ARC Review: Unstoppable by Shannon Richard

Title: Unstoppable (A Country Roads Novel, #3)

Author:  Shannon Richard

Publisher/Publication Date: Forever Mass Market, July 29, 2014

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format/Source: Paperback, Publisher

About Unstoppable

Some things you don't dare let go . . . 

Melanie O'Bryan knows life is too short to be afraid of taking chances. And former Air Force sergeant Bennett Hart is certainly worth taking a chance on. He's agreed to help her students with a school project, but she's hoping the handsome handyman will offer her a whole lot more. Yet despite his heated glances and teasing touches, Mel senses there's something holding him back . . . 

Bennett Hart is grateful to be alive and back home in Mirabelle, Florida. Peaceful and uncomplicated-that's all he's looking for. Until a spunky, sexy-as-hell teacher turns his life upside down. After one smoldering kiss, Bennett feels like he's falling without a parachute. But with memories of his past threatening to resurface, he'll have to decide whether to keep playing it safe, or take the biggest risk of all. 

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Click on the link to read an excerpt of Unstoppable.

MY THOUGHTS

Overall, Unstoppable by Shannon Richard has a good storyline, but there were times when the pacing was slow.

The prologue was well-written and it started out with a bang with intense, dramatic moments. And shortly after the start of the first chapter, the dialogue between Mel and Bennett became monotonous at times.  The dialogue eventually got more interesting as the conflicts intensified, and as the reader became privy to Bennett’s inner struggles as a result of his past. Although Mel, Bennett, and their friends had the tendency to drink too much, the presence of the supporting characters resulted in more fluid, engaging, and realistic scenes.

The conflicts causing tension between them were reasonable. They both had experienced traumatic events in the past and going forward they had differing ways of dealing with life.  Bennett lived cautiously and had commitment issues; whereas Mel was the type that lived life to its fullest. As a result of Bennett’s cautious behavior, there was a great deal of tension between them that resulted in realistic conflicts, which they had difficulty resolving.

There was too much emphasis on Mel’s Hair. Her hair was discussed several times throughout the story-from the fact that he loved her curly hair to it being a disaster to it simply being windblown to it being liked by Cindy’s two year old daughter June. There were moments when the discussion of her hair was appropriate; however, the frequent references to Mel’s hair were excessive.  

I liked how Mel and Bennett's relationship evolved over time. I prefer romance novels in which there is a strong emotional connection between the hero and heroine that supersedes the physical connection. In Unstoppable, the emotional connection wasn't apparent in the beginning. Bennett seemed infatuated with Mel’s looks—including her hair. Mel seemed convinced that spicing things up was the cure-all to their problems. Their frequent sexual encounters depicted two people in a lustful relationship. And it was a pleasant surprise when they started having more meaningful encounters that depicted a stronger emotional connection.

Unstoppable, book #3 of the Country Roads series is the first book that I've read by Shannon Richard. The story was good with a great beginning and end. Although, I had issues with some of the pacing found in this book and the sex scenes were a little too frequent, the quality of the writing improved as the story progressed. As such, I would consider reading the previous books in the Country Roads series and future work by this author.

Rating 3/5

I received an ARC of Unstoppable from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

FIRST TIME IN PRINT LAUNCH DAY BLITZ, EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY!! UNSTOPPABLE BY SHANNON RICHARD

Title: Unstoppable (A Country Roads Novel, #3)
Author:  Shannon Richard
Publisher/Publication Date: Forever Mass Market, July 29, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance

About UNSTOPPABLE

Some things you don't dare let go . . . 

Melanie O'Bryan knows life is too short to be afraid of taking chances. And former Air Force sergeant Bennett Hart is certainly worth taking a chance on. He's agreed to help her students with a school project, but she's hoping the handsome handyman will offer her a whole lot more. Yet despite his heated glances and teasing touches, Mel senses there's something holding him back . . . Bennett Hart is grateful to be alive and back home in Mirabelle, Florida. Peaceful and uncomplicated-that's all he's looking for. Until a spunky, sexy-as-hell teacher turns his life upside down. After one smoldering kiss, Bennett feels like he's falling without a parachute. But with memories of his past threatening to resurface, he'll have to decide whether to keep playing it safe, or take the biggest risk of all. 

B&N     BAM     IndieBound     Amazon

Excerpt

Oh God, who was she kidding? She’d never felt this way about any man before. Bennett was…well, infuriating to start with, but he was brave, smart, kind, funny, intense. There was nothing like having his full attention focused on her. He gave her way more than butterflies. It was like eagles were flapping around in her stomach whenever he was around. There were no flutters. They were freaking tidal waves.

Yeah, getting over Bennett was going to be way easier said than done.

Mel headed toward the supply closet at the back of her classroom where she locked up her purse in a filling cabinet. She grabbed the key and unlocked the top drawer, pulled out her purse, and slammed the drawer shut. When she turned around Bennett was standing in the doorway. Filling it completely. Mel stopped short and stared at him. His eyes were focused on her, the determination in them making all of the thoughts vacate her brain.

“I can’t leave you alone.” He came into the room and shut the door behind him. “And I’m not playing games.” He crossed the small space. “Or at least I’m not trying to.” He shook his head. “I think about you all the time.” He stopped in front of her, took the purse out of her hands, and put it on top of the filing cabinet. Then he reached up and touched her cheek. His fingers fanned out as he pushed his hand to the back of her head and tilted her face up.

Holy hell, what is happening?

She looked into his eyes, and her knees went just a little bit weak. She reached back and planted her hands against the wall, trying to find some balance, something to keep her upright, because she really didn’t want to miss this.

“Because I am interested in you, Mel.” He cupped her face with his other hand and ran his thumb across her lower lip. “Very interested.” He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers.

The kiss was soft and gentle at first, just his lips against hers. He took another step into her, pushing her back. When she hit the wall she gasped, and Bennett took advantage of her open mouth. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, and she couldn’t stop the moan that escaped her throat.

She plastered herself up against him, against every inch of his hard body. Her arms wound around his shoulders; her hands skittered up the back of his head. She opened her mouth further and his tongue touched hers. Bennett groaned as their tongues began a thorough exploration of each other’s mouths.

His hands were at the back of her head, his fingers deftly pulling out the pins that held up her bun. And then he was unwinding her hair, his hands plunging deep into her unruly curls.

“I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” he said against her mouth. “These curls of yours drive me out of my mind.”

“What stopped you?” She nipped at his lower lip.

“Pure stupidity,” he said, as he claimed her mouth again.

Holy cow, can this man kiss. I feel it everywhere, and do I mean everywhere! He had her toes curling in her shoes, all manner of body parts tingling where they were pushed up against his, and his hands were magic in her hair. One of his hands drifted down to her side. He touched her hip for a second before his hand slid to the small of her back. He held her to him, but really, she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Mel,” a voice called out from her classroom. “Are you here?”

There were only a few things that could bring Mel back to reality with the snap of a finger. The sound of her little brother’s voice was definitely one of them.

“Oh crap, it’s Hamilton,” Mel gasped, pulling back. Bennett’s hand was behind her head, and it prevented her from hitting the wall. “I’ll be right out!” she answered Hamilton, unable to completely cover up the breathy edge to her voice.

Bennett nodded. He let go of her reluctantly, and took a step back. “You’re going to have to give me a minute before I can go out there,” he said, clearing his throat uncomfortably.

“Oh,” she said, nodding. “Um, okay.”

Actually, she was going to need a minute, too. She knew her hair was everywhere, and she had a feeling Bennett’s scruffy jaw had left its fair share of marks on her face. Not to mention her thoroughly swollen lips.

Soooo worth it.

About Shannon Richard

Shannon Richard grew up in the Florida Panhandle as the baby sister of two overly protective but loving brothers. She was raised by a more than somewhat eccentric mother, a self-proclaimed vocabularist who showed her how to get lost in a book and a father who passed on his love for coffee and really loud music. She graduated from Florida State University with a BA in English Literature and still lives in Tallahassee where she battles everyday life with writing, reading, and a rant every once in a while. Okay, so the rants might happen on a regular basis. She's still waiting for her Southern, scruffy, Mr. Darcy, and in the meantime writes love stories to indulge her overactive imagination. Oh, and she's a pretty big fan of the whimsy.

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Giveaway

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Launch Day Blitz: Undeniable by Shannon Richard

About UNDENIABLE Grace King knows two things for certain: she loves working at her grandmother's café and she loves the hunky town sheriff. She always has. As she bakes him sweet treats, Grace fantasizes about helping him work up an appetite all night long. But whenever she thinks she's finally getting somewhere, he whips out some excuse to escape. Growing up, he never looked twice at her. Now Grace won't rest until she has Jax's undivided attention. Jaxson Anderson can't deny that his best friend's kid sister is the sexiest woman in Mirabelle, Florida. Unwilling to burden Grace with his painful past, Jax keeps the sassy blonde at arm's length. Yet one heated kiss crumbles all of his carefully built defenses. But when a town secret surfaces, threatening to destroy everything they have believed in, can the man who defended Grace from bullies as a child protect her now? B&N: http://bit.ly/1iR7r3Q Indie Bound: http://bit.ly/1igryh3 Books A Million: http://bit.ly/1irQmCA Amazon: http://amzn.to/1jDvF1w Excerpt        Grace threw the bag down onto the counter and looked up at him. “Are you honestly going  to stand there and tell me that this clueless persona you have going on is the real deal? Are you  honestly going to tell me that you have no idea?”        “No idea about what?”        “You want to know why I got upset last night?” Grace asked, marching over to him. “Why it  infuriates me that you treat me like a little sister?” she shouted, shoving his chest hard. He was  surprised by it and he fell a step backward. “I don’t have sisterly feelings for you, Jaxson; I don’t  and I never will. But you’re too blind and stubborn to see what’s standing right in front of you!”        It was then Jax did the most impulsive thing he’d ever done in his life. He knew exactly  where the impulse came from; he’d had the desire for years. He just wasn’t sure how the  overwhelming need overran all of his sense. He grabbed Grace before he even realized what  he was doing. He gripped her elbows and brought her body flush up against his. His mouth  came down hard on hers. She inhaled, startled, and Jax took full advantage of the tiny opening  of her mouth, dipping his tongue in and finding hers.        Holy shit.        Never in his life had Jax kissed a girl and felt like his whole body was on fire, burning from  the inside out. This was incredible, like nothing he’d ever known. She was warm, and sweet,  and soft. How could the inside of someone’s mouth feel this way? Taste this good?        Grace sighed in pleasure as her body relaxed against his. Her arms wound around his  neck. He wrapped his hands around her waist as he walked her backward. When her back hit  the counter he put his hands on her bottom and pulled her up to sit on top of it, their mouths  never breaking.        Holy shit, his hands were on Grace’s ass. Her perfect, incredible ass.        Her shoes hit the floor a second before she pulled her legs around him, her bare feet  running up the back of his thighs. Her hands were on his chest, as one of his pulled out the tie in  her hair so that he could run his fingers through it. She grabbed on to his side, and her hands  slid around and lowered until they were on his butt. She squeezed and he thought he was going  to go off, right then and there.        He pulled away from her mouth, letting his lips travel down the slope of her neck. How many  times had he fantasized about this? About feeling her soft skin underneath his lips? God he  loved her neck, the soft delicate space at the hollow of her throat.              “Jax.” She said his name with so much need that he abandoned his exploration of her neck.        He palmed the back of her head in one of his hands as he slanted his mouth over hers.  Grace moaned when their tongues found each other again. The sound of it rumbled in Jax’s  chest and settled low in his abdomen.        Jax wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, wrapped around each other in more ways  than one, before a crackling noise filled the kitchen. Mary Landers’s voice squawked through  the speaker attached to Jax’s shirt.        “Seventeen, what’s your location?”        Jax pulled back from Grace, both of them breathing hard. Grace’s hair was everywhere,  courtesy of his hands. She opened her eyes slowly, as if she was delaying coming back to  reality, but Jax slammed into it hard.        What the hell had he just done? *****        Grace was having an out of body experience. Or at least that was what it felt like.        Jax had kissed her.        God, his mouth had been on hers, his hands everywhere, her hands everywhere. Grace’s  hands had been on Jaxson Anderson’s ass. And it was just as spectacular as she’d imagined.        But as Grace brought herself back down to earth, she registered the look on Jax’s face and  her eyes snapped open as everything inside of her crashed.        He did not look happy.        “Jax?” Grace asked, searching his face for something, anything besides the regret that  shone plan as day in his eyes.        He didn’t answer, just disentangled himself from her as he took a step back. There was no  warmth in his eyes as he pushed the button on the microphone on his shoulder. “Seventeen, on  Sandy Beach Drive.”        “Seventeen, shoplifter at Forty-Nine Brooks Avenue. Deputy needed on location.”        “Ten-four.”        “Jax,” Grace said, sliding off the counter and taking a step toward him.        “I have to go,” he said, taking another step back from her.        “You’re not even going to say anything about what just happened?” she asked, trying to  keep calm.        His mouth tightened before he shook his head. “It was a mistake. It shouldn’t have  happened.”        Grace inhaled sharply, pulling back from him like he’d just hit her. And really he had,  because those words were a slap in the face.        I’m not going to cry. Not in front of him.        So Grace did the only thing she could do, she walked away from him.        She stepped around him and pushed through the door out into the café. She closed her  eyes as she leaned against the wall and tried to breathe past the tightness in her chest.        It was a mistake.        She reached up and grabbed her throat. The wall behind Grace shuddered slightly as the  side door in the kitchen closed. He was gone and he didn’t want her. She slid down the wall  and pressed her face into her bent knees.        It shouldn’t have happened.        God it hurt. It hurt so damn much.        Grace gave up trying to fight it and let the pain wash through her. She wasn’t sure how long  she sat on the floor hugging her bent knees. She kept reliving what had happened in the kitchen.        He’d grabbed her. He’d kissed her. Not the other way around. But he’d also decided that it  had been a mistake.        Grace was done. She was done waiting for a man who didn’t want her. She was done  living with this constant ache. She refused to let him break her. She wasn’t going to let that man  affect her anymore.        Grace wiped the remaining tears from under her eyes and pulled herself up onto her feet.  She took a deep breath before she pushed through the door and walked back into the kitchen.  Jax’s cup of coffee was still sitting on the counter, so was his bag of scones. Grace stared at  them for a second before she grabbed both of them. She threw them into the trash can with so  much force that the coffee exploded up and around the sides.      Okay, starting now she wasn’t going to let him affect her anymore.      About Shannon Richard Shannon Richard grew up in the Panhandle of Florida as the baby sister of two overly protective, but loving brothers. She was raised by a somewhat eccentric mother who showed her how to get lost in a book, and a father who passed on his love for coffee and really loud music. She graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor's in English Literature, and lives in Tallahassee. She's still waiting for her Southern, scruffy, Mr. Darcy and in the meantime writes love stories to indulge her overactive imagination. http://shannonrichard.net/ http://facebook.com/ShannonNRichard @shan_richard