Cara NorthCritiques

I came for Banshee Creek (super!), Ruby Blalock (fun!), Ava Mallory (more fun!), and MZ Andrews (nice!). Haven't gotten to the others yet, but so far, I'm hooked on this one!
And it's really inexpensive to boot!

This book packed a surprising emotional punch - I thought it was just a sexy story at first but it became much more.

This book packed a surprising emotional punch - I thought it was just a sexy story at first but it became much more.

I need to say up front that if it hadn't been for the myriad printing/editing errors, I would probably have given "Chasing Joshua" by Cara North four stars. But unfortunately for me, the errors were so numerous they kept yanking me out of the story! Misspellings, incorrect words, and the occasional grammar mistakes don't bug me so much, but when I find myself starting to count them...that's not good!

She's a hand-to-hand and weapons fighting expert bounty hunter in trouble. He's a former big-city undercover cop turned elementary school teacher. She despises men...all men. He's looking for a gentle woman to settle down with. Yet somehow, it doesn't take long for these two to realize the attraction between them is strong and the longer they're together, the stronger it gets. Something's just got to give.

I loved the first book in this series. I liked the plot line for this one. But there were missing pieces of the story and the action tended to jump rather than flow. I also had a hard time buying the heroine's rapid mellowing and the quickness with which she was willing to spill her deepest secrets to the hero. I would also have liked to have seen the mystery fleshed out a bit better as some parts of it left me confused even after the ending.

Did I still like the book? Well, yes I did. If you can find a later printing with corrections it would be well worth it. Or if things like that don't bother you like they do me, then this is certainly a story I'd recommend. There's a bit of suspense, a bit of action, a whole lot of sexual tension and some nice, hot sex.

"Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off" is the lead novel in Cara North's 'Country Music Collection' where the title of each book is also the title of a country and western song. This was my first western read by North and I enjoyed the story of a woman running away to take control of her life and finding love at her first stop.

Bethany has had it. Her parents have always equated love with credit cards and shopping sprees, but never really cared about her. The final straw was when they 'arranged' her marriage as part of a business deal. So Bethany makes her plans and when she goes to Vegas for her bachelorette party, she puts her plan into action. Now, all she needs is to find someone to marry her...preferably tonight!

Jack needs to find a wife and quick! He has to marry to get the money his grandfather set aside for him as he needs it to save his family's ranch. But where in the world is he going to find a woman who's willing to marry a stranger?

Very funny read. Their relationship begins with a shot of tequila (thus the title) but quickly grows beyond what either was expecting. Bethany matures, and she does need it, and Jack has to learn to compromise a bit. There were a few irritants with editing and a couple of story gaps, but neither were enough to impact my enjoyment. I'll be looking forward to reading the next in this series "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" about the next Johnson brother.

P.S. I'm also reading North's 'Beaufort' series...and loving it!

"The Art of Ethan" by Cara North is a story that will stay with you. North's characters grab your emotions and your heart.

Grace is a woman frozen in time. Although it's been four years since her mother died, she's never really accepted, or mourned, her passing. Since then, she's only been going through the motions of living, keeping her mother's house as a shrine to all those who have left her alone. Into this scene, her cousin comes home for a visit and brings her fiance and his brother. Each of these characters awakens an emotion in Grace, but none moreso than Ethan.

Ethan is a rake, but the best kind. Women have always been easy for him and he has coasted through life, not really working for anything except his art. His last half-hearted relationship went badly and when his brother insists he accompany him to his fiance's cousin's home in North Carolina, he agrees. If nothing else, it will get him away from his stalker. Then, Grace happens. She doesn't seem to want anything from him and for the first time in his life, Ethan will have to work, and work hard, for the woman who's turning his emotions inside out.

If poor editing drives you nuts, then you need to be prepared before you read this book. Because I'm so OCD about it, it did bother me throughout the book. But, these two kept drawing me back in and I couldn't NOT finish their story. It wasn't the suspense or the hot sex (but it was certainly worth reading) that kept me going, it was the growing relationship and the emotional investment in both the hero and heroine that kept me entranced to the last page. Now I'm off to order the next book in this series "Chasing Joshua". It's that good.

**Courtesy of CK2S Kwips & Kritiques**

Bethany needs to escape her family and fiancée and disappear – fast! Easier said than done, when you are the daughter of a rich and powerful man determined to keep up appearances for the sake of his political career.

Jack is in Las Vegas looking for a wife. With a will stipulating Jack won’t come into his inheritance until he is married for three months, Jack’s grandfather has left Jack desperate.

When Jack and Bethany meet over a bottle of Patron tequila, they seem the answers to each other’s prayers – a theory furthered when they stumble into a wedding chapel accidentally! Jack’s remote ranch appears to Bethany to be the perfect place to hide from her family with a new name to cover her trail. Jack believes that Bethany, being the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the country, will easily relinquish any claims to his inheritance when they divorce in three months. Neither expected to fall in love.

When their secrets are exposed and Bethany’s family finds them, will their love be strong enough to keep them together or will they lose everything?

This was a truly great read! Cara North proves she has a captivating writing style with Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off, spinning a contemporary tale of love between two people who thought they’d never find it and have resigned themselves to a business relationship.

Jack is the cowboy every little girl and grown woman wants to find for herself! Sweet, sexy, and very randy, he easily steals a woman’s heart without even trying!

Bethany personifies that woman inside of all of us – yearning to break free and find that wild woman inside herself after a lifetime of being isolated and ignored by her family. Watching her learn to let go is absolutely heartwarming.

Cara North has thoughtfully paved the way for future sequels should she choose to follow up Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off, by giving Jack two brothers, each of whom have their own romantic woes. Brothers Heath and Rafe are equally as hunky and strong as Jack, but their romantic troubles are vastly different. The author has cleverly allowed us peeks into Heath’s and Rafe’s relationships in this story, leaving the reader panting for more! In fact, she also leaves room for more of Jack and Bethany’s story, without leaving the reader feeling as though this story is in any way unfinished. I look forward to reading more of Cara North’s work, and fervently hope to see sequels to this one!

BookInfo:
Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off is a fun contemporary erotic romance about two people needing each other for different reasons and finding out that together they are one insatiable force. Bethany Dodson is running from her past and her fiancé. She needs a new last name and to get lost fast! Jack Johnson needs to marry a woman to get his inheritance so he can stop working on other ranches and rebuild the one he shares with his two older brothers and younger sister. When he meets Bethany, his goal is basically to get some action then get on searching for a wife. But Bethany kills two birds with one stone and the next thing he knows he's the one getting drug down the aisle! What they discover is more than just surface needs. They take each other to new heights in and out of the bedroom, push boundaries, and even fall in love!