TEAGUE / GRACE (The Family Simon #4 & #5) by Juliana Stone – reviews

TEAGUE
(The Family Simon #4)
by Juliana Stone
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance

Amazon.com / / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 24, 2015

Teague Simon is a man at a crossroads. He’s no good around people and spending time alone at the family cottage will hopefully ease his burden. What he doesn’t need is the woman next door poking around his business making things worse. And what he really doesn’t need are her two young children in his face. How can they help slay the demons that haunt him?

Sabrina Campbell is barely surviving and doing everything that she can to hide that fact. She takes care of her kids and keeps herself busy. She’s not looking for anything other than the chance to forget. But when Teague Simon shows up, looking as haunted as she is, she’s drawn to his pain. His loneliness. She knows his scars run deep, but so do hers. She should stay away and yet she can’t.

Can these two broken souls somehow heal each other?

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REVIEW: TEAGUE is the fourth installment in Juliana Stone’s adult, contemporary The Family Simon romance series focusing on the Simon Family. This is US soldier Teague Simon, and widow/single mother Sabrina Campbell’s storyline. TEAGUE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Several of the characters from the previous storylines as well as Teague’s family play cameo roles throughout the story.

Told from dual third person perspectives TEAGUE follows the building relationship between two broken souls. Sabrina is a young widow with six year old twins Morgan and Harry, whose husband passed away from cancer: Teague is a soldier whose PTSD and injuries from his time in Syria, finds our hero lost in a world of nightmares and grief, with the death of a friend weighing heavily on his mind. While on R&R at his family cottage in Muskoka/Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada, Teague will reconnect with childhood friend Sabrina Campbell while reconsidering another assignment that will take him away from his family and friends.

The storyline focuses on the rekindling of a friendship between Teague and Sabrina, and the growing bond between Teague, and Sabrina’s twins. Teague is a man whose demons ride fairly close to the surface, and he believes he is not capable of love or understanding with all that he has had to endure. His goal is to escape the nightmares and ghosts by embarking on another mission. At times, his attitude and patience push away the people he loves.

The relationship between our couple is slow to build as Teague tends to keep to himself a good portion of the storyline but as children always do, Morgan and Harry worm their way into Teague’s heart, opening a path for Sabrina and her love. The $ex scenes are intimate and romantic, without the over the top erotic factor.

Many of Teague’s family are present, some by way of mention, while others take an active role in Teague’s life. We are introduced to townie Josiah Duff whose interest in Sabrina catches Teague off his game.

The world building brings together the Simon’s and their extended family reminiscent of the Kennedy clan with their money, power and political aspirations. Teague is the war veteran who has seen too many deaths, and in this, the Simon family are concerned about their son, and sibling’s emotional recovery.

TEAGUE is a story with family and friends; romance and love; recovery and grief. It is also a story about two friends who reconnect at a time when both are in need of physical and emotional support. Juliana Stone’s THE FAMILY SIMON is a series about family, relationships and love, and in this, TEAGUE sees another Simon family

Reviewed by Sandy

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GRACE
(The Family Simon #5)
by Juliana Stone
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 25, 2015

Matt Hawkins, the tortured man you first met in The Barker Triplets, is finally getting his story! And more than a match for him is Grace Simon

When love and pain collide, all bets are off…

Grace Simon is a fixer. But fixing the men in her life has led to more heartbreak than she cares to admit to. She should know by now that some men are damaged for life. Yet Matt Hawkins awakes in her such a need to connect that it can’t be denied. Risking her heart might be the only way to help him, but it could also be the one heartbreak she will never get over…

Matt Hawkins has never learned to deal with his painful past. He uses booze and women to forget and he sure as hell knows that ‘forever’ isn’t in his future. He’s no good for a rich girl like Grace Simon. Yet he can’t deny the powerful attraction between them and his desire to be with her. Does he push her away knowing he’ll only hurt her? Or does he take a chance and hope that she’s the key to slaying his demons…

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REVIEW: GRACE is the fifth installment in Juliana Stone’s contemporary, adult THE FAMILY SIMON romance series focusing on the Simon family. This is the Simon family’s only daughter Grace Simon, and car restorer Matt Hawkins storyline. We were first introduced to Matt in Juliana’s THE BARKER TRIPLETS series. GRACE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from previous storylines is imparted where necessary. There is a cross over between the Barker Triplets series and The Family Simon.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Grace and Matt) GRACE focuses on second chances, and letting go of the past. Two years earlier, Grace and Matt shared a kiss at Betty-Jo Barker’s wedding-a kiss that Grace believes meant something more but Matt pulled away and our heroine hasn’t seen the man of her dreams in all that time. Fast forward to present day where Grace will all but be destroyed when Matt takes everything Grace has to offer, then pushes her away like yesterday’s garbage. What ensues is a rekindling of a friendship, a building love, and Matt’s need to let go and forgive himself for the sins of the past in order to move forward.

GRACE is an emotional and heartbreaking storyline where one man is consumed by self-hatred, and the memories of his younger self. Matt is a broken man; a damaged soul who has always struggled with his demons, his dysfunctional family, and his hatred for the man and woman who destroyed his life. No one knows the truth about what drives Matt or what caused the pain and haunting emptiness in his eyes but one look at his past and the truth is not very far behind.

The relationship between our couple is one of immediate attraction but Matt’s self loathing and the sins of his past keep friends on the periphery of really getting to know the man in question. Matt is a man-whore who uses women for one night stands; his heart and soul are darkened by hatred and a past that haunts his night and days. Meeting Grace reminds Matt that he is a dark and damaged man, and will never be good enough for the woman he loves. The $ex scenes are erotic, intense and seductive.

Most of the previous storyline couples and characters play a secondary or supporting role –some by way of mention or through phone calls and memories. We revisit with the Barker family including triplets Betty, Billie and Bobbi-Jo and their significant others. Betty Jo Barker is Matt’s best friend and the woman who pushes Grace to never give up on the man that she loves. Grace’s cousin Cooper Simon has a small cameo role-Cooper’s story is next.

Juliana Stone reveals the heartbreak and emotional backstory of one man whose heart and soul were destroyed by the very people who were supposed to love and protect. The premise is engaging and intense; the characters are haunting and memorable; the romance is a slow build to a happily ever after. There is plenty of push and pull throughout the story especially when Matt realizes that Grace is too close to the truth.

Congratulations Juliana on another great story.

Reading Order
Tucker FREE ebook: Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /
Jack
Maverick
Teague
Grace
Cooper 2016

Reviewed by Sandy