Tag Archives: EL Todd

Review: The Man I Thought I Trusted (Two-Faced #3) by E.L.Todd

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Title: The Man I Thought I Trusted
Author:  E.L. Todd
Publisher/Year:  Independent 10/15/20
Length:  168 Pages
Series: Two-Faced #3

Overview

I’m not the kind of woman to hold a grudge, so I forgive Dax for the lies he told.

Now we’re happy.

Happier than I ever thought I would be.

It’s the first time we’ve ever really been together, completely honest with one another.

But maybe honesty isn’t always the best policy…

My Thoughts

What a journey we’ve gone on in this series- watching Carson and Dax find their way to each other, break up on a technicality (that frankly wasn’t something that I’d ding Dax on), and then find their way back together. Everyone was rooting for this couple to find their happy ending, and well, it seems as though we get our wish as this third installment continues.

In addition to the story of Dax and Carson, we get to dance around Kat’s misery at not being with Charlie, and knowing that it was because he had a crush on Denise. She’s miserable, and she is now refusing to have any contact or make effort with anyone from the crew. She’s nursing her broken heart, but at the same time, she’s blaming Carson for what happened when that’s truly misplaced anger.

We watch how the idea of another happy couple is put in the balance because everyone’s afraid to act and then there’s the worry that opportunity will pass them by. Will we get happy endings for anyone else in this series?

Back to our mains – we watch their relationship grow stronger, and we watch Dax make a determination that Carson is who he wants to be with forever. He lays out his ideas for what forever can look like. He wants Carson to move in with him, be his wife and the mother of his children. At the same time, he continues to worry about the danger that she puts herself in every time she investigates a new article. He asks her to compromise and step back from that line of work, and we know that it’s going to blow up in his face.

Speaking of those dangerous articles, you’ll remember in book 2 when Carson was investigating a story about a pharma company that wasn’t on the up and up. The CEO of that company threatened her, and we have seen him now on another occasion stalk her and try to intimidate her. We know that there’s going to be an unhappy ending here and i’m afraid of what will happen to Carson since we know that she can’t give up a story.

We get the sense that Carson and Dax are on the path to forever, until she’s asked to sign a prenup. We know that she doesn’t care about his money and is happy to sign her rights away, but the manner in which it’s done, well, she pulls the plug since she feels like she was taken advantage of. We see their love story end and they both know that there’s no turning back. All we can hope for at this point is that she’s able to rebuild her life and move on.

Answered my own question from above right? It’s a roller coaster for sure in this story. Watching romances start and grow. Watching others grow and then crash and burn. Watching friendships shatter and then seeing how happy news potentially brings them back together. We see a tense stalker situation arise which puts lives in danger and we see the story come to an end. You can only guess what the future holds for this cast of characters, but I will say that this final installment has all the excitement that you’d hope for a closeout. Romance, passion, hate, love, fear, hope…..now it leaves me needing something else to read. Enjoy!

Review: Wednesday (Timeless #3) by E. L. Todd

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Title: Wednesday
Author:  E.L. Todd
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace Publishing 8/27/16
Length:  200 Pages
Series:  Timeless #3

Overview

It took me a long time to forgive Hawke-a very long time.

But now that I have, I feel nothing but unbridled joy. Everything is exactly as it should have been two years ago. He’s just what I need, and not just now, but forever.

Until disaster strikes.

We promised each other forever, but will Hawke honor that promise when his world comes crumbling down? When the ground cracks below his feet, will we still stand?

Or will we fall?

My Thoughts

We knew that bliss could not be eternal or forever as this couple seems to think they will get, and the path that this third installment takes is a wild ride again. The happiness that they have together is huge and the connection that they share is intense and i think that if we’ve learned anything in this series and in the genre as a whole, when you have that much heat, and the word soul-mate is batted around as often as it is here, there’s going to be so much more pain than happiness in the long run.

We spend a bit of time enjoying some of the bliss- watching their relationship grow into the new version of what they had in the beginning and it’s a relationship to be jealous of. Marie and Axel are back from their honeymoon which prompts all sorts of thoughts as to what the future could bring for our mains.

While there’s trust in one another, there’s concern around the people who are around them. which personally is always entertaining to watch. Hawke doesn’t trust Kyle or any other guy around Frankie, and Frankie doesn’t enjoy seeing Hawke’s past paraded in front of her all the time. We see Hawke’s temper flair, we also see Frankie’s ability to bring him back down to the earth and tamp things down.

That is until he gets a call from the hospital and his world is turned upside down again. Even with all the effort that Frankie puts out there, she’s not able to bring Hawke out of his dark place – he’s so down an angry and enraged that he does what he did last time, he pushes her away and this time, there are more repercussions than anyone realized. Mind you he had just bought a ring for Frankie, with the intention to propose, but with his depression and downward spiral meant that was no real possibility.

Frankie told him that if he pushed her away – all chances for a future were gone. dead. he didn’t care and pushed her away anyway. So that’s where our story takes a turn. Frankie moves on, she gets a new apartment and upgrades her life. She expands her business to a 2nd location, she starts her relationship back up with Kyle, and everyone seems happy. Well….on the surface at least. She pretends to be happy. Everyone pretends like being without Hawke is the right thing, and Hawke is beyond miserable.

He tries and tries to get back into Frankies good graces and he fails. He starts seeing a therapist in the hopes that if he improves himself he’ll make progress, and yet, there’s no success. Kyle decides that he’s going to propose to Frankie and that’s game changing in the trajectory that this story goes – so i think you’ll need to read this one and the epilogue to see how this seismic shift really changes our story. Enjoy!

Review: Tuesday (Timeless #2) by E.L. Todd

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Title: Tuesday
Author:  E.L. Todd
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace Publishing 5/3/16
Length:  204 Pages
Series:  Timeless #2

Overview

Getting over Hawke is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.

I couldn’t breathe, sleep, or eat. Every day was more agonizing than the one that followed. But somehow, after two years of suffering, I finally got back on my feet.

And I moved on.

Now I’m living in the city and running my own bakery. Life is good again. I’m surrounded by good friends that I love, and every day is even better than the last.

Until everything changes.

Now I have to face him after two years of silence. I have to look him in the eye and act like he has no effect on me. I have to hold my head high and pretend he didn’t shatter me into a million pieces.

I have to act like he doesn’t mean a damn thing to me.

Can I fool him? Can I fool myself?

My Thoughts

I was curious how this story was going to continue and the way that we did it was through a leap 2 years into the future. Everyone’s now living in NYC and the girls have graduated from college, living their dreams. Marie is working at a magazine (in what capacity, we never find out but that’s what we hear), and Frankie has managed to open Muffin Girl (mind you that’s really not realistic but this is a book so i’ll just let it go) .

She’s found a way to be happy even though it took time. her bakery is thriving beyond what anyone could have imagined and she’s figured out how to keep her walls up but still get what she needs. She’s flipped the script and has become what all other men in EL Todd books are, flings and nothing more – manwhores.

This story starts off when Marie announces that she’s engaged and it’s to Axel, Frnakie’s brother. This means that Marie will now be her sister and that’s perhaps the best news ever. The challenge of course is that it means that Frankie will be the maid of honor, but that Axel’s best friend will be the best man, and that friend is Hawke.

It’s taken 2 years to get over him, we learn throughout the story what that really meant – how horrible the break up was on Frankie and it makes you really want to hate Hawke for what he did. On the other hand though, he knows what he’s capable of and he’s afraid to hurt her, so there was no choice that he really felt that he had to keep her safe.

The bulk of this story is spent watching them stalk around each other. they say they can be around each other and friends but that’s not possible given their chemistry and the notion that they are soul mates. They want to be together but don’t want to admit to each other that they need to be together. Frankie goes so far as to have a long term fling with a guy who seems perfect and likely would have been the right guy for her if Hawke was never in the picture. Kyle is good looking, successful, kind, and really the perfect guy. but he’s not Hawke and that’s always going to be what holds her back.

Hawke on the other hand tries to go back to his ways with meaningless relationships but he finds that all he does is think of Frankie and that’s something that he just can’t stop doing.

As the wedding draws closer, we see bumps in the road of their friendship, we see other relationships take priority, we see the potential for romance elsewhere and we see concern on the face of other friends. At the center of all this though is the sweet relationship between Marie and Axel, until he leaves her at the altar.

All in all, we have a roller coaster that gives us SOME of the expected and quite a bit of surprise and i can’t wait to seer what’s up next in Wednesday since i’m not sure where this story can really go. Enjoy!

Review: Monday (Timeless #1) by E.L. Todd

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Title: Monday
Author:  E.L. Todd
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace Publishing 2/19/16
Length:  200 Pages
Series:  Timeless #1

Overview

I don’t believe in destiny.

In fate.

Or in soul mates.

But I believe in Hawke.

My life has never been whole since my parents left forever. I have my brother, someone I can barely tolerate most of the time, and I have my best friend, Marie.

And I have myself.

But when Hawke walks into my life, there’s an immediate connection. Our eyes lock and an unspoken conversation is exchanged. For the first time in my life, I actually feel something.

But he doesn’t.

He keeps me at arm’s length and pretends there’s nothing between us when there clearly is. I’m not the kind of girl to wait around for any guy, so I don’t.

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t in the back of my mind.

Our paths cross again in a way neither one of us expect and it changes everything. Was it destiny that made it happen? Was it fate?

Or was it something else?

My Thoughts

This story was a bit slow for e to start to be honest, but what we quickly learn is that this new series follows the same recipe that all of EL Todd’s other books. There’s a guy who’s sworn off relationships for any number of reasons, but of course some how after a lot of ‘best friend’ stuff happening, things turn a corner.

In this first installment to the series, we get to see Francesca, our leading lady find intrigue with Hawke – a guy who’s perhaps the hottest man she’s ever seen, and also the most unattainable or so she thinks. When she chooses to be forward one day and asks him out for a drink, he accepts and we see what could be….until it isn’t.

Hawke wants a one night stand or something that’s not long term and Frankie wants romance and flowers and forever. The journey that we go on is interesting since they end things oddly when Frankie pushes him away, then changes her mind and then he walks away.

The story changes trajectory when it’s Thanksgiving and Frankie learns that Hawke is going to spend the holiday with his friend’s family, only for her to learn that the friend is her brother. These two continue to get thrown together, their chemistry undeniable and well, we spend the bulk of this story wondering what’s going to happen and what’s not.

The nice thing about these two main characters is that they both have a troubled backstory. Frankie’s mom died when she was 12 from cancer, and her father killed himself just weeks after. Hawke on the other hand has an abusive father and a other who won’t walk away. IT makes them understand one another in a way that most people don’t, but it’s something that’s almost too much for Hawke to survive…..

When things seem like they are going down the right path for these two, they deal together with all the obstacles thrown their way, it’s one last one that becomes too much and we see them torn apart yet again. Just when everyone could be happy, they realize they never will be and that’s where our story ends. I know there’s a 2nd book and i hope that we get to see the badass that Frankie is come out on top. Enjoy!

Review: Burn (Electric #3) by E. L. Todd

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Title: Burn
Author:  E.L. Todd
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace Publishing 10/11/16
Length:  280 Pages
Series:  Electric #3

Overview

Volt is my best friend.

And nothing but my best friend.

Natalie and Sara keep telling me there’s something more going on beneath the surface, but that’s not true.

Volt is a manwhore.

A player.

And a heartbreaker.

We’re better off as friends.

At least that’s what I keep telling myself…

My Thoughts

We are on yet another roller coaster that i wish that i could get off. While i’m all for a dynamic ‘should we or shouldn’t we situation, this one is getting to be a bit much with the amount of whip lash. The challenge with Volt and Taylor is that they don’t admit to themselves what they want until it’s too late and they both don’t acknowledge their faults.

Volt is too quick to judge and cut people off, which is what he did to Sara and what he does here to Taylor. Taylor on the other hand doesn’t let things just lay where they should. She allows moments of reprieve from time to time and in moments after that, she allows the smallest things to ruin what could be great.

The bulk of this story though is still watching them deny what they are to each other. Taylor is in a relationship with someone else, and seems to be happy until she always chooses to be with Volt and manage him instead of her boyfriend. I can only imagine how that feels to Sage, the bf, and i’m not surprised when he makes his point and feelings clear.

Volt realizes FINALLY That he wants to be what Taylor needs but his problem is that he’s already established that he’s not that kind of guy, and we also know that he’s hiding quite a few things from her which will of course blow up in their faces. The biggest perhaps is that his father is her boss….no way that’s going to end well since his father doesn’t rate Taylor.

So we watch this relationship implode before it even starts and then we watch far too many false starts. I think they are both masochists to an extent to keep allowing this to happen to each other, but it’s also like a car wreck where i have no choice but to continue to read.

On the other hand, at least we have some happy thoughts happening with Natalie and Jared. They didn’t see what was in front of them until someone else came in the way, and they finally figure out how to make it work. We don’t get to dive too deeply into it, but i think that’s the moment of happiness and bliss that this series deserves.

Where we are left off in this one is yet another fight, another bunch of lies and well, it’s no shocker that Taylor and Volt can’t find a way to be together. Honestly, i think it’s for the best at this point, and i can’t wait to see how the Volt (Muriel)/Sara thing explodes since that HAS to happen soon. Enjoy!

Review: Spark (Electric #2) by E.L.Todd

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Title: Spark
Author:  E.L. Todd
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace Publishing 10/11/16
Length:  280 Pages
Series:  Electric #2

Overview

I’ve fallen for Taylor.

When we first met, I was an idiot and didn’t realize she was a bombshell. But when I kissed her, sparks flew.

Not sparks. Fireworks.

I’ve tried to deny my feelings for weeks, but I can’t keep doing it. Relationships aren’t for me, not after the way I got my heart crushed.

But I can’t help wondering if a relationship would be different with Taylor.

Maybe it would.

But then an unnecessary obstacle comes my way.

My Thoughts

We continue on this roller coaster of a journey, this time truly focusing on what’s going on with Taylor and Volt. There’s so much with these two that you want to spend one chapter smacking your forehead and another chapter wondering what you ever worried about

Throughout this second installment, we see Taylor trying to find her footing even more so in NYC – teaching which is a mess, her friendship with Volt which is great some moments but a mess at other times, and then trying to find romance which keeps biting her in the butt. She’s friend zoned Volt, although there are so many moments when even she wonders if that’s what she’s done. She tries to date other guys and even seems happy with them but some how Volt always comesback into the mix, either needing her, protecting her or just being there in general.

At the same time, in this book we see Volt really get a bit more depth. We know that he’s a bit walled off because of his past break up but in this book we see him become the kind of guy that you want to see as a father – he find a kid who really needs his help in school through tutoring in the hopes of getting out of his low income, bad family situation. The kid, Clay is a teen who’s father is an addict and who hits him, and Clay’s only hope at success is to go to a college and get away. Volt finds a way to become a mentor and a friend to this kid and while he does that, he realizes that there’s more to him than meets the eye.

Every time it seems like Volt and Taylor take steps in the direction of ‘more than friends’, we see steps back. Relationships get in the way, drunk moments get in the way – mishearing information also gets ijn the way.

So…on top of this duo, we also get to see a tease at what’s going on with Jared and Natalie. Natalie finally sees that she’s never going to get what she wants from jared and starts to move on, but of course once he realizes that maybe she’s off the menu, he’s interested. We don’t see truly how that plays out but i’m sure there’s a story there.

So, we’re left in a moment of pain and weakness with our characters, a trip home opens eyes for people, a fear of losing a job forces us to reevaluate and the revelation of identities that will likely come out in the next book are just on the tip of what’s happening. We know that Volt’s dad, the principal is going to come out and hurt his chances with Taylor once she realizes who he is, and we know that once Sara discovers that Volt. is her ex and Volt realizes that his crush is best friends with the girl who crushed his soul, the crap will hit the fan. I can’t wait to see how this plays out. Enjoy!