Review: Forgive and Forget by Charlie Cochet

Forgive and Forget (Dreamspun Desires #7) by Charlie Cochet
Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Goodreads
Novella : 194pgs

3 Pants Off

Blurb: He's hot. He's dangerous. And he can't remember anything.

As the owner of Apple’n Pies, Joe Applin leads a quiet, uneventful life, content to spend his days serving customers who come from all over to eat his delicious homemade pies. Along with his motley crew—Bea, Elsie, and Donnie—Joe couldn’t be happier in his little kingdom of baked goods and java.

Experience has taught Joe that love is overrated—and at times dangerous. He has no intention of repeating past mistakes. But then he meets a mysterious, handsome man with amnesia, and Joe can’t deny something sweet is in the works. He isn’t one to take risks, not with his heart and certainly not with his life, but the more time he spends with the man he knows as Tom, the closer he is to losing both.

Review

In all the years in all the lands this is my first time reading Charlie Cochet and I won’t hold this story against her because I know what to expect when reading the Dreamspun Desires imprint. Forgive and Forget is exactly how I’m feeling when it comes to this story. 

Joe Applin likes his quiet life running his pie shop with his eclectic friends that make up his family. Baking is what he does best and he gets super happy when people get happy eating his pies. While life might not be super exciting, it’s really quite fulfilling. Well things take a turn for the exciting when Joe finds himself caring for a strange beautiful man with amnesia. He has to help the man that he named Tom figure out who he is while keeping his heart in check, because Tom might be married and living a full life somewhere else and when he regains his memories Joe worries about just becoming another memory. 

Seems Tom wasn’t living the white picket fence life and suddenly cops and sketchy dudes are invading Joe’s space. All of Joe's protective instincts are going off and he knows he has to keep Tom safe during the recovery of his memories. Apple n’ Pies just took on more than they can bake. 

Mostly I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I’d hoped. The story is hella cute but the delivery was a let down. There was way too much story packed in here and close to the ending it all started feeling rushed. Joe and Tom lacked spark for me, and the little surprise about their meeting each other was just too cliché. The writing and flow is good so I got through it quite quickly and was never bored. I just wanted more, and overall it all felt very cheesy. 

As I said, this won’t set the tone for me when it comes to reading Charlie Cochet and will check out her other works. In this instance I’m willing to forgive and forget 😈

  

Short Review: The Heart of Frost by Charlie Cochet

Reviewed by Fehu
The Heart of Frost (North Pole City Tales #2) by Charlie Cochet
Dreamspinner Press
Novella: 120pgs
3.75 Pants Off

Blurb:
At the North Pole, no one is more powerful and feared than the Prince of Frost. As general of the toy soldier army, Jack Frost has been working extra hard to put away the villainous Mouse King once and for all. If that isn’t taxing enough, Jack has to deal with the scandal and gossip brought on by news of his relationship with Rudy Rein Dear, captain of the Rein Dear Squadron, which hit headlines last holiday season. Lucky for Jack, his reputation has managed to deter any foolish attempts to stir up trouble. At least until now.

When someone sabotages Rudy’s plane during a test run a few weeks before Christmas, Jack is determined to find the culprit by any means necessary. The closer he gets to finding answers, the more difficulty he has not falling back to his icy ways. Has the Mouse King stepped up his game in order to throw Jack off his, or is someone a little closer to home behind the attempt on Rudy’s life? Either way, Jack has every intention of delivering a Christmas they won’t soon forget, even if it means losing the newfound warmth in his heart.

Short Review
Sweet Christmas story with somewhat unusual characters! Rudy is Jack Frost's lover and has been for quite a while. At the end of the last book they came out as a couple and not all in North Pole were happy about that development.

I very much loved the cover and the story sounded very intriguing and to some degree it was. I liked the supporting characters and Rudy and Jack. It's just that I like to be shown how things, relationships happened and here it was a bit fast forward in a flashback. The story had a lot of potential, but I just wasn't fully drawn into the plot or cared enough for the characters to want to see them again.

So while this was a nice, sugary Christmas story it lacked a certain something for me at least, it didn't make me care for the characters, since the characters were just not fleshed out enough, they felt a bit like some plastic action figures. There was a good screenfront, Jack tries to find out who had it in for his lover, but looses himself in the cold and his own revenge plans. Love conquers all and so Rudy manages to bring his lover back and warm his heart. Very cute, if you want something romantic, without a lot of drama or angst The Heart of Frost is a good choice.

Review: The Impetuous Afflictions of Jonathan Wolfe by Charlie Cochet

Reviewed by Whuppsy
The Impetuous Afflictions of Jonathan Wolf (The Auspicious Troubles of Love #2) by Charlie Cochet
Dreamspinner Press
Novel: 204pgs
4 Pants Off

Blurb:
Sequel to The Auspicious Troubles of Chance The Auspicious Troubles of Love: Book Two

Eight years after leaving the deserts of Africa and the French Foreign Legion behind, Jonathan Wolfe has settled into life at Hawthorne Manor in the English countryside. Johnnie helps his adopted family run the manor and provide a safe, loving home for a new generation of “brats”: boys mistreated and discarded for their homosexuality—something all too familiar to Johnnie.

Although no longer an unruly youngster, Johnnie is as stubborn, foul-mouthed, and troublesome as ever. His recent rash behavior becomes a concern for those closest to him, especially Dr. Henry Young, the only man ever to capture Johnnie's heart. Instead of soothing him, their closeness brings Johnnie’s insecurities from an unsettling past to the surface, and leads to an explosive situation that threatens to tear them apart. Then Henry’s past catches up to them….


Review
This is the story of Jonathan (Johnnie) Wolfe and Dr. Henry Young. These two met some years ago while working in the French Foreign Legion. They now live in the English Countryside with some of their fellow Compatriots with whom they’ve served. Johnnie is by far the most stubborn, cheeky man that I’ve read about in a LONG TIME!!

He’s got this heart of gold for the people that he loves and yet even knowing that he loves them, he just can’t help pushing them away. He knows each and everyone of the people in his life and their stories. He relates to each and everyone of them, yet his past holds him hostage from moving on and realizing that he’s truly loved and cared for.

Henry Young is this handsome, sweet, wonderful man who runs the clinic for the “Family” and also for the area in which they live. He’s adopted this sweet little boy and tries so hard to help everyone that he can. Henry has had heartbreak in the past that led him to joining the French Foreign Legion. That still haunts him to this day. But, regardless of this, he still pushes forth the will to do good whether doing his doctor work or just being the wonderful man that he is.

Now, Johnnie and Henry love each other. A LOT!! Make no mistake about how they feel about each other. The problem is that Johnnie can’t believe that he’s worthy of Henry. That Henry is too for the likes of him. The problem with that is Henry doesn’t agree. He knows Johnnie. He’s made peace with the fact that he loves Johnnie and ALL of his quirks. The one thing that he can’t get past is Johnnie’s belief that he’s not good enough for him. That’s something that Johnnie needs to work through and he can only help as much as he’s allowed.

I will say that the secondary characters were just great. I loved the “Brats”, Chance and Jacky. These guys have made a Family together and they stick together and will fight for each other. I fell for each and everyone of these characters. They each had a little something that just made me want to hug and mother them.

This book was quite good. I really liked the story. Once I realized that this was part of a series, and that these characters had been together for a while, it was easier for me to place everything together. The story flowed rather well. I wasn’t bored while reading this book. I’m not a huge historical fan and I’m sure that Charlie took literary license, but I really fell into the story and nothing else existed.

Trust me when I say that I sat down and started reading and then couldn’t do anything else until I finished and Johnnie and Henry got their HEA. If you love a book with some angst and a couple of conflicts, this book is truly what you’re looking for. The characters pull you in and won’t let you go. You will want to smack Johnnie a couple of times, but when you find out what’s holding him back, you understand just a bit more.

Get this book and fall into a great story and lose yourself in this amazing story.

4 Pants Off