Traumatic Past – Talk Nerdy Book Blog

Review: Breaking the Speed Limit by Melanie Moreland

June 11, 2022

R

The Gist: A sweet opposites-attract single-parent romance that explores found family and starting over. However, the unrealistic meet-cute was off-putting.

Series: Reynolds Restoration, #2*

Release Date: March 31, 2022

Synopsis

Single, but unsettled, Stefano Borelli, spends his days creating masterpieces loved by his clients. Surrounded by family and friends, his loneliness still plagues him.

Until she bursts into his life. A stubborn woman with too much baggage, too much to say, and a child in tow.

Far too much trouble.

Except, he likes her spark. The way she refuses to listen. How beautiful she is with her son. How right she feels in his arms.

The way she makes him feel whole.

Can he convince her to give love a second chance?

Book set in Reynolds Restoration world

Ending

HEA

Representation

No strong representations of the following:
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Heroine’s on the run from an abusive relationship. Her ex-boyfriend also attempted to kill their child.
• Threat of gun violence (see above)

Safety Rating: Safe with Exception

• No cheating
• Does have OM drama
– Heroine’s abusive ex-boyfriend (and father of her child) stalks her and attempts to abduct the Heroine and her child
• Does have OW drama
– One of the Heroine’s colleagues hits on the Hero, making the Heroine quite jealous.
• Does have the Heroine pushing the Hero away
• Does have a few days separation (both celibate)
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: eARC

Rating: 3.5-stars

*Each book in the series is Standalone

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Book Review: Endless by Crystal Ash

By Sarah

In 4-stars, ARC, Book Review

December 9, 2021

B

The Gist: A satisfying conclusion to the STEEL DEMONS MC series that explores parenting, the leftover trauma of war and rebuilding for a hope-filled future.

Series: Steel Demons MC, #9.5

Release Date: December 3, 2021

Synopsis

Our love is endless.

The war is over. Finally, we can breathe and be a family.

With the worst moments of our lives behind us, we have only the future to look forward to. Our twins arrived nearly four years after the Sha was defeated, and now we face a new challenge–parenthood.

Whether it’s our daughter taunting the chickens or our son’s fear of water, we’ll take the highs and lows of raising them in stride. Most importantly, they’ll never know the horror and loss their parents endured. Our children will be protected and loved endlessly.

The gods haven’t spoken to us in years, but we’ve never stopped listening. When they have a message, we’ll be ready.

Endless is an epilogue novella to the Steel Demons MC series. It is not “required” reading, as the story ends in Merciless. This book shares a slice of life for the Steel Demons characters after the series ends.

Ending

HEA

Representation

• Latina Heroine
• Latino Hero
• Deaf Side Character

Possible Triggers: None

• No abuse
• No overly sad parts

Safety Rating: Safe

• No cheating
• No OW/OM drama
• No pushing away
• No separation
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: eARC

Rating: 4.5-stars

Note: I received Endless from Elite Author Service in exchange for an honest review.

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Fervent Yet Vexing: The Boss by Melanie Moreland

By Sarah

In 3-stars, ARC, Book Review

November 1, 2021

F

The Gist: A dark romantic suspense novel that boasts a sweet romance yet proves vexing with its double standards.

Series: Men of Hidden Justice, #1*

Release Date: October 14, 2021

Synopsis

Men of Hidden Justice
Because love can bleed into the darkest heart

Terrified and on the run, I was lost.
He found me.

I witnessed his crime and he gave me a choice.
Marriage or death.

I never expected to love him.
But the choices were never really mine.

Could this avenging angel of death ever love me back?
His touch consumed me.

Did my heart stand a chance?

Previously published on Book+Main and in Take Me To Bed Collection. New added content for a complete romantic suspense experience.

Ending

HEA with Epilogue

Representation

No strong representations of the following:
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Suicide attempt (on-page)
• Gun violence
• Murder
• Reference to child pornography and sex trafficking
• Attempted murder
• reference to/discussion of abusive romantic relationship
— Heroine’s stalker is an ex-boyfriend of 6-months
*** there’s no physical abuse in the MCs relationship. However, there are some scenes that can be off-putting for some:
—— the couple have a discussion after a heated argument where the Hero mentions he stayed away because he was angry, feeling out of control and scared he would’ve physically lashed out:
—— Heroine is unable to leave the house without Hero’s permission because he has enemies.
• Reference to kidnapping

Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions

• No cheating
• No OW/OM drama
• Does have the Hero pushing the Heroine away
• No separation
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: eARC

Rating: 3-stars

*Each book in the series is Standalone

Note: I received The Boss from Melanie Moreland’s team in exchange for an honest review.

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Magnetic and Delicious: The Lie by Karla Sorensen

By Sarah

In 4-stars, ARC, Book Review

September 15, 2021

M

The Gist: A magnetic and delicious sports romance that breathes life into the bad boy trope.

Series: The Wolves, #1*

Release Date: September 15, 2021

Synopsis

Rule number 1 for the team owner’s daughter? Don’t date the players.

Especially not hotheaded tight ends with tattoos and impulse control problems.

That’s why Dominic Walker is completely off my radar. Sort of.

Babysitting the team troublemaker when he’s forced to volunteer for the foundation where I work means I can’t exactly avoid him.

I wish I had though. Because once I get to know Dominic, it’s almost impossible to ignore the feelings he brings out in me.

Pretty soon, I’m breaking all my rules. I just have to hope he doesn’t break my heart in the process.

Ending

HFN

Representation

No strong representations of the following:
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Death of Hero’s younger sister from c@ncer
• Grief
• Anger management problems

Safety Rating: Safe

• No cheating
• No OW/OM drama
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does have a ~1-month separation between the Hero and Heroine (both celibate)
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: eARC

Rating: 4.5-stars

*Each book in the series is Standalone

Note: I received The Lie from Karla Sorensen’s team in exchange for an honest review.

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Moving and Intimate: Age of Ava by Melanie Moreland

By Sarah

In 5-stars, ARC, Book Review

August 25, 2021

M

The Gist: A moving and intimate opposites-attract romance with a perfectly grumpy Hero and badass Heroine that explores family and the rewards of vulnerability.

Series: ABC Corp, #4*

Release Date: August 26, 2021

Synopsis

AVA CALLAGHAN
A woman working in a male-dominated field.
Organized, strong, and tenacious.
That’s how she has to be to succeed.

HUNTER OWENS
A loner.
He needs no one, has no ties, and his future is an unanswered question mark.
It’s all he knows.
Until the day their lives intersect.

He sees the woman she hides from the world.
She nurtures the part of him he lost long ago.
But they both agree—their connection is temporary.
They are only for now.

Can their stubborn natures allow them to bend and accept that maybe, just maybe, there is more to life than they believed?
That love can heal.
That happiness can exist.
That for now can be forever.

Ending

HEA

Representation

• Side character with a congenital amputation of one of her arms (her right arm is only partially formed)

Possible Triggers: YES

• Death of Hero’s grandparents and mother
• Parental neglect and abandonment
• Verbal abuse (described, in the past)
• Medical trauma

Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions

• No cheating
• No OW/OM drama
• Does have the Hero (majorly) pushing the Heroine away
• No separation
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: eARC

Rating: 5-stars

*Each book in the series is Standalone

Note: I received Age of Ava from Melanie Moreland’s team in exchange for an honest review.

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Delightful and Loving: Finding Ronan’s Heart by Melanie Moreland

By Sarah

In 4-stars, ARC, Book Review

June 23, 2021

D

The Gist: A delightful and loving sweet contemporary romance that explores independence, family and meaningful connection suffered from repetitive and cliche scenes.

Series: ABC Corp, #2*

Release Date: June 24, 2021

Synopsis

“The boys.”
“The Callaghan Triplets.”
“Three of a kind.”

All his life, Ronan Callaghan has been part of a group. Always looking out for his brothers. Never seen as an individual or judged on his own merits.
When his brothers veer onto their own path, he finds himself alone. Restless.

Then he meets her.
Beth.
A waitress who sees him just for himself. None of the trappings of his wealth or family.
A woman who only wants to know him—Ronan.

She captures his heart, but how will she feel when she discovers the truth he’s holding back?
Can he show her the man he really is?
That he would be rather be hers than anything else?

Ending

HEA with epilogue and a bonus Epilogue from Evan’s (Beth’s younger brother) POV 😭 so sweet

Representation

• Side character with Congenital Amputation of one of her arms (she was born without a complete right arm)

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Sexual harassment
• Discussion/mentions of ableism (btw – the MCs and their family members are not ableist)
• Infidelity
• Hero was victim to a con operation between his ex-girlfriend and his at the time best friend
• Bullying
• Death of parents

Safety Rating: Safe

• No cheating
• No OW/OM drama
• Does have the Heroine pushing the Hero away
• Does have a brief separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: eARC

Rating: 4.75-stars

*Each book in the series is Standalone

Note: I received Finding Ronan’s Heart through Melanie Moreland’s team in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: When He’s An Alpha by Suzanne Wright

By Sarah

In 4-stars, Book Review

March 3, 2021

B

The Gist: A steamy paranormal romance that perfectly balances hilarious banter with emotional character development. The Heroine is awesomely self-aware and confident; she stands up for herself without tilting into the ‘not like other girls’ trope. The second chance romance provided some riveting angst but also contributed to the lack of a 5-star rating.

Series: Olympus Pride, #2*

Release Date: March 2, 2021

Synopsis

The golden rule of shallow flings is not to get attached, right? Well, Havana Ramos broke it. Big time. There’s just something about Tate Devereaux that pulls at her. Assertive, compelling, and self-assured, the Alpha cat shifter pushes every one of her best buttons. Like really, really hard. Having overheard an enlightening conversation, she knows he won’t give her more than a fling—something, to be fair, he’d told her well in advance. If she doesn’t want her heart to get bruised, it’s time to end what little they have. It’s not like he’ll care or anything. Except … it turns out that he does.

Newly-appointed Alpha Tate Devereaux is never bothered when women walk away. He can’t exactly blame them, given his distrustful cat’s habit of withdrawing from relationships. But when lone shifter Havana ends their fling, everything within Tate rebels against it—including his cat. Even as she and Tate work together to crush the threat looming over her, Havana holds him at arms’ length. But if she thinks she can end their fling with no real explanation and that he’ll just tip his hat and walk away, she’s forgotten one very important thing—there’s nothing easy about shaking off an Alpha.

Ending

HEA

Representation

• Heroine of colour
• Asian supporting character
• Bisexual side character

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Gun violence
• Human trafficking
• Reference to r@pe
• Blood and violence
• Murder of parents
• Torture

Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions

• No cheating
• Does have OM and OW drama
– Ex-friends-with-benefits of Heroine tries to win the Heroine back
– Ex-almost-imprinted-mate of Hero tries to win Hero back
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
– Hero doesn’t want a serious relationship so they break up for a bit
• No separation
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Kindle Unlimited

Rating: 4-stars

*Each novel in the series is Standalone

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Magical and Entrancing: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

By Sarah

In 4-stars, Book Review

December 9, 2020

M

The Gist: An entrancing standalone epic fantasy; it brings the magic of books to life through the Heroine’s journey to discover who is attempting to sabotage the Great Libraries and made all the more enjoyable by its adorable enemies to friends to lovers romances and themes of friendship.

Series: Sorcery of Thorns, #1

Release Date: June 4, 2019

Synopsis

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

Ending

HFN

Representation

• Bisexual Hero
• Asexual supporting character

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Murder
• Allusion to torture
• Gaslighting

Safety Rating: Safe

• No cheating
• No OW/OM drama
• Does have the Hero pushing the Heroine away
• Does have a separation between the Heroine and Hero
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 4.75-stars

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Entertaining Yet Unsatisfactory: Seven Ways to Kill A King by Melissa Wright

By Sarah

In 3-stars, Book Review

December 5, 2020

E

The Gist: A standalone epic fantasy that has all the makings for a great revenge-filled novel with its good pacing and complex assassinations; however, it falls short in its comparison to The Witcher and Game of Thrones as there’s more moral introspection than badass name-taking and its uninspiring characterizations.

Series: Standalone

Release Date: September 1, 2020

Synopsis

She was born a princess. They made her an assassin.

One was an accident. Two a coincidence. By three, they would know. It would be harder. But I would avenge my mother’s death. These kings would pay that price.

Seven cities make up the Storm Queen’s Realm, each of their self-crowned, murderous kings one of Princess Myrina’s marks. The treasonous curs may have banded together to share a stolen throne, but soon they will fall.

They thought her dead, killed in the massacre. They thought their rule secure. But Myrina of Stormskeep has awoken, and with the help of her loyal bloodsworn, the shadow princess will have her revenge.

For fans of The Witcher and Game of Thrones—a new princess set on vengeance is here to steal your heart.

Ending

HFN

Representation

No strong representations of the following:
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Murder
• Betrayal
• Death of loved ones (family members)
• Blood and gore
• PTSD

Safety Rating: Safe

• No cheating
• No OW/OM drama
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing each other away
• Does have a separation between the Heroine and Hero
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Kindle

Rating: 3.25-stars

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Heartbreaking and Moving: Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

By Sarah

In 5-stars, Book Review

November 18, 2020

H

The Gist: A beautifully written book that takes its time to explore how someone can learn to trust and love again after a tremendous loss; flashing back and forth between the hours before the crash and Edward’s current reality, the author explores what it means to be true to yourself and the connections that help you overcome such heartache.

Series: Standalone

Release Date: January 6, 2020

Synopsis

One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them is a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured vet returning from Afghanistan, a septuagenarian business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. And then, tragically, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor.

Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place for himself in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a piece of him has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery–one that will lead him to the answers of some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do find yourself? How do you discover your purpose? What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?

Dear Edward is at once a transcendent coming-of-age story, a multidimensional portrait of an unforgettable cast of characters, and a breathtaking illustration of all the ways a broken heart learns to love again.

Ending

HFN

Representation

• Black Gay supporting character
• Latina supporting character and side character
• Asian side character

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Frequent Harry Potter references; J.K. Rowling is transphobic
• MC dealing with the death of his whole family and being the sole survivor of a plane crash (when he’s a child)
• Discusses miscarriages
• Supporting character has cancer

Mature Themes

• PTSD
• Grief of losing family
– Also, the grief of not being able to have kids
• Non-descriptive sex
• References to abortion
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 5-stars

Trigger Warning: This book has frequent HP references. Please read the ‘Possible Triggers’ tab above for details for other triggers.

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TagTraumatic Past

Review: Breaking the Speed Limit by Melanie Moreland

Book Review: Endless by Crystal Ash

Fervent Yet Vexing: The Boss by Melanie Moreland

Magnetic and Delicious: The Lie by Karla Sorensen

Moving and Intimate: Age of Ava by Melanie Moreland

Delightful and Loving: Finding Ronan’s Heart by Melanie Moreland

Book Review: When He’s An Alpha by Suzanne Wright

Magical and Entrancing: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Entertaining Yet Unsatisfactory: Seven Ways to Kill A King by Melissa Wright

Heartbreaking and Moving: Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

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