Shotgun Wedding. Ainslie Paton

Published: Supervised by Cats
Date: January 2017
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 148
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Thank you to the author
Rating:
                   

Warning: Do not read this book if you dislike weddings.

Reid wants a ring on Zarley’s finger, but Zarley doesn’t need a wedding to feel married to Reid. Owen is ready to start a family, but Cara isn’t sure she wants kids. Sarina is pregnant and proposed to Dev and he wants a wedding—by the weekend.

Venue, guest list, invitations, the dress, the suit, rings, vows, catering. It’s a lot to get done in a few days. What could possibly go wrong?

Only one thing is certain with this shotgun wedding, love is the trigger and hearts will take a direct hit of happiness.

For better, for worse, forever.

This is for readers who enjoy catching up with the HEAs of couples in the Sidelined series. All the stories in Sidelined can be read independently, in any order, except Shotgun Wedding, which is more fun if read after Offensive Behavior, Damaged Goods and Sold Short.

Shotgun Wedding is like a giant epilogue to the Sidelined books by Ainslie Paton. It is full of rounding off and weddings. More than anticipated.  Totally delicious and perfect. 

It is a time to revisit the three couples and see how they are getting along with each other. Rather well actually. And Dev and Sarina - the last couple to get together are the first kids off the block when it comes to marriage. The wedding is going to be fast and simple and the perfect venue is found. The perfect celebrant is found and finally Dev faces his family with the news.

Owen and Reid would very much like to be married too, but their women are not so keen. Owen and Cara have an issue because Owen would really like to have children in the future and Cara is just so not sure she wants to be a mother, and if not now not even maybe in the future.  So how does this get resolved or will they just give each other up because they want different things. Oh, but of course they love each other so...

Reid too wants to be married, he wants to be legally bonded with Zarley so that if anything ever happens to him she'll be well provided for. Well that's what he says, but actually I think he just wants Zarley married to him, full stop. But Zarley is adamant she will not be married. So...

This was a delightful, romantic finish up and I loved it. It was great to meet up with the couples again, see them being themselves but more than themselves. 

This book though needs to follow the three before it and I did and loved them all.

Sidelined.

Offensive Behavior

Damaged Goods

Sold Short

Shotgun Wedding

Sold Short. Ainslie Paton

Published:Supervised by Cats
Date: October 5th 2016
Format: e-ARC
Pages:256
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Thank you to the author
Rating:
                              

Sarina Gallo is on a timeline. Graduate with a top degree and start a business with friends. Check. Rock that business so hard it’s made her a Silicon Valley identity and seriously wealthy. Check. Fall in love and start a family. Wait. Because the man she’s been in love with forever is more comfortable falling asleep in front of a movie than making a move on her.

Dev Patel has been friends with Sarina Gallo since he tripped over her in college and they started a business together. He likes to cook. She likes to eat. It’s the perfect relationship for two busy people and if he’d rather fall asleep on the couch next to her, than sleep with her, it’s because he’s not willing to risk their friendship over sex he can have casually with others.

Until Sarina announces she plans to have a baby with a donor and her decision challenges everything Dev thought he knew about their relationship. 

Sold Short  is #3 in the Sidelined series by Ainslie Paton. It is a story of two friends who just might love and be in love - with each other.

Dev and Sarina are part of the team that started up the Plus company. They've been a success and could easily just live on the gains. Yet they are young and creative and want to expand. However Dev is not so sure that he is entirely needed by the company. It seems to him its Reid and Owen who are more the brains of the company. He doesn't quite see what an asset he is, so when some one tries to poach him he is a little vulnerable.

Sarina is feeling her clock ticking and even though she is just hitting thirty she wants to have a child and she is prepared to go as far as artificial means - much to the horror of Dev.  Dev is also dealing with a family situation of his own and within that he really proves his reliability, care and compassion.

It seems that Dev suddenly starts to get so many things wrong to his utter frustration, and also he adds up and jumps to conclusions that aren't correct and drive him further into desperation.  There is a push/pull situation that just does not seem to be going anywhere between himself and Sarina. Will they negotiate their way from real friendship to love and being together. Possibly - but first not without a lot of angst.

This book is not quite as engaging as the first two, yet it was a fun read and I enjoyed it. It was great catching up with the rest of the team and to learn a little more about Dev and Sarina and their respective families.

Damaged Goods. Ainslie Paton

Published: Supervised by Cats!
Date: 1st August 2016
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 327
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Big thanks to the author
Rating:
                       

The Hard Part is Getting Back Up

This is the story of a man who can’t get it up and a woman who’s never gotten it on.

Sidelined by a broken back, CEO, Owen Lange is confronted by two things: his sex life will never be the same and he’s dependent on his pain meds. He never expected to have his dependence called out as addiction by a junior help desk employee.&

Cara Douglas knows all about pain and loss. She’d had her sights set on the US Olympic Gymnastics Team before an accident landed her at a help desk screen. The last thing she expected to be helping with was an intervention for her boss.

Owen doesn’t thank Cara for her trouble. He calls her a snitch. But even through his paranoia he knows she’s right. After all, addiction runs in his family. He also knows he has to make it up to her, but the only thing Cara wants is the one thing Owen can’t give her.

Question: What do an injured athlete finally ready for no-strings sex and a nice guy who can’t get it up have in common?

Answer: Sexual awakening.

Damaged Goods is the second book in the Sidelined series by Australian author Ainslie Paton. It isn't necessary to read the first one before this one, but still I'd highly recommend both to you. If you read the blurb above it really tells you what it is all about.

Ainslie Paton writes contemporary romances like no other author that I have read. Her books are clever and creative, she has a totally unique voice and tone. She explores issues and relationships that just have me totally engaged and wanting to read on. Her characters are flawed, gutsy, and downright delightful. 

Owen and Cara make a great couple, both are damaged goods. Cara comes from a hard working but poor family, Owen from a wealthy family with their values all in the wrong places. Cara on the other hand has a Dad who is down to earth and prepared to give Owen a hard time if he thinks it is warranted.  Cara wants to fulfil her dream of being a costume designer, but she is the independent sort and Owens efforts to push those dreams ahead just may not be what she is looking for. However they are well matched, they just need time! There is sexual awakening for sure, but as well there is love that is deep and compassionate.

The story is told from both Owen's and Cara's points of view. I really liked that and seeing inside both their heads, especially Owens. 

One of my favourite parts of the book was an intimate conversation between Owen, Reid and Dev (they are all co founders of the company Plus)  as Owen shares his inability with them around sexual function. It is open, honest communication and a tribute to their friendship. As well as the honest, intimate communications that run throughout the story, I enjoyed the moments of humour and the ways the friends watched out for each other.

As well as Owen and Cara we still have wee glimpses of the previous couple from Offensive Behavior, - Reid and Zarley and Dev and Sarina whose stories are yet to be published. Can't wait. Why? Because I know Ainslie Paton will do something that is totally romantic, different and refreshing. I know I won't have read a book like it before.  

Sidelined:

Offensive Behavior

Damaged Goods

Offensive Behavior by Ainslie Paton.

Published:
Date: March 31st 2016
Format: -ARC
Pages: 346
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Author
Rating:
                

This is the story of a man who’s never done it, and a woman with the experience to teach him how.

Reid McGrath is drunk and intends to stay that way. It’s what a man does when the world he built gets ripped out from under him. He’s staked a claim on the back booth at Lucky’s where he can fixate on a dancer who makes him wish things were different.

Zarley Halveston dances under shimmering lights in a barely there costume, but it’s not the gold medal life she trained for. She expected to stand on an Olympic podium, instead she glitters under disco lights, gyrating on a chrome pole.

Zarley can’t see the brooding man in the back booth, but she knows he’s there. He’s toxic, but it’s not her job to care, until the night he collapses at her feet and she has to choose to step over him or help him up.

Reid thought he’d hit bottom when he was fired as CEO of his own company, but knowing he’d needed the kindness of a stranger, and realizing she was the dancer he’d lusted after was a new low.

Offensive Behavior is the first in a series called Sidelined. I am happy to say the characters I met in this first one will have their stories continued on, because I became really invested in their lives as I read this first one, and I just know they will be treats in store for the future. 

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Ainslie Paton writes outstandingly good romance. It is entirely unique, gutsy and different. Don't expect the 'same old, same old' story when you read one of hers.

This is the story of Reid and Zarley. Reid is a founder of a very successful company, but he was sacked from it because of his offensive behavior. He just hasn't been a people person, he is passionate and driven about his work, and those who work with him never knew when they would be yelled at and told they were fools. He believes he is alway right ( usually is) and doesn't matter who he offends along the way. Until... he unbelievably is shown the door - and how that hurts him.

Sitting in a back booth now every night he wiles away his miserable life ( that should be miserable, rich life) watching Lux an incredibly talented pole dancer. He becomes obsessed with her - not in a creepy way - and one night things take a turn and they meet up. Lux, or Zarley - her actual name, is fabulously compassionate and brave. 

Through time their relationship develops, they grow and learn in all kinds of way. There is a lot of sex! No the bedroom door does not close on their intense relationship. You see, just go back and read the first paragraph of the book blurb above. Yep, he is a virgin. Told you Ainslie Paton turns tables. There is sex and fantasies galore. Now usually I am not a reader who likes a lot of sex in a romance. Just saying! However this is so intrinsic to the story I suffered through!

Zarley has a whole back story that is full of determination, intense training and a failure she didn't see coming. She has hit rock bottom, she knows what it is like to have been there. She is determined she will never sell herself down the drain to any man. She knows she needs to respect herself and be someone in her own right. So much to love about her.

I really look forward to the stories of Owen, Cara, Dev and Sarina. They all work at Plus - the company Reid started. They all will have rich and different stories I am sure. Yay, can't wait.

Find Ainslie Paton:

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Amazon - Offensive Behavior

Incapable. Ainslie Paton

Incapable
Ainslie Paton
Published: Escape Publishing
Date: 8th November 2015
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 300
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Author

Love can be a great healer, except when it hurts…

As voice actor royalty, Damon Donovan is trouble. He’s professionally intimidating. He’s confident. He’s charming, funny and genuinely talented. And he triggers the nurturing instincts newly separated Georgia Fairweather has sworn to ignore.

Love can be a great healer, except when it hurts…

Damon Donovan is used to three types of women: those who fawn, those who mother and those who want to fix him. So a reticent, prickly engineer he can neither awe nor charm triggers his interest. Love can be a great healer, except when it hurts…

A recording engineer and a voice actor should be a match to sing about, but the thrilling rhythm they create is soon drowned out by static. Georgia doesn’t know who she is, and Damon doesn’t know who he’ll become. Love can be a great healer, except when it hurts…

Can a man facing his insecurities and a woman afraid of her own instincts harmonise, or are they destined to sound good in theory, but be out of sync in life and love?

Incapable by Ainslie Paton is #3 in her Love Triumphs set of stories. As I was reading the first section of the book I thought this just might be one of her stories that didn't wow me. Oh me of little faith.  All of a sudden the book had a punch to it and I was sucked down in.

There is no other author I know who writes like Ainslie Paton, she has a very distinctive way of writing, she writes contemporary romances, that have an added drama and depth to them that just makes me want to keep on reading them.

I don't always put the blurb into my reviews but I did for this one because I don't want to talk about the story or the characters too much, if by chance you read this book I want you to get the full impact as I did, walking into it unknowingly.

Damon and Georgia are both wounded people each in their own way, they find each other early on but can they keep each other? Georgia desperately does not want to be treated like dirt or dismissed as in her previous relationship. She'd lost all sense of who she is, she is a confident woman that was, now reticent and a little insecure. 

Damon is in one sense a great guy, he has grown up with a close bond with a group of friends who love him and he them. They look out for each other, and they're not prepared to stand by and let anyone muck their life up.  They'll do what it takes. And Damon is going to test them all to the limit.

The bonds of friendship, the trust and being your true self is strong in this novel. It speaks of tough challenges in life that can leave you incapable and alone, or then again being incapable of forgetting the one who really matters.

I LOVED the ending. Perfection.

Love Triumphs

Insecure #1

Inconsolable #2
Incapable #3

Inconsolable. Ainslie Paton

Inconsolable
Ainslie Paton
Published: Escape Publishing
Date: 22nd August 2015
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 279
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: from the author.

Sometimes the only way to forgiveness is through love

Foley has a new boss she doesn’t like, a flatmate who’s been known to wear odd shoes, and a car that’s ready to pack it in. She hasn’t met a guy worth lipstick in forever, and though she planned a life less ordinary, the only thing unique about her is a badly thought through tattoo.

Until Drum.

Drum wasn’t always the cliff guy, a homeless man sheltering in a cave tucked above a popular tourist beach. He wanted to get as far away from his previous life as possible. Now he wakes with the sun, runs on the beach, does odd jobs for cash to buy food, and is at peace.

It’s Foley’s job to find Drum a safer place to live, but the only home Drum wants is the one place he can never stay: Foley’s heart.

Whenever I start an Ainslie Paton novel it is with a sense of anticipation - I expect a good story and Inconsolable gave it to me again as I became engrossed in the characters and their story, within an Australian setting.

It is obvious Drum is not your average homeless person and so my question was - who is he? What has happened in his life to bring him here?  He's feeling a load of guilt - why? The blurb says his homeless life brings him peace. I am not so sure about that, although it does help him to hang on, to control the anxiety and remorse he feels.  He lives life on the edge, hangs on to nothing. Yet he shows some caring towards others and is obviously intelligent.  He is a mystery man. A man who lives by his own set of rules, setting himself up as judge, jury and jailer over his own life. He's a great example of the wounded hero who eventually just might find healing. As a reader I wanted him to find his way, to be his best self.

Foley works at the local council and as part of her job she has been instructed to get rid of Drum from the cave he shelters in overlooking the beach on a cliff.  While she is partially successful in this, she forms a relationship with Drum that grows into deep friendship and love.  She is willing to go in and bat for him, she wants to be with him, to help him.  There is a passionate spark that ignites and she knows she loves him, but does he love her or will he hurt her?

It's a romance, so the reader (me) knows it is going to be a happy ever after. However Drum must make choices and really see what he values in life.  Perhaps homelessness is not the answer.  Perhaps love, kindness, understanding, forgiveness and really seeing others are what counts.

I loved seeing the development of the two characters and their finding of themselves and each other, and sighed with deep contentment as I finished a story with characters I was invested in and desperately wanted them to find their answers, to achieve their hopes and dreams. Loved it.

Insecure Ainslie Paton

Insecure
Ainslie Paton
Published: Escape Publishing
Date: March 2015
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 288
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: from the author

The worst thing a man can do is not be with the woman he loves.

She could have him sacked quicker than licking her lips. He could ruin her reputation with an email.

Jacinta was the CEO in waiting. Mace was the geek from IT. She had an office suite on the top floor. He worked in cubicle hell.

She had power, influence, her life mapped out. He had big dreams, and an appetite for risk.

They had one hot night written all over them, except the city conspired to turn that night into a weekend of unexpected passion and deep connection.

Will love be enough when Jacinta’s star falls and Mace’s dream takes flight, or will ambition, expectation and insecurity pull them apart?

Insecure by Ainslie Paton is a deeply satisfying, intense read.  I loved the characters, the pacing of the plot and the way in which I became acutely emotionally engaged in the outcome for the main characters.

Jacinta begins out as a rich business woman, powerful and wanting control.  Yet within, how secure is she really?  Her step-dad holds the power and she is just a chattel.  Her parents died when she was young and when she says "No one ever holds me" to Mace, it pained my heart. When her world disintegrates around her, there are choices to be made.  How will she be as their story closes towards the end?  How will she find balance, security and passion in and for life?

It was very easy to fall for Mace, he had me at 'he didn't do clever banter'.  He's an IT geek, caught up with his desire to bring to birth a special piece of software that could be the next best thing.  He's a bit of a maverick, he'll dance to no one else's tune. Yet he has a soft side, a deep love for his grandmother, Buster who has loved him and taught him what is real in life, and even has him reading romance novels to her.  He has a best mate Dillion, they've grown up together, worked together, dreamed big.  Can their friendship last the distance, weather all the ups and downs as they wend their way through the dangers in the big world of business?

As the themes of success and failure, balance and imbalance, loyalty and blind ambition, hurt and forgiveness played out I was deeply engrossed with what was happening.  I smiled and sighed, despaired and cheered as Jacinta and Mace found out for themselves what really mattered to them.  I was reminded of the parable of the treasure hidden in the field, where the character gives up everything and buys the treasure.  In the end they both have what they treasure.  To find out what that is you'll have to read this book for yourself!

Ainslie Paton is a favourite Australian author for me, I'll eventually read almost all that she writes. 

Review: White Balance. Ainslie Paton

White Balance
Ainslie Paton
Date: August 2012
Format: Kindle
Pages: 353
Genre: Contemporary
Source: Own book

His world was grey. She gave him back his colour.

In one stolen moment, a man bared his soul. She only saw him through her camera lens but she's overwhelmed by the desire to comfort him.

When Bailey meets scarily attractive Aiden, she's struck by the oddest feeling he's in pain. He soon proves how bogus first impressions can be. He's not in pain. He causes pain, belittling with his intelligence and humiliating with his wit.

Aiden's life is wildly out of balance. But no-one needs to know that, least of all the sparkling Bailey, even if it means ruining a perfectly good professional relationship with the only woman who ever made him forget Shannon.

Then together they save a man's life, Aiden's two realities collide and Bailey discovers she's stolen his soul.

White Balance by Ainslie Paton is a story about a big doofus, a warrior princess, a reformed narrator and a cute fairy who worms her way into the story and tends to go off script.  It begins with 'Once Upon a Time' and ends with 'And They Lived Happily Ever After.'

Any book that I have read so far by Ainslie Paton I have enjoyed, and this one does not stray from that line.  Set in Australia in the business world it is a fascinating look at characters and their lives, both in relation to themselves and to others.  It explores loss and pain, friendship and love, light and dark, finding the balance and following your heart in all things. 

White Balance is a gritty story, a story of recovery and choosing to live.  A story of reaching out and seeing and being with.  The characters wormed their way into my heart and I followed their ups and downs, never sure where they might move next.  While it is a romance, I hesitated to even name it that, because it goes beyond into another realm. 

This book did need some more proof reading, there were a larger number of typos than I like to come across, however it didn't stop me reading. 

If you'd like a full review for White Balance then read this review by Jane at Dear Author as I think her review is very fair indeed and she puts it far better than I could.  In the meantime I'll be organising my next read by Ainslie Paton.  For as long as she is writing, I'll be reading her books.