Tag Archives: Soulless

Review: The Girl Who Always Wins (Soulless #13) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The Girl Who Always Wins
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Hartwick Publishing 8/10/21
Length:  178 Pages
Series: Soulless #13

Overview

Atlas is everything that I want in a man.

I love him as exactly as he is and wouldn’t change a thing.

I want to make this work–no matter what.

I just wished he believed that.

My Thoughts

I just LOVE Daisy. She knows her place in her family, she knows her place in her job, and she knows what she deserves and wants. She wants Atlas, even if he thinks that he knows better. From the first book in their journey, and the twelfth book in the series, we watch how we have some uncharacteristically smart leads who feel like they are not right for anyone push their soul-mate away just on principle. These two fought their way to each other in the first book, literally fought until Deacon pointed out how right they could be.

Just when they were in romantic bliss, they knew that they loved each other, Atlas shares the one thing that makes him feel like he’s not enough. The reason for his divorce and the reason that he knows Daisy will walk away. He can’t have children. and he knows that Daisy wants to at some point. He’s so traumatized from the experience in his marriage – three miscarriages, all because of his blood disorder – that he’s not even willing to let the diagnostician in Daisy figure out if there’s a solution. Instead he decides that they are done, and both end up miserable.

We spend a roller coaster of a time in this story. watching him push her away only for her not to accept it. Daisy does things on HER terms and no one elses so even when Atlas thinks there’s no future, she doesn’t accept it and just keeps at their relationship as though nothing has happened. They fall back into bliss until they his another stumble.

Things were going well, Daisy was moving into Atlas’ home and then explosion. Daisy really wants to find out if there’s a way to have biological children because she loves Atlas so much and wants to have a little one of him that she and her father get some of the most skilled experts in their fields together – all they need is Atlas’ compliance and what happens? He flips out, thinks that Daisy doesn’t understand anything and that means that not only are they personally messed up, it affects them professionally.

To the extend that Atlas decides to go back and work with Deacon full time since that’s better than being in the office with Daisy. Both are still madly in love with each other but Atlas has so much hate and anger right now that he won’t see clearly.

The upshot to it all is the other story line that’s going on in this book. Deacon and Atlas are working on treatments for lung cancer and they’re in trials again. They’re seeing some success but other failures and can’t quite figure out what’s making some patients get better and not others. All the time that Atlas is able to now focus on in the lab should be good for something right?

We watch the relationship between Deacon and Atlas change, and we don’t know how that’s going to evolve now that it seems like more boss/employee rather than father son. We know that Deacon’s highly protective of his daughter so that’s Atlas’ bad and you’ll have to read to see what that means for it all.

There are turning points in this story that are unexpected and results that change the focus and pace of everything around them. There’s hope and then there’s fear and then there are consequences and unexpected turns. I’m sad to see that this series is coming to and end because there just aren’t any more kids unless our amazing author Victoria Quinn decides that Lizzie needs her own story! I’d be happy with that. Any way, you get the sizzle and the steam and the emotions and the feels – so it’s been an amazing journey! Enjoy!

Review: The Girl Who Doesn’t Quit (Soulless #12) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The Girl Who Doesn’t Quit
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Hartwick Publishing 6/15/21
Length:  277 Pages
Series: Soulless #12

Overview

The director of my clinic is retiring and the job is up for grabs. 

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want the job for myself, but I’d be happy if any of my colleagues got the promotion. 

But none of them get it. 

Neither do I. 

It’s an outside hire. 

Atlas Beaumont. 

Super genius, but I think he’s a super prick. 

Worst part of all? My father is the one who wrote his letter of recommendation, the one that impressed my boss so much that he hired him on the spot.

My Thoughts

Daisy is the one person of the family that we hadn’t gotten a great look at aside from her relationship with Mason, so it’s wonderful to see her story come to fruition. In this 12th installment, we get to see how Daisy’s life transforms as she tries to excel at work and find personal life balance.

We know she’s in the medical field and she’s one of the top in what she does. Her boss is getting ready to retire and of course that means that she’s excited to take on the role, except that it doesn’t go to her. or anyone who works there – it’s an outside hire and that hurts. When Daisy confronts her boss about, she’s told that she’s young, perhaps too young. Yet the new guy is her age. what it comes down to is that she’s a woman – and that’s just not ok. She learns that part of the reason the new guy – Atlas got the job was from a glowing recommendation from one Dr Hamilton – her father.

The path of this story in that perspective is one of challenge, butting heads and really just trying to do a good job medically. Daisy has patients that she wants to cure, and there are egos at play here where Atlas thinks he knows better on everything and Daisy likes to be thorough. each scene also screams sexual tension which is a whole nother level of things.

Throughout this story. we watch how that plays out – how Daisy comes to terms with things and then Atlas is arrogant and makes it all awful again. Then They figure out how to work together and the office is a great place to be.

While this is all going on, we watch how Deacon (Daisy’s father) and Atlas expand their friendship. There’s a father protectiveness over Atlas and there’s a mutual respect that we see grow as they open up to one another. Where this leads of course is the idea for Deacon that Atlas and Daisy are compatible. So that takes us down another path in this story.

Neither really wants anything serious – after Mason, Daisy decided that she’s not ready to love anyone again and Atlas is divorced but won’t share the catalyst to that – so we don’t know why he’s gun shy. So instead we get a super explosive connection between them, the chemistry and passion are off the charts and I think there may be something good. until Atlas reveals something and well….we’re at an impasse. so…i’m off to book lucky #13 to see what happens next. enjoy!

Review: The Doctor Who Has No Chance (Soulless #11) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The Doctor Who Has No Chance
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Victoria Quinn 4/14/21
Length:  186 Pages
Series: Soulless #11

Overview

I rushed into something I wasn’t ready for. I want to be ready, wish I were ready, but I’m just not.But I miss her. Every day. Every moment. Always.It’s like losing half of my soul.Maybe Sicily is the right person, just not the right time.And if that’s true, can I really just let her go?

My Thoughts

This is a tough installment to read – not because it wasn’t amazing, but because it’s the part of the story that truly has the roller coaster. We know that Sic and Dex are finding their way back together, and we know that Catherine wants nothing more than to have what she lost. It was tough to watch Dex’s reaction in the last book when he learned that Catherine had moved on so quickly, especially when he felt that they had the perfect relationship. There are always two sides to a story and while we want to have hope that Dex saw it for what it was, we know that it’s not always the case. What we get in this eleventh installment though is confirmation that Catherine did love Dex but that she didn’t know how to handle herself and her grief properly.

We know that Dex has moved on, but what’s always in the back of our mind, what would it take for him to go back to her. They were happy and they were on the path to the life that they wanted, but a death crossed that off the list. When Catherine tells Dex that she’s no longer with her fiance because she wants what she had before, as a reader, you get the fear that he’ll go back. There are moments when you think that she could be so convincing that it’ll happen, yet it doesn’t. Thankfully.

So we watch how Dex’s downward spiral has an effect on what his relationship could be with Siciliy, and we watch her cope with what her life is like without him because he doesn’t know how to manage his emotions. We also watch the entire Hamilton family get behind Dex in the sense of forcing him to see what he’s losing and thankfully it has an effect.

The next section of this story is watching how Sicily and Dex find their stride, get happy again until the next surprise comes, care of Catherine. Frankly, I was not at all surprised by what she shares, and it has a debilitating effect on the trajectory of our story. Dex learns that he has a son, one who’s gifted (of course) and who looks just like him. We see that he wants to drop everything to be a father and we watch how Catherine tries to manipulate him into being a family again. While Dex isn’t interested in a relationship with her, he wants to be a family, but that also includes Sic in his mind. She’s not comfortable with how things are going, and she doesn’t want to be the reason that little Ryan doesn’t have a family unit, so she bows out. at the worst time of course because it’s the night before they were due to leave for Africa. While she was uncertain of her role in the relationship before, it also comes at the prodding of Catherine who puts a bug in her ear that Sic is keeping them apart.

It’s a sad ending to this story if you ask me – watching how the joy that Dex experiences as a father, how the Hamilton brood rallies around the new baby, and yet how it means that all of Scility’s dreams are dashed. We want everyone to be happy, yet it doesn’t seem like it’s possible. Sic hires a replacement for her role and moves on with her life. as best as she can I suppose. We only want the best happy ending for these guys, and it’s never been an easy route.

The other story that we see evolving like we saw introduced in the last book was about Daisy. We know that she’s a strong intelligent beautiful woman who’s not going to settle in any aspect of her life, and she has an intensely protective family who will never sit back and watch her get hurt. We watch Deacon protect her, we watch her brothers want only the best man for her and we hope that we can see her story evolve. What we see as this story wraps up is the optimism that she has for her work as she knows that her boss is retiring and she’s up for the role. We know that she’s in a new relationship that may make her happy and I can’t wait to see how her story plays out. I just need to wait another month until that story is out. what a shame but i’ll manage patiently. Enjoy!

Review: The Doctor Who Has No Closure (Soulless #10) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The Doctor Who Has No Closure
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Victoria Quinn 3/9/21
Length:  198 Pages
Series: Soulless #10

Overview

I’ve been living in the past for so long, and it’s time that I move on.

Forget Catherine. I’m done with her.

I’m done with her memory. I’m done playing “what if”. I have this beautiful woman right in front of me that I want.

And I’m just going to go for it.

Finally.

My Thoughts

We know the struggle that Dex has in his every day life to get past what put an end to his career, and an end to his marriage. He’s faced it in some ways but refuses to move on in others. We watched as he went from the best heart surgeon in the world to the best IT guy at the Trinity Building, and we know that there’s so much more out there for him.

His mom sees in his what he doesn’t see in himself, and Sicily does as well. They both push him / lead him in the direction that he needs to go to get back on his feet, to find his passion again for medicine, and they’re successful. This tenth installment of the series takes us on the journey of a phoenix of sorts – we watch how Dex some how manages to find his stride in the world of medicine, now he’s practicing again, he’s teaching residents, and he’s working in a lab to help further advance the medical technology available.

We know that he’s had a rough patch, but with the help of Sic, he’s managed to succeed in everything.

Sicily on the other hand has managed to find the perfect job, working in the perfect place for the perfect man. Dex’s successes are hers and it’s truly wonderful to watch how she shines when she’s able to support him in ways that even she didn’t know was possible . True to the nature of this series as well, we have a woman who’s strong, powerful, intuitive and sexy taking on a role of a PA of sorts, in a realm that there’s no comfort and doing a better job than even the most experienced.

We know what’s bound to happen right? Sexy strong intelligent Dex has the hots for his PA but won’t cross that line. Sic realizes that her feelings for Dex extend far past boss / employee. She’s enamored with him but fears what it’ll mean to cross the line. The entire Hamilton family sees something special between them, want it to happen, but aren’t sure how to push them both together in the right way to make it happen.

What we didn’t get in the first installment, we get in spades in this one. We have the development of a deep emotional relationship in the first part, and now we’re watching the passion and chemistry come to life in this one. Granted, there’s not much of that between the couple that we want to get together, but there’s still that level of spark that was missing in the first part of their story. It’s a wonder what’s going to push them together at last.

The side story to this one is also that of Daisy – we watch how she’s strong, self assured and a girls girl as much as a sexy suave female who has all the power in the world against men. She’s found someone that she thinks that she could be with, yet Dex isn’t quite sure about him and makes it a struggle. I’m sure we’ll see how that plays out once we get to her story -but we’re not there yet.

When things seem like they’re going in the right direction for everyone, of course the other shoe drops – and that’s in the form of Catherine – Dex’s ex-wife. She’s inserted herself into the story at the wrong time and that means that we now come to a screeching halt with everything. It’s a shame that it had to happen, but it leaves on in the needed cliff in order to get the closure to Dex’s story that we’re all waiting for. Since that book is out now, i’m going to pick it up and read, and then i’ll have to be patient I think for Daisy’s to come out. Enjoy!

Review: The Doctor Who Has No Ambition (Soulless #9) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The Doctor Who Has No Ambition
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Victoria Quinn 2/9/21
Length:  198 Pages
Series: Soulless #9

Overview

As the world’s most renowned heart surgeon, I accomplished every dream I had. I did my humanitarian work in South Africa, conducted ground-breaking research with my clinic, and made a difference every single day. The best part? The way my father looked at me…like he’d never been more proud.

But when my patience dies on the table, I lose everything.

And I mean EVERYTHING.

My wife left me.

I lost my practice.

And worst of all…I lost myself.

I’ll never be able to reclaim everything I lost, nor do I want to.

Until I meet Sicily…and she refuses to accept no for an answer.

My Thoughts

We met Dex as the carefree middle child, the boy who was very devoted to his medical career that was turning into something quite successful. He brought a lightness to Derek’s story that we needed at times when things were so stressful, and we could only envision what his life would be like.

Boy were we wrong. What happens at the onset of this ninth installment makes us turn completely around, missing the happy go lucky successful doctor because of a trauma that he can’t get past. Dex is the world’s best Heart Surgeon and he’s married to the love of his life Catherine. Her father needs a surgery that no other heart surgeon will take on so Dex is the one to perform it. There are risks of course but if anyone can do it, it’s Dex. Until it’s not .

That starts the downward spiral for Dex – Catherine’s father doesn’t make it through surgery and no one quite knows the reason. Dex did everything right yet when he was taken off bypass, Allen didn’t make it. Catherine holds Dex responsible for the death and that’s something that she can’t get past. She breaks Dex’s heart and takes all his money when she divorces him. He refuses to practice any more and we find him as the IT guy working for Cleo now.

Enter Sicily, the leading lady of this story. A girl who’s landed a gig working for Cleo and she’s on the cusp of greatness. Great Job, great Man, until that man isn’t so great. She soon learns that he’s married and has kids and her world is shattered. It’s only when she’s working for Cleo and meets Dex and his humor and good nature that her life starts to turn around.

Knowing Deacon and Cleo as we do, we know that they’re not going to settle for Dex working where he’s not using his talents. They have an intervention of sorts, and words are spewed – words that you can’t really take back. There’s anger and fear and the underlying desire for Dex to return to greatness, but he’s not ready.

That’s a theme that we see over and over again in this series if i’m honest. After Derek’s rocket failed, we saw him implode and refuse to work on anything that may have a chance at failure. It took the love and support of his family and that of a woman that cared for him and not what he brought to the world in order to turn that cornder.

For the bulk of this ninth book, we see Dex fight his demons, and we see Cleo and Sicily take charge of what could be an amazing future. They set up a practice for Dex, convince him that he’s worthy of so much more, and push him on the path to resurgence.

There’s a patience that has the same situation of Catherine’s father that needs him – Dex is the only doctor that will perform the surgery and it’s a matter of getting over his ghosts to even take a consultation and see if he’ll ever get past his fears.

Underneath this story line we also have that of the boss/employee attraction as we’ve come to appreciate it throughout the Soulless series. First it was Cleo working for Deacon, running his life and making him realize the value in just about everything. Then it was Emerson and Derek – showing that it’s possible to let someone in and see the better parts of life. So that’s the journey that we’re starting to take with Sicily and Dex although nothing has come of it just yet. we know that they each find the other attractive and not just from a physical level. They relate on an emotional level as well, but I wonder as a reader what it will take to get them to acknowledge the other and act upon it. I guess that’s what book ten will be.

The other bit of this story is Daisy – the youngest Hamilton. We’re starting to get a glimpse into her persona and her life right now – so that once this trilogy for Dex is over, we can slide into her world. I can’t wait to continue on with Dex and Sic and I can’t wait to see what comes next for Daisy too. Enjoy!

Review: The Boy Who Has No Redemption (Soulless #8) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The Boy Who Has No Redemption
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Victoria Quinn 1/19/21
Length:  186 Pages
Series: Soulless #8

Overview

Why did I ever think Emerson and I were a good idea?

She’s my assistant, so I have to see her every day. We get along, for the most part, but there’s subtle hostility between us both.

Being on my own is better. It makes far more sense.

Until something terrible happens, something I didn’t see coming, and it’s those moments of tragedy that change you forever.

I’ve changed…and I can never go back.

My Thoughts

This eighth book was sad. I’m not going to sugar coat it. When we ended the last installment we saw every hope and dream dashed. No one was happy, everyone lost a huge part of themself, and frankly, there was still more of a free fall coming that no one anticipated.

Emerson tried to put on a brave face for Lizzie – knowing that she wasn’t able to break down because he daughter needed her. that’s the interesting thing about teens though, or pre-teens – they know everything and see everything and are able to adapt so much better than we give them credit for. This was Lizzies book to shine because she showed us that there’s resilience, there’s hope and there’s forgiveness. She sees the truth in people, and she knows when she should ask for help, and yet she’s loyal to a fault and that’s so necessary in this story. Emerson tries to move on with her life, knowing that she needs to keep this job for the money that it brings, allowing her to support her family. She tries to find another job and has no success, so even though her heart is broken and she’s got anger, she’s stuck.

On the flip side, we have Derek, the man with no soul, who carries so much anger and hatred around that he probably even hates himself. He knows that he’s hurt Emerson, but he frankly doesn’t. care. He’s cold and calculated and he chooses to wallow in his own misery because that’s how he’s operated for the past 10 years.

Derek knows that he’s lost everything, and his dark hole is where he’s happy to put himself. His rocket exploded, he can’t control himself with his ‘friends’ from his past. The only person who wanted him for him hates him….so there’s really no reason to live.

Throughout this story we watch the emersion of a whole new dynamic. We see Derek’s family play a larger role in the greater story of happiness. We watch family illness take precedent and reset priorities. The foundation of Derek’s world is rocked again and again, with Emerson gone, his mother diagnosed with Cancer, his father falling apart – and he has no one to support him as he needs.

There’s the theme of personal / self realization. Growing into who you are capable of being versus what you think you are or what you think others think you should be. Emerson has turned into a person that’s not true to her core. Lizzie has the opportunity to be something great, yet Derek ruined her confidence in what that could truly be. Derek was becoming the man he should hae always been and yet he goes back to his roots.

Love doesn’t come without pain, and it also doesn’t come without compromise. There’s a journey that’s necessary in order to find happiness, but the way that Ms Quinn, our amazing author has written this part of the series, we know that there’s not always a happy ending and there’s not always the resolution that we want. Family started to mean something more, and yet, family is breakable.

The segue here is into Dex’s story – Deacon and Cleo’s first child together. He’s in med school and we know that there has to be a deeper story with him since he seems cheery and carefree, but there must be something underneath it all that makes him tick in a complex way, because well….he’s a Hamilton. So while we’re hoping for a happier ending to Derek and Emerson’s story, we are also getting excited to the intro of Dex. So…i’ve picked up book nine and i’m going to jump into that now. Enjoy!

Review: The Boy Who Has No Belief (Soulless #7) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The Boy Who Has No Belief
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Victoria Quinn 11/10/20
Length:  200 Pages
Series: Soulless #7

Overview

Now that Derek knows the truth, everything is out in the open. 

He still wants to be with me. 

But I’m afraid this is temporary. I’m afraid he’ll change his mind. I’m afraid he’ll realize he’s not up for the task. 

And I’ll lose both him…and my job. 

My Thoughts

This is a book of transition and at the same time it’s also a reverting back to what behaviors we don’t want to refresh. There’s so much positive momentum going for Emerson and Derek – we see that she’s able to bring him out of his shell, bring him back to life and give him something to be better for. Emerson has opened herself up to Derek in a way that she wasn’t planning to even explore until her daughter Lizzie was out of the house, so that adds a layer of complexity but also a layer of joy.

The bulk of this story is around the development of Emerson and Derek’s romantic relationship and what that means for their present and future. We know that Derek has never wanted kids and is quite awkward around them (in his mind) but that causes a problem for Emmy as we know that Lizzie is her whole life and it’s not something that she’s willing to compromise. When Derek learns about Lizzie, and then opens his mind to the notion of having some type of relationship with her, we have hope.

What starts as a relationship between tutor and student evolves into a friendship. There’s a comfortable and safe dynamic there because Lizzie doesn’t yet know the role that Derek plays in their life and that’s a space that makes everyone more comfortable. Derek raises Lizzie’s confidence, he makes her realize that anything is possible and that she’s got someone who’s going to watch her watch her back. He defends her to her teacher and in that, he’s got a friend for life.

That evolves into his family taking a liking to her – and once it becomes clear to Lizzie that Derek and her mom are more than just friends, we get a quick progression to seeing the entire Hamilton family take Emerson and Lizzie in as their own. Happy ending right?

Nope

The other side of this story is the one where Derek is back to his old ways. He’s stressed with work, trying to finish a rocket that they’ve designed and do the test launch. He’s still troubled by Odessy and that’s a nightmare that bothers him every day and on every project that he does. He’s working through a Mars Rover plan and continues to find challenge after challenge with it.

On top of that, he learns that his best friend Ryan is getting married and has been asked to be the Best Man. A happy time for most, however it also means that he’s going to have to face Kevin and Tabitha as they’ve stayed friends with Ryan and his fiance, and we all know that isn’t going to end well for anyone. Derek still holds such anger and rage towards both of them that ten years isn’t enough to let it go. We watch each interaction with Kevin bring more and more anger in Derek, and that means that he starts to push Emerson away.

We see Derek struggle on the anniversary of his mother’s death – a death that he carries guilt over because he left an angry voicemail that she listened to the morning she died which may or may not have caused her to have a heart attack. Then we see the rocket explode, and that pushes Emerson away. Add to that anger and mood, Derek realizes that Emerson had read something that he wrote and kept it a secret, something that he deems to be a lie, and well, the world that we were enjoying throughout this seventh installment gets flipped upside down.

Everything we hoped for is no longer viable. Every moment that we thought was precious and an opportunity for the future is now gone. Hearts and souls are broken, and there’s really no path to redemption. On that note – i’m now off to find book 8 because well….I can’t spend the rest of this day not knowing what’s going to happen next. Enjoy!

Review: The Boy Who Has No Hope (Soulless #6) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The Boy Who Has No Hope
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Victoria Quinn 10/6/20
Length:  197 Pages
Series: Soulless #6

Overview

I have a secret that I’ve never told Derek, simply because it’s something I never share with anyone. He has his secrets, I have mine.

But when a late night takes an unexpected turn, I realize the truth will have to come out.

Until he figures it out on his own…and that makes it a million times worse.

My Thoughts

Oh how I love this series – seeing what we had in the first several books and now getting to know Derek even more. There’s so much depth to him since we know that he’s got the brains of his father and the compassion of his mother. He’s now also got Emerson who’s able to show him the lighter side of things, and hopefully break through his walls.

Trust. that’s what this story takes a big focus on, and in gaining that trust, Emerson’s able to gain access to the heart and soul of Derek. At the same time, Derek’s able to truly begin to enjoy things that he’s accomplished and become the man that he was destined to be. Throughout this sixth installment, we watch the evolution from boss/employee to friends and perhaps to something more.

We have always known that there was an attraction between these two even if they didn’t truly even admit it to themselves. We watched how their friendship becomes integral to who they are and necessary in order to survive. They bring out the best in each other, and at times when Derek takes that for granted, or when Emerson pushes too hard, we see what that means and how it shapes their relationship.

Derek has this fear and refusal of all media/press/interviews because he’s too traumatized by the failure of the rocket explosion all those years ago and he carries the guilt. Even though it wasn’t his fault and even though he tried everything in his power to keep the launch from happening, he still carries that on his soul, and it’s Emerson who forces Derek to address it, to see a therapist and to even do a TED talk, and we see that it has such a positive impact on Derek that we can only hope for better things.

If you’ll remember, the one thing that brought these two together initially was the book that Derek was due to write. Well, we have seen so much progress up until now, watching Emerson redirect his mind so that he could focus on the story that it’s no surprise that he was able to finish the story in just a matter of months. What comes of their relationship from here is anyone’s guess knowing that there was a foundation with this necessary goal in mind.

There’s also the underlying story from Emerson’s side that we start to see play out which is teased in the summary above. We know that she takes care of her parents – and we know that part of the reason that she took the job in the first place working for Derek was the money that she could make – knowing that it would help afford surgery for her father, and a separate apartment for her parents to live in so she could have space. What we didn’t know is that part of the need for space was because Emerson has a daughter. YUP – a daughter.

You can imagine the shock that comes to readers on this since we didn’t have any hint of that at all, but knowing that there’s something growing between her and Derek, and knowing that he’s opposed to children, there’s nothing good that will come of this. When we see them make progress as somethign more, and then he learns of her daughter – well, the story drops out from under us.

We can only hope for the best and hope that Derek and Emerson can have what Cleo and Deacon have, but we also know that there’s so much against them. Not only is there the notion of the daughter, we also can’t forget that Derek is still not over what happened with his ex-fiance and that continues to come up again and again. We even see it in the last chapter when Derek’s best friend tells him that he’s getting married, and that his ex and the man she cheated on him with will be at the wedding. There’s bound to be confrontation, heart break, soul wrenching experiences and hopefully a bit of passion to take us through to the next installment. I can’t wait. Enjoy!

Review: The Boy Who Has No Faith (Soulless #5) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The Boy Who Has No Faith
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Victoria Quinn 8/21/20
Length:  191 Pages
Series: Soulless #5

Overview

I just landed my dream job as an editor at the esteemed publisher, Astra Books, and my client is the infamous sci-fi writer Derek Hamilton.The greatest writer of our generation–in my opinion.But it’s not as wonderful as I thought it would be. I can’t get this guy to respond to my emails, texts, or phone calls. Whenever I get him on the phone, he’s a jerk that hangs up on me.He’s a pain in the you-know-where.Yes, he’s gorgeous…but he makes my life a living hell.When I corner him at his penthouse, I discover that he hasn’t submitted his manuscript because he’s too busy with his day job…as an aeronautical engineer. The guy owns his own company building rockets and other innovations. He’s also a professor of engineering at NYU.Of course he doesn’t have time to write his next book…with a schedule like that.But I have to get him to write this book otherwise I’m going to lose my job.Now I just have to figure out how to do that…

My Thoughts

We wrapped up the story of Deacon and Cleo and it was wonderful to see how their complicated story turned out. They got their happily ever after, which meant that we knew there was more on the docket for Derek, Deacon’s oldest son, and the boy who we grew to love in the first few books. We’re introduced now to Derek when he’s fresh out of college, and on the eve of his own wedding.

As you can imagine, knowing that life until now things weren’t smooth, this wedding couldn’t go off without a hitch. Derek is so in love with Tabitha that we think that the biggest complexities will come once they are married and trying to build a life together, yet we never get to see that happen because Derek overhears a conversation between Tabitha and his best friend Kevin, talking about an affair that they had together that lasted for at least a month. Derek’s heart is broken, and we have a great view at the downfall of the man that he could have been.

We’re now about 10 years into the future, where Derek has made a name for himself working at NASA on rockets, developing technology that betters several different industries. He’s a professor at NYU and he’s an accomplished author. The challenge though is that he’s put up all the walls that would allow someone close enough to care about, someone that would give him a reason to be the man that he could be.

Enter Emerson- exactly what Derek needs but won’t admit. Emerson has just landed a job as an editor at the publishing house that Derek’s signed to, and of course, when Derek has put all else as priority before the book that he was due to finish a year ago, she’s after him like you wouldn’t believe. She makes contact after contact with Derek in the hopes of getting somewhere and yet she fails. When she manages a small win, her life quickly changes.

Her success at making Derek see that he has to do ‘something’ catches Cleo’s eye, and we quickly see Emerson’s role change in this story. She goes from being an editor to being a personal assistant, doing for Derek what Cleo did for Deacon. Make this strong and authoritative, powerful, sexy man realize that he needs someone to care for him for more than his money. To make his life easier, and at the same time, we know from the success that Deacon and Cleo had, to have Derek and Emerson realize what they’re each missing in a partner.

Emerson slowly breaks through the walls that are up in Derek’s life – showing him that by allowing someone to help with a few tasks here and there, that he can find time to do the things that he loves. By allowing Emerson to help unclutter his life, he’s able to open up the side of his brain that’s creative, that’s more human and that’s the side that everyone loves.

Derek realizes that there’s something about Emerson that wakes him up – his creative side sure, but his passion and his need for something not quite so empty. There’s a challenge though because they are in a boss / employee situation, and neither has really opened the door for anything more between each other.

We watch Deacon and Cleo push Derek to be open to a future with someone that can love him and in return love her – and yet he’s still not open to that. His traumas from the past with his mom, failed marriage attempt and even challenges with his profession in the past have made for a man who’s not willing to ease up because he needs the control. We’re left at a point in this story where he says he’ll consider being more open, yet we know that’s not going to happen quite so easily. It’ll be interesting to see what Emerson has to do in order to get Derek to open up, yet we also know that she sees him for the persona that he puts out there and perhaps there’s really no opportunity anyway. So….i’m off to the next book because I can’t wait to see how this plays out. Enjoy!

Review: The Man Who Has No Sight (Soulless #4) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: The Man who Has No Sight
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Victoria Quinn 8/21/20
Length:  190 Pages
Series: Soulless #4

Overview

Valerie got between us just like I feared she would.And completely destroyed me.But I believe Deacon and I can make it work, that I can have the family I’ve always wanted…if I just have faith.

My Thoughts

They’ve turned a corner. There’s a slow build and evolution to what Deacon and Cleo are and what they can become. They way they feel about one another hasn’t changed and it’s just a matter of getting to the comfort level that they were at before that is necessary for them to move on.

What we have in this fourth installment though is a turn of progress in the entire nature of the story. Valeri shows her true colors with her role of being a mother. Deacon assumed that she had gotten pregnant on purpose all those years ago to suck him in and take his money. To have the life that she always wanted but had no chance of achieving on her own. It’s proven yet again when her relationship with Jake takes a new turn, and we see that she’s prioritizing that over Derek and everything else.

That means that we get to see Deacon turn into the full time parent, and at the same time, take advantage of Cleo’s generosity. He doesn’t realize what it means to be a single parent of sorts, to be the one that’s responsible for his child, and when he doesn’t want to compromise on a solution, it causes even bigger issue. Cleo has to put her job aside when she shouldn’t in order to take care of Derek an when she’s offered up the idea of a nanny, Deacon shoots it down. It’s frustrating as a reader to see how unwilling he is to find a solution, but at the same time, it’s admirable that he wants to be so hands on.

There are other parts to the story that we see evolve. Tucker’s relationship with Pria seems to be continuing on the same strong path and Pria seems to be a great girl. We get to see the more mature side of Tucker as well when Cleo needs a shoulder to lean on. We watch Margo really show her true mamma colors when there’s an unfortunate circumstance during Thanksgiving and that makes us love her even more.

What you’ll remember from the last story before Deacon and Cleo went down the wrong path in their relationship, there was talk about marriage. Talk about babies. Hope for the future. We know that’s all put on pause, but I think that we still want to see it happen. Cleo even goes to visit her ex husband because she’s come to a realization of sorts that her marriage to him wasn’t out of the right sort of love.

Oh, and don’t forget Kathleen Hawthorne – the dr that we know is interested in Deacon and that puts Cleo on edge. You’ll have to read this story to fully understand what goes down there and what it means for their future.

We’re left with a resolution and closure of sorts to their story – seeing what could have been and what will be for Deacon and Cleo and Derek and Valerie. I get the sense now that we’re going on a new journey with a ‘boy’ instead of a ‘man’ so I can’t wait to dive into the next book ASAP. Enjoy!