Shattered Diamonds: A Suspenseful Single Dad and Nanny Small Town Romance (Brunswick Bay Harbor Gems Book 1)

I received the first four books in this series free, but I would not have purchased them. I don't appreciate cliffhanger books, but since I already had the second book, it was of little consequence here. I feel each book needs to be rated individually, rather than as a series. In the first 3-book series, books one and two are the same continuing story, and book three moves on to other characters in the same town. The titles of these books have absolutely no relevance to the stories and the most interesting thing about them are the covers.Book 1: THREE STARS: I enjoyed Alex and Josie's emerging love story, always with the knowledge that his missing wife was not confirmed deceased. The author's writing style is clean and mature, and the story development in this first book was good. The cliffhanger, that his wife returns from captivity just when their love story is developing, changes the tone and direction for book 2 entirely.Book 2: ONE STAR: With Claire's return the story begins to unravel both in content and development. The author really did not think this story line through. It's completely full of holes with Claire's return handled very, very badly. A person running from a captive location would stop at the first available house for help and to call the police, not make her way home three blocks away, when she could be snatched back again. The time of year of her disappearance is called into question in different scenes, where she's been noted as being gone a year or a year and a half. She supposedly slipped on ice and went into the captive's house for first aide, but in book 1 she disappeared in the fall, when there isn't any ice. In book 1 Alex becomes enamored with Josie, but suddenly completely forgets about her with Claire's return. His character is written so poorly in book 2, nearly nonexistent. The villain in both books is Meg, Claire's sister, who openly affronts and attacks both Alex and Josie publicly, and is a hateful, venomous creature. Note to author: Once a villain, always a villain! But, unfortunately, Meg's story is book three.Book 3: ONE STAR: Note to author: Once a villain, always a villain! Meg is the main character in book 3 and since I didn't like her, or her friend Dani, in the first two books, I truly don't care about her or her daughter in book 3. A hateful and venomous character cannot be turned into a heroine. To add fuel to this fire, enter her mother who has as big an ugly mouth and character as Meg. Levi is the only redeeming character in this story. Don't waste your time or money. I can see that book 4 features Dani as the lead character, who is also a villain, so I won't bother to read it. This author goes on my blacklist.

I've read a lot of books written by Ann Omasta; she has done a great job at writing another good book; she is one of my favorite authors. I can’t wait to read more of books her books.The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.I loved the chemistry between the characters.I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.

This is a good read. Good characters and storyline that will grab your interest. However This book does end in a gliffhanger.

Enjoyed the book a great deal. Learning how to move on from a tragedy is can be hard to do. Especially when one is thought to have killed his wife. No sign of her is around and after a year, both dad and daughter try to move on. But of course, the reader is left with a cliff hanger as the missing wife shows up just as the husband and daughter have started to move on. Have to get the next book to find out what happens. I enjoyed the story, but am not a fan of cliffhangers.

I see from other reviewer that this story was very appealing to them. I found it to follow basic story patterns well. I found myself questioning the choices made by the characters as not being believable or illogical. There were also lots of hints about how this was going to end and it was just too easy to predict. I dont want to spoil the ending, but going straight to the police for protection would have been my first decision, not going straight to where it all started ,and barging in, " surprise! Honey im home! And excuse me but who in this day and age doesnt use protection? No surprise whats coming next! The wording was too much author and not so much character. I read all the way through, just in case there was a surprise twist in the end. Ill leave it up to you if you think you'll get a surprise.

Really enjoyed this fun and heartwarming adventure filled with engaging and witty charters, memorable dialog, heart racing twists and undeniable passion. Was a great read from beginning to end

Lily is an atmospheric and suspenseful tale of love, loss and obsession.

I like a book that keeps me so into it that I can't put it down.I don't like books that have sex clear thru it and in detail!!

Alex is a young man whose wife disappeared and left him with a little girl to raise alone. In the small town they live, everyone thinks he killed his wife and no one wants to know him aside from the woman who owns the diner he visits regularly.When her niece arrives back in town she nominates her to babysit over the summer and soon Josie finds herself a regular part of Alex and little Hannahs lives.Told in the viewpoints of both Alex and Josie, I found it easy to like both of them. This was a nice and easy read and there are a lot of things I enjoyed about it.Something I didn't enjoy was the use of a phrase that repeated a few times throughout the book where a character is described as bugging their eyes out. It's not one I've read often before so I had to look it up. I guess I found it odd because it sounded so unfamiliar to me.Unexpectedly the story ends with a bit of a cliffhanger. I just presumed the story was a standalone romance but it does continue into another book which I wasn't aware of before I started to read this.This story contains some sexual scenes and if you do read it keep in mind it has a cliffhanger ending leading into book 2.

Alex is a writer living quite happily with his wife Claire and daughter Hannah in a small town. Then Claire disappears and the town turns on Alex accusing him of killing his wife even though there isn’t a scrap of evidence. He has writers block and is in despair.Josie has spent most of her life focused on getting into the Olympics as a swimmer before injury ruined the dream. Her parents have died in a car crash and she has moved to live with her aunt Mimi who is of the few people who have supported Alex. Josie goes to work for Alex looking after Hannah and they fall in love until one day the door opens and in walks Claire.............

Thankfully I checked the end of the book before I started reading - hate when authors don't tell you in the blurb that you need to read the next book in a series

I received this book from Booksprout as an arc copy for a voluntary review. I couldn’t put this book down, it really draws you in. Need the next book straight away. A must read.

can read once