Tracy has decided to stay where he grew up. He is the school's football coach and he enjoys the status he has and the help and hope he offers. Levi has been a thorn in his past but he is quite changed now. I enjoyed seeing the developments of their conversations and expectations towards a relationship. At this point I was pleased enough with the way things were going. The guys weren't admitting they were starting to have feelings for each other but we could see that anyway.

Then, the plot changed...after a part where we could see Levi and Tracy's interactions with each other and other characters and when we were starting to have an idea of how things were going to end, suddenly the plot actually twists and we learn Levi has a hidden side I totally was not expecting. I mean, I was..what? This twist didn't have to exist in my opinion...I won't tell spoilers but Levi's personality has a side I thought was way over the top for this story! There was no need..and no, it's not BDSM. I mean, my issue with this isn't that Levi had that side, it was more why it had to be part of his character, there was no need, the story was already full of developments and elements, I thought this was the author's attempt to push the plot more into "check this out" mode...no need at all..or if she was so bent on that, then she could have eased on other things....the story went from quite enjoyable to a sort of circus. Not that good at all.
I can't put this aside, so the rest of the book lost part of the charm for me..but well, author's prerogative and all that.

I liked the set up for the next story. I might read it but I confess I'm scared of what may be on it...I hope it's a more thoughtful story. there also a first book but I won't read it, it's not a theme that interests me and I know how it ends considering it features characters we see in this book.

All in all, a very good start, many good ideas but a unnecessary twist that ruined things a little bit.
Grade: 5/10