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The Moreno Brothers #2
Always Been Mine
After one heartache too many, Valerie Zuniga vows to never let Alex Moreno hurt her again. A year later, she is forced to reunite with him at a party where one unexpected sizzling kiss tells her she’s far from over him. No way will she allow herself to get sucked back into that torment. She’ll resist him even if that means using the one thing that’ll stop Alex dead in his tracks: another man.
Alex is coming off one of the worst years of his life. He spent so much time wallowing in self-pity, he never realized how much he’d missed Valerie. That is, until that kiss. Now, he’s determined to get her back one way or another, and no other man will stand in his way. Especially after discovering that Valerie may be in danger, a danger he blames himself for.
Alex is coming off one of the worst years of his life. He spent so much time wallowing in self-pity, he never realized how much he’d missed Valerie. That is, until that kiss. Now, he’s determined to get her back one way or another, and no other man will stand in his way. Especially after discovering that Valerie may be in danger, a danger he blames himself for.
372 pages, Paperback
First published May 26, 2011
289 people are currently reading
6879 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Reyes
52 books4,088 followersElizabeth Reyes is a USA Today Best Selling Author of The Moreno Brothers, 5th Street, Fate, Looking Glass, De Luca Boys series' and two stand alone novels Desert Heat, & Defining Love.
Join the fun and become a royal member of TeamReyes and enjoy the perks of early announcements,cover reveals teasers, including exclusive teasers shared only the group. Along with exclusive team,giveaways,discussions, trivia, Secret Santa and much much more!
Note to readers, I don't do dark, tragic or kill off main characters no matter what it might seem like. Just keep reading and trust me you'll ALWAYS get an HEA from me!
Moreno Brothers:
Forever Mine - New Adult / Mature YA
Sweet Sofie - New Adult/ Mature YA
Forever Yours - New Adult (Angel and Sarah's follow up (college story!)
When You Were Mine - (A prequel novella to Always Been Mine)- New Adult
Always Been Mine - Adult contemporary
Romero - New Adult- Adult contemporary
Making You Mine - New Adult
(with bonus Angel and Sarah short "Only 8 days") *Tearjerker
Tangled - (A Moreno Brothers holiday novella) Featuring Romero and Izzy
Tall, Dark & Obnoxious - Adult Romantic Comedy- short featuring Izzy's uptight sister and Romero's obnoxious uncle.
5th Street:
Noah - Adult Contemporary
Gio - New Adult
Hector - New Adult
Abel - Adult Contemporary *Tear Jerker
Felix - New Adult *Tear jerker
Blindside - Adult contemporary short featuring Noah and Roni
Fate series:
Fate - New Adult
Breaking Brandon - New Adult *Tear jerker
Suspicious Minds - Adult contemporary
Again - New Adult/Adult Contemporary *MAJOR tear jerker
Rage - Adult contemporary
His To Guard - Adult contemporary
Uninvited - Adult contemporary
Boyle Heights series
Lila - Adult Contemporary
Beast - Adult Contemporary
Nine - Adult Contemporary/RomCom
Orlando - Adult Contemporary
Looking Glass
Girl In The Mirror - Adult Contemporary/psychological thriller
We Were One - Adult Contemporary *MAJOR tear jerker but TRUST ME! ;)
De Luca Boys
Remi's Choice - Adult Contemporary - Love triangle MAJOR angst - cheating but hailed one of the BEST love triangles written.
For more up to date info visit her website at www.ElizabethReyes.com
Join the fun and become a royal member of TeamReyes and enjoy the perks of early announcements,cover reveals teasers, including exclusive teasers shared only the group. Along with exclusive team,giveaways,discussions, trivia, Secret Santa and much much more!
Note to readers, I don't do dark, tragic or kill off main characters no matter what it might seem like. Just keep reading and trust me you'll ALWAYS get an HEA from me!
Moreno Brothers:
Forever Mine - New Adult / Mature YA
Sweet Sofie - New Adult/ Mature YA
Forever Yours - New Adult (Angel and Sarah's follow up (college story!)
When You Were Mine - (A prequel novella to Always Been Mine)- New Adult
Always Been Mine - Adult contemporary
Romero - New Adult- Adult contemporary
Making You Mine - New Adult
(with bonus Angel and Sarah short "Only 8 days") *Tearjerker
Tangled - (A Moreno Brothers holiday novella) Featuring Romero and Izzy
Tall, Dark & Obnoxious - Adult Romantic Comedy- short featuring Izzy's uptight sister and Romero's obnoxious uncle.
5th Street:
Noah - Adult Contemporary
Gio - New Adult
Hector - New Adult
Abel - Adult Contemporary *Tear Jerker
Felix - New Adult *Tear jerker
Blindside - Adult contemporary short featuring Noah and Roni
Fate series:
Fate - New Adult
Breaking Brandon - New Adult *Tear jerker
Suspicious Minds - Adult contemporary
Again - New Adult/Adult Contemporary *MAJOR tear jerker
Rage - Adult contemporary
His To Guard - Adult contemporary
Uninvited - Adult contemporary
Boyle Heights series
Lila - Adult Contemporary
Beast - Adult Contemporary
Nine - Adult Contemporary/RomCom
Orlando - Adult Contemporary
Looking Glass
Girl In The Mirror - Adult Contemporary/psychological thriller
We Were One - Adult Contemporary *MAJOR tear jerker but TRUST ME! ;)
De Luca Boys
Remi's Choice - Adult Contemporary - Love triangle MAJOR angst - cheating but hailed one of the BEST love triangles written.
For more up to date info visit her website at www.ElizabethReyes.com
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September 11, 2011
What's worse than reading a corny, predictable romance novel? Reading a corny, predictable romance novel about an abusive pig and his clueless, irrational girlfriend.
Always Been Mine begins roughly three years after the ending of Forever Mine. Valerie Zuniga catches her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Alex Moreno, entering his house with a scantily clad co-ed carrying an overnight bag. She is enraged, confronts the "cheating bastard" and storms off, refusing to listen to any of his "lies". Alex swears up and down that the girl is just a tutor which Valerie, of course, does not believe. End of relationship.
Cut to one year later.
Alex's younger brother, Angel, and Valerie's cousin, Sarah, are getting married. Since Alex and Valerie are both in the wedding party, they can avoid each other no longer.
I'm sure you can guess where things go from there. What I'm willing to bet you can't guess is how unbelievably ridiculous things get. Do you know what pisses me off more than anything else in a story? When characters actively refuse to communicate with each other. Is it a way to keep the story from unfolding too quickly? Sure. Is it lazy as all hell and completely uninspired? Pretty much. Despite Valerie's vehement refusal to listen to anything Alex has to say, she does eventually cave and let him explain himself. They are back together before the book is even halfway over. OK, they're relieved and happy now, and they've learned their lesson about not communicating with each other. Right?
WRONG.
In the twelve months between her break-up with Alex and when they finally get back together, Valerie has managed to acquire a violent stalker and a boss who has a crush on her. She casually dates the boss, thinking it might help her get over Alex, but then breaks things off after an embarrassing bedroom incident in which she calls him "Alex". Whoopsie doodle. Her stalker, Bruce, who was serving a three-year sentence for brandishing a kitchen knife in the general direction of his wife, has been released from prison after only nine months and is now back in Valerie's life, texting, calling, showing up out-of-the blue. Every communication from Bruce alludes to the fact that he believes Valerie owes him for ruining his life (when Valerie found out Bruce was married, she told his wife). Bruce's idea of "payment"? Sex. Of course. What else could it possibly be? Valerie is, after all, completely irresistible.
Despite the knowledge that Bruce is a complete whackadoo, Valerie refuses to believe he's any real threat. So her bright idea is to completely downplay the entire situation. "Oh, there's this guy I used to date harassing me, BUT IT'S NO BIG! I'm sure he's just playing around. What? Oh, what was he in prison for? Wellll..."
Valerie will not be winning any prizes which reflect her intellect any time soon.
When Alex catches wind of Valerie's predicament with Bruce, he goes into Knight in Shining Armor Mode, telling Valerie she needs to be more careful, following her around, eventually hiring his friend Romero (who owns a security firm, conveniently) to have someone follow Valerie to make sure she's safe.
And the hilarity ensues.
Valerie goes on living her life as if nothing is amiss, only occasionally worrying about Bruce. Her occasional run-ins with her boss (whom she has to see on a fairly regular basis since he is, you know...her boss) are reported back to Alex, who becomes increasingly worried about their relationship. I didn't think anyone could top Angel Moreno's obsessive, controlling behavior in Forever Mine, but big brother Alex definitely wins the award for most controlling, jealous literary douchebag. At one point, Luke (Valerie's boss) drives her from the office to the hospital after she receives a call that her father has collapsed. Alex has been informed that not only has Luke taken Valerie to the hospital, but that Valerie also met Luke that morning and the previous morning for breakfast without *gasp* telling Alex! SAINTS PRESERVE US!!
These people, fictional though they are, piss me off.
So what does super hunk do? He rushes to the hospital, sees Luke rubbing Valerie's neck, and blows his steroid-fueled smokestack. Yes, her father has possibly had a stroke and there Mr. Romantic is, screaming at her in the hospital about her "relationship" with her boss.
Smooth move, Ex-Lax.
It's at this point that the fact that Alex has been having Valerie followed comes out and she thinks that Alex had someone dig up dirt on her and Luke because, even though she never had sex with Luke, she did spend the night at his house once and Alex knows about it. She is disgusted with his behavior, disgusted, and feels totally violated. Alex actually got that particular tidbit from stalker Bruce, but he doesn't get the chance to explain that to Valerie until a couple of days later because Ms. Reyes apparently decided the drama needed to be stretched to maximum length.
Are you getting a pretty good idea of the general tone of this book? Dainty girl who's supposed to be independent and strong is really nothing more than an idiot who puts herself in danger merely because she doesn't want to "trouble" anyone else with her problems, and her controlling boyfriend can't offer much besides a caveman attitude and a large penis.
Those Moreno boys. Absolutely captivating
My pick for most infuriating scene in the entire story? Hands down, the pseudo bachelorette party. Valerie, her roommate Isabel, Sarah, and Alex's younger sister, Sofia, have all gone out for a little "girl time" the night before the wedding. Alex gets a call from Stalker Bruce and Stalker Bruce tells Alex he's watching the ladies. This, of course, sends Alex, Angel, Eric (who's dating Sofia), and Romero (who's dating Isabel) into fits and they take to the cell phones, texting and calling to make sure their womenses are OK. Yes, I said womenses. Typing that sentence, I got a mental image of four burly idiots jumping around with cell phones, trashing an office and screeching like howler monkeys. But I digress...
Alex calls Valerie and tells her about Stalker Bruce. Warns her to keep the windows and doors locked, not to go outside, etc. Valerie agrees, then tells Alex she won't tell the other girls because she doesn't want Sarah to worry "unnecessarily" the night before her wedding.
*Cough*
I think the imminent threat of being stabbed to death by an obsessive stalker is something you should probably worry about. Maybe that's just me...
The big manly men haven't told any of the other girls about Bruce, but they do keep checking in with their breeders, making sure Bruce hasn't slashed them to bits. Sofia and Isabel, thinking it's all fun and games, decide to confiscate all cell phones, declaring that they are going to ignore all the texts and calls from the guys. Valerie knows nothing will send Alex and the rest of team Scooby on a bitch-hunt faster than not getting answers to repeated calls and texts, so she attempts to surreptitiously grab her cell and text Alex quickly that all is well. She of course does this by "shimmying sexily" over to the end table while the girls dance around....because, you know, when women get together and there's alcohol involved, we have nothing better to do but dance seductively for one another. We have pillow fights in our jam-jams, too.
Anyway, Valerie is caught trying to text by Sofia, who then takes all the cell phones and shoves them into her purse, giggling the whole time.
It was at this point that I was tempted to get out my Walther .380 and end it all. Imagine my shock, then, when it actually got worse.
Valerie, with what I'm sure she thought was a sheer stroke of genius, decides to go out to her car, get her laptop, and email Alex. Yup, crazy, homicidal stalker following her around and she just pops out to her car real quick after dark. It's at this point that the studs show up, clucking like crazed chickens because their bitches haven't been minding their leashes.
I was going to try and finish this review with a detailed explanation of what happens, but I just don't think I can do it. I still have one more of Ms. Reyes' books to review and things haven't gotten any better.
I did promise that future reviews would deal a bit with Sofia, the youngest Moreno sibling, and while she isn't in this book a whole lot, there is one scene which gave me pause. When the girls first start mentioning having a sleepover, Sofia gets very excited and says she never went to a sleepover when she was a kid. One could assume it just sort of happened that way, but no, we hear through Valerie's inner dialogue that the reason Sofia never got to go to sleepovers was because of her brothers' overprotective attitudes. Mmhmm.
On top of the fact that the story is silly, the drama forced and illogical, it's also just plain badly written. The grammatical issues first encountered in Forever Mine are still present in Always Been Mine. Typos I can forgive, to a point, but this is more than typos. Ms. Reyes can't seem to grasp simple concepts like the difference between "worse" and "worst". The two are continually interchanged, with "worse" being used when "worst" would have been correct and vice versa. Typos are bad enough since they can and should be caught and remedied during re-reads, but someone who considers themselves a serious author not understanding the simplest of concepts is both infuriating and insulting.
In summary, Always Been Mine is one of those books that's OK to waste a little time on as long as you're OK with a bad story and bad writing. I find myself enjoying terrible books because it helps polish my own writing skills as I contemplate the kind of review I'm going to write. I'm just glad I didn't spend money on this one.
Always Been Mine begins roughly three years after the ending of Forever Mine. Valerie Zuniga catches her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Alex Moreno, entering his house with a scantily clad co-ed carrying an overnight bag. She is enraged, confronts the "cheating bastard" and storms off, refusing to listen to any of his "lies". Alex swears up and down that the girl is just a tutor which Valerie, of course, does not believe. End of relationship.
Cut to one year later.
Alex's younger brother, Angel, and Valerie's cousin, Sarah, are getting married. Since Alex and Valerie are both in the wedding party, they can avoid each other no longer.
I'm sure you can guess where things go from there. What I'm willing to bet you can't guess is how unbelievably ridiculous things get. Do you know what pisses me off more than anything else in a story? When characters actively refuse to communicate with each other. Is it a way to keep the story from unfolding too quickly? Sure. Is it lazy as all hell and completely uninspired? Pretty much. Despite Valerie's vehement refusal to listen to anything Alex has to say, she does eventually cave and let him explain himself. They are back together before the book is even halfway over. OK, they're relieved and happy now, and they've learned their lesson about not communicating with each other. Right?
WRONG.
In the twelve months between her break-up with Alex and when they finally get back together, Valerie has managed to acquire a violent stalker and a boss who has a crush on her. She casually dates the boss, thinking it might help her get over Alex, but then breaks things off after an embarrassing bedroom incident in which she calls him "Alex". Whoopsie doodle. Her stalker, Bruce, who was serving a three-year sentence for brandishing a kitchen knife in the general direction of his wife, has been released from prison after only nine months and is now back in Valerie's life, texting, calling, showing up out-of-the blue. Every communication from Bruce alludes to the fact that he believes Valerie owes him for ruining his life (when Valerie found out Bruce was married, she told his wife). Bruce's idea of "payment"? Sex. Of course. What else could it possibly be? Valerie is, after all, completely irresistible.
Despite the knowledge that Bruce is a complete whackadoo, Valerie refuses to believe he's any real threat. So her bright idea is to completely downplay the entire situation. "Oh, there's this guy I used to date harassing me, BUT IT'S NO BIG! I'm sure he's just playing around. What? Oh, what was he in prison for? Wellll..."
Valerie will not be winning any prizes which reflect her intellect any time soon.
When Alex catches wind of Valerie's predicament with Bruce, he goes into Knight in Shining Armor Mode, telling Valerie she needs to be more careful, following her around, eventually hiring his friend Romero (who owns a security firm, conveniently) to have someone follow Valerie to make sure she's safe.
And the hilarity ensues.
Valerie goes on living her life as if nothing is amiss, only occasionally worrying about Bruce. Her occasional run-ins with her boss (whom she has to see on a fairly regular basis since he is, you know...her boss) are reported back to Alex, who becomes increasingly worried about their relationship. I didn't think anyone could top Angel Moreno's obsessive, controlling behavior in Forever Mine, but big brother Alex definitely wins the award for most controlling, jealous literary douchebag. At one point, Luke (Valerie's boss) drives her from the office to the hospital after she receives a call that her father has collapsed. Alex has been informed that not only has Luke taken Valerie to the hospital, but that Valerie also met Luke that morning and the previous morning for breakfast without *gasp* telling Alex! SAINTS PRESERVE US!!
These people, fictional though they are, piss me off.
So what does super hunk do? He rushes to the hospital, sees Luke rubbing Valerie's neck, and blows his steroid-fueled smokestack. Yes, her father has possibly had a stroke and there Mr. Romantic is, screaming at her in the hospital about her "relationship" with her boss.
Smooth move, Ex-Lax.
It's at this point that the fact that Alex has been having Valerie followed comes out and she thinks that Alex had someone dig up dirt on her and Luke because, even though she never had sex with Luke, she did spend the night at his house once and Alex knows about it. She is disgusted with his behavior, disgusted, and feels totally violated. Alex actually got that particular tidbit from stalker Bruce, but he doesn't get the chance to explain that to Valerie until a couple of days later because Ms. Reyes apparently decided the drama needed to be stretched to maximum length.
Are you getting a pretty good idea of the general tone of this book? Dainty girl who's supposed to be independent and strong is really nothing more than an idiot who puts herself in danger merely because she doesn't want to "trouble" anyone else with her problems, and her controlling boyfriend can't offer much besides a caveman attitude and a large penis.
Those Moreno boys. Absolutely captivating
My pick for most infuriating scene in the entire story? Hands down, the pseudo bachelorette party. Valerie, her roommate Isabel, Sarah, and Alex's younger sister, Sofia, have all gone out for a little "girl time" the night before the wedding. Alex gets a call from Stalker Bruce and Stalker Bruce tells Alex he's watching the ladies. This, of course, sends Alex, Angel, Eric (who's dating Sofia), and Romero (who's dating Isabel) into fits and they take to the cell phones, texting and calling to make sure their womenses are OK. Yes, I said womenses. Typing that sentence, I got a mental image of four burly idiots jumping around with cell phones, trashing an office and screeching like howler monkeys. But I digress...
Alex calls Valerie and tells her about Stalker Bruce. Warns her to keep the windows and doors locked, not to go outside, etc. Valerie agrees, then tells Alex she won't tell the other girls because she doesn't want Sarah to worry "unnecessarily" the night before her wedding.
*Cough*
I think the imminent threat of being stabbed to death by an obsessive stalker is something you should probably worry about. Maybe that's just me...
The big manly men haven't told any of the other girls about Bruce, but they do keep checking in with their breeders, making sure Bruce hasn't slashed them to bits. Sofia and Isabel, thinking it's all fun and games, decide to confiscate all cell phones, declaring that they are going to ignore all the texts and calls from the guys. Valerie knows nothing will send Alex and the rest of team Scooby on a bitch-hunt faster than not getting answers to repeated calls and texts, so she attempts to surreptitiously grab her cell and text Alex quickly that all is well. She of course does this by "shimmying sexily" over to the end table while the girls dance around....because, you know, when women get together and there's alcohol involved, we have nothing better to do but dance seductively for one another. We have pillow fights in our jam-jams, too.
Anyway, Valerie is caught trying to text by Sofia, who then takes all the cell phones and shoves them into her purse, giggling the whole time.
It was at this point that I was tempted to get out my Walther .380 and end it all. Imagine my shock, then, when it actually got worse.
Valerie, with what I'm sure she thought was a sheer stroke of genius, decides to go out to her car, get her laptop, and email Alex. Yup, crazy, homicidal stalker following her around and she just pops out to her car real quick after dark. It's at this point that the studs show up, clucking like crazed chickens because their bitches haven't been minding their leashes.
I was going to try and finish this review with a detailed explanation of what happens, but I just don't think I can do it. I still have one more of Ms. Reyes' books to review and things haven't gotten any better.
I did promise that future reviews would deal a bit with Sofia, the youngest Moreno sibling, and while she isn't in this book a whole lot, there is one scene which gave me pause. When the girls first start mentioning having a sleepover, Sofia gets very excited and says she never went to a sleepover when she was a kid. One could assume it just sort of happened that way, but no, we hear through Valerie's inner dialogue that the reason Sofia never got to go to sleepovers was because of her brothers' overprotective attitudes. Mmhmm.
On top of the fact that the story is silly, the drama forced and illogical, it's also just plain badly written. The grammatical issues first encountered in Forever Mine are still present in Always Been Mine. Typos I can forgive, to a point, but this is more than typos. Ms. Reyes can't seem to grasp simple concepts like the difference between "worse" and "worst". The two are continually interchanged, with "worse" being used when "worst" would have been correct and vice versa. Typos are bad enough since they can and should be caught and remedied during re-reads, but someone who considers themselves a serious author not understanding the simplest of concepts is both infuriating and insulting.
In summary, Always Been Mine is one of those books that's OK to waste a little time on as long as you're OK with a bad story and bad writing. I find myself enjoying terrible books because it helps polish my own writing skills as I contemplate the kind of review I'm going to write. I'm just glad I didn't spend money on this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2013
I'm not even going to bother with an in-depth review. I read the first half and skimmed the second. Most of the book was boring, even when I got to the part where there was supposed to be some sort of conflict. I found the entire character of Luke to be completely unnecessary and his parts seemed like they were only stalling the reader, while we waited for something to happen later. The only reason I didn't give one star is because I wasn't necessarily upset over anything - I just found my mind wandering because I wasn't interested.
It's strange that I enjoyed the 5th Street series but haven't connected with the Moreno Brothers, especially considering that both series have similar character backgrounds. Note : At the time of writing this review, the first 5th Street book (Noah) was free for Kindle US .
Because I'm interested to see how Sophie's book will be handled (one little sister having to deal with 3 overprotective brothers? This could get messy and/or interesting), I'll probably continue with the series. Normally, I'd throw in the towel after stumbling through two weak books, but since I know that Reyes' books can be good, I'll just consider the first couple of the Moreno Brothers a time of trial and error.
It's strange that I enjoyed the 5th Street series but haven't connected with the Moreno Brothers, especially considering that both series have similar character backgrounds. Note : At the time of writing this review, the first 5th Street book (Noah) was free for Kindle US .
Because I'm interested to see how Sophie's book will be handled (one little sister having to deal with 3 overprotective brothers? This could get messy and/or interesting), I'll probably continue with the series. Normally, I'd throw in the towel after stumbling through two weak books, but since I know that Reyes' books can be good, I'll just consider the first couple of the Moreno Brothers a time of trial and error.
May 17, 2013
I read this book after re-reading a kickass Kristen Ashley book, so perhaps the contrast made this book worse to me.
I really wanted to like this but I just couldn't... The whole tutor complication was weak and the big "climax" was even weaker. Most of all though, I just couldn't stand Valerie. She was a straight idiot of epic proportions, plain and simple.
When you have a stalker that has come after you physically, threatened you multiple times verbally, and done PRISON time for violent crimes you know he blames YOU for, failing to report it and seek a restraining order because you "can't find the time" is simply asinine. And her constant lies of omission regarding Luke (no matter how temporary), in the face of Alex's clear devotion to her made me dislike her outright.
Alex bumped it up from 1 star to 2, but just barely. I don't think I'll read more from this author. All her female leads seem to rub me the wrong way.
I really wanted to like this but I just couldn't... The whole tutor complication was weak and the big "climax" was even weaker. Most of all though, I just couldn't stand Valerie. She was a straight idiot of epic proportions, plain and simple.
When you have a stalker that has come after you physically, threatened you multiple times verbally, and done PRISON time for violent crimes you know he blames YOU for, failing to report it and seek a restraining order because you "can't find the time" is simply asinine. And her constant lies of omission regarding Luke (no matter how temporary), in the face of Alex's clear devotion to her made me dislike her outright.
Alex bumped it up from 1 star to 2, but just barely. I don't think I'll read more from this author. All her female leads seem to rub me the wrong way.
June 18, 2012
Ok it's almost 6 AM, so I am not even going to try for a coherent review right now, I just want to get some thoughts down before I pass out and forget something.
*looks at all the 4 and 5 star reviews* My god, did we really read the same book?
First off- editing. Horrible. Missing commas, run on sentences, even a couple of words that I don't think really exist. "blaringly" obvious? I think she meant glaringly.
Alex's body. Chiseled. Rock solid. Sculptured. Hard. Delectable. Strong. Bulging muscles. Massive. Very impressive. Beautiful. Muscled. We get it. The guy is built.
He's also way over the top on the possessive scale. Plotting a way to get her to leave her job, simply because she used to date her boss? Even though she swore it was never serious? Hiring a guy to act as a bodyguard because she has a stalker, but not telling her about it?
Slut shaming. The guys can't have a bachelor party in Vegas because no way do the women want their men around "money grabbing whores". WTF?
Misunderstandings. So stupid. He'd rather let her, and everyone else, think he was screwing other girls in college, rather than tell the truth, that he was behind on his school work, and had hired a tutor? Ok, there's pride, then there's downright stupidity.
Of course, he did try to tell her the truth the night she "caught" him with his tutor, but she refused to listen to him. She was so sure he was sleeping around, she jumped to the wrong conclusion about everything and wouldn't listen to him, even a year later, til he finally MADE her let him explain.
And then there's Valerie. She knows Alex is the jealous possessive type. She stays with him anyway, but she keeps not telling him stuff. Big stuff that she knows he'll take the wrong way if he doesn't hear it from her first. Does she tell him? No. She keeps talking with Luke, the boss. Having breakfast and lunch meetings with him, letting him come to her apartment. Is this smart? I think not. If you're going to commit to being with a jealous guy, you have to take his feelings into effect before you do stupid shit.
She and Alex both know there's a stalker after her. He made threats to her on a particular night- the night before Sarah and Angel's wedding. The girls all want to do a girl's night in, drink, and play Truth. (no one felt very daring apparently) Valerie knows how worried Alex is. She knows there's a stalker out there. She knows he was following them THAT NIGHT! But she lets the other girls confiscate ALL the phones because the guys keep calling and checking on them. Doesn't insist on them letting her at least text Alex that she can't talk. Doesn't tell them she has a crazy stalker who just might show up tonight, a crazy stalked who mentioned two of them by name.
Instead, when she knows there's a stalker out there she----SNEAKS OUT OF THE HOUSE ALONE, to get her laptop out of the car to email him!!! It really would have served her right, if she had been grabbed. Stupid stupid stupid.
I know these people are supposed to be in their 20s, but more often than not, if felt like a typical high school story, only without the high school. They didn't act like mature adults, college graduates. It just felt....juvenile.
But in spite of all this- the author DID tell a good story. I finished the first book, and figured that was it. I wasn't interested in reading any more. But they kept getting good reviews, so I kept picking them up. And this one did pull me right in. I read it all in one sitting. And in spite of all the freaking eye rolling moments, bad editing, and new words I learned, I still kinda want to read Sofie and Eric, Romero and Isabel, and Sal and whoever's stories.
But I'll give this one time to fade in my memory a bit first, just like I let a year pass between reading the first one and reading this one.
*looks at all the 4 and 5 star reviews* My god, did we really read the same book?
First off- editing. Horrible. Missing commas, run on sentences, even a couple of words that I don't think really exist. "blaringly" obvious? I think she meant glaringly.
Alex's body. Chiseled. Rock solid. Sculptured. Hard. Delectable. Strong. Bulging muscles. Massive. Very impressive. Beautiful. Muscled. We get it. The guy is built.
He's also way over the top on the possessive scale. Plotting a way to get her to leave her job, simply because she used to date her boss? Even though she swore it was never serious? Hiring a guy to act as a bodyguard because she has a stalker, but not telling her about it?
Slut shaming. The guys can't have a bachelor party in Vegas because no way do the women want their men around "money grabbing whores". WTF?
Misunderstandings. So stupid. He'd rather let her, and everyone else, think he was screwing other girls in college, rather than tell the truth, that he was behind on his school work, and had hired a tutor? Ok, there's pride, then there's downright stupidity.
Of course, he did try to tell her the truth the night she "caught" him with his tutor, but she refused to listen to him. She was so sure he was sleeping around, she jumped to the wrong conclusion about everything and wouldn't listen to him, even a year later, til he finally MADE her let him explain.
And then there's Valerie. She knows Alex is the jealous possessive type. She stays with him anyway, but she keeps not telling him stuff. Big stuff that she knows he'll take the wrong way if he doesn't hear it from her first. Does she tell him? No. She keeps talking with Luke, the boss. Having breakfast and lunch meetings with him, letting him come to her apartment. Is this smart? I think not. If you're going to commit to being with a jealous guy, you have to take his feelings into effect before you do stupid shit.
She and Alex both know there's a stalker after her. He made threats to her on a particular night- the night before Sarah and Angel's wedding. The girls all want to do a girl's night in, drink, and play Truth. (no one felt very daring apparently) Valerie knows how worried Alex is. She knows there's a stalker out there. She knows he was following them THAT NIGHT! But she lets the other girls confiscate ALL the phones because the guys keep calling and checking on them. Doesn't insist on them letting her at least text Alex that she can't talk. Doesn't tell them she has a crazy stalker who just might show up tonight, a crazy stalked who mentioned two of them by name.
Instead, when she knows there's a stalker out there she----SNEAKS OUT OF THE HOUSE ALONE, to get her laptop out of the car to email him!!! It really would have served her right, if she had been grabbed. Stupid stupid stupid.
I know these people are supposed to be in their 20s, but more often than not, if felt like a typical high school story, only without the high school. They didn't act like mature adults, college graduates. It just felt....juvenile.
But in spite of all this- the author DID tell a good story. I finished the first book, and figured that was it. I wasn't interested in reading any more. But they kept getting good reviews, so I kept picking them up. And this one did pull me right in. I read it all in one sitting. And in spite of all the freaking eye rolling moments, bad editing, and new words I learned, I still kinda want to read Sofie and Eric, Romero and Isabel, and Sal and whoever's stories.
But I'll give this one time to fade in my memory a bit first, just like I let a year pass between reading the first one and reading this one.
September 9, 2011
I hope I'm not developing a habit because I've always read every book from the beginning to the end and tried really hard to finish it no matter what, but I really couldn't make myself finish this book.
Since I spent many hours browsing the internet, searching for the books by Elizabeth Reyes because the blurbs for the books reminded me of Fuentes brothers (like every other Goodreader...:) and I was desperately trying to get my hands on them, I was very dissapointed when I started with Always Been Mine (I couldn't find a proper Forever Mine version so I skipped to book 2).
The beginning was shabby and so was the rest of the.. first half of the book I managed to get through.
We've all heard and read about a guy and a girl who lacked conversational skills and f****d they relationship up by letting a missunderstanding come between them and of course, seperate them. Only this was such a poor example of what happens next! Really bad execution as far as I'm concerned.
I was baffeled by how sick Valerie and Alex's relation was. He loves her, moping and brooding all day long, his heart skipping a beat whenever Valerie's name comes up in a conversation or whenever he sees her. And why did they break up? Did he cheat on her? No. Did she cheat on him? Noo. Did.. I dunno, he beat her up or threaten to kill her favourite cartoon character? No. Something even more absurd!
She was an idiot, he was an idiot, I couldn't stand their sulkiness and I wanted to beat them up with a broom so badly. (The image of me hitting them over their heads with a broom kept popping in my head, scouts honor)
I mean, come on, are you adults or are you fudgin' toddlers? Learn to resolve problems like adults do. Talk it out - just a suggestion (and a fudgin' good one!). Unless you two are both masohicsts and enjoy hurting yourselves.. Then I have nothing else to say. Except, Whatever floats your boat. *skomizgne z rameni*
I gave up on you, Reyes! Que hiciste? Yuckity.
Since I spent many hours browsing the internet, searching for the books by Elizabeth Reyes because the blurbs for the books reminded me of Fuentes brothers (like every other Goodreader...:) and I was desperately trying to get my hands on them, I was very dissapointed when I started with Always Been Mine (I couldn't find a proper Forever Mine version so I skipped to book 2).
The beginning was shabby and so was the rest of the.. first half of the book I managed to get through.
We've all heard and read about a guy and a girl who lacked conversational skills and f****d they relationship up by letting a missunderstanding come between them and of course, seperate them. Only this was such a poor example of what happens next! Really bad execution as far as I'm concerned.
I was baffeled by how sick Valerie and Alex's relation was. He loves her, moping and brooding all day long, his heart skipping a beat whenever Valerie's name comes up in a conversation or whenever he sees her. And why did they break up? Did he cheat on her? No. Did she cheat on him? Noo. Did.. I dunno, he beat her up or threaten to kill her favourite cartoon character? No. Something even more absurd!
She was an idiot, he was an idiot, I couldn't stand their sulkiness and I wanted to beat them up with a broom so badly. (The image of me hitting them over their heads with a broom kept popping in my head, scouts honor)
I mean, come on, are you adults or are you fudgin' toddlers? Learn to resolve problems like adults do. Talk it out - just a suggestion (and a fudgin' good one!). Unless you two are both masohicsts and enjoy hurting yourselves.. Then I have nothing else to say. Except, Whatever floats your boat. *skomizgne z rameni*
I gave up on you, Reyes! Que hiciste? Yuckity.
April 9, 2012
I devoured Always been mine, it was intense, fast paced and completely addictive. I have to say... *sigh* Alex...hotheaded, intense, alpha, protective, possessive and so very yummy...Reyes sure knows how to write her male characters!!!
Always Been Mine is once again written from both characters perspective and I LOVE that!!! Also I LOVE that Sarah, Angel, Eric, Sofia & Romero are so involved in it because they are such a big part of why I love this series so far!! I've got to say though that I have a sneaky feeling that Alex will be my overall fave cause he HAS IT ALL!!!! Total CAM!!!!
I loved that we got this story a few years later when Alex and Val were older and that we have been with them since their first real interaction! This made the ride that much more intense and the realization of true love and belonging, the "yummy moments" alongside the dramatic story-line of Bruce made Always Been Mine a fabulous book!!!
Always Been Mine is once again written from both characters perspective and I LOVE that!!! Also I LOVE that Sarah, Angel, Eric, Sofia & Romero are so involved in it because they are such a big part of why I love this series so far!! I've got to say though that I have a sneaky feeling that Alex will be my overall fave cause he HAS IT ALL!!!! Total CAM!!!!
I loved that we got this story a few years later when Alex and Val were older and that we have been with them since their first real interaction! This made the ride that much more intense and the realization of true love and belonging, the "yummy moments" alongside the dramatic story-line of Bruce made Always Been Mine a fabulous book!!!
May 31, 2011
Great second book in this series! Where the first one was a sweet teenage, low heat, romance, this was taken to a different level, and very enjoyable. Terrific chemistry between Alex and Valerie, and the secondary romance with Romero really added to the overall story. I liked that the focus was not only on Alex and Valerie, but the characters we loved from the first book were brought in to the mix and we got a taste of where they were in their lives. My only complaint was the issue with Luke, it seemed to be resolved and it just went on and on. It got old for me and little repetitious. Other than that, a great story with a sweet epilogue! I am really looking forward to Sophie's novella and Sal's book...I think he has a lot to tell.
March 9, 2012
such an awesome story !!!! there were only a few things that bothered me about it. but I'm pretty sure its cuz I'm zoo picky about, romance timing. but besides that it was great ! Alex is the alpha male i love ! He knows what he wants,, (when he realize's it) and goes after it. Val has been in love with Alex for years..... On and off the couple was for a while and then she catches him with a girl at his house and breaks it off. A year later their paths cross for Sarah and Angels wedding. Val is determined to keep away from Alex and Alex isn't having it.. and the plot only thickens when Val's history comes to light and things start to get dangerous.
From beginning to end, i was completely into the book. Yelling a few times and embarrassed as well for the characters, especially my girls. Alex and Val's relationship had me at ends.. like good stories, its sooo irritating when two characters are mad and not talking. thus the relationship falling apart. but as the reader your aware of the reasons and your screaming at them, to talk to each other and tell them to just "say it"..LOL. i literally had to walk a way a few times and calm down.. lol... it was GREAT !!! I love the family setting. the plot of the story was great and i loved how Sarah n Angel where still apart of the book, it only makes me want to read the next one more.
if you enjoyed Forever Mine, you'll love this one !!
From beginning to end, i was completely into the book. Yelling a few times and embarrassed as well for the characters, especially my girls. Alex and Val's relationship had me at ends.. like good stories, its sooo irritating when two characters are mad and not talking. thus the relationship falling apart. but as the reader your aware of the reasons and your screaming at them, to talk to each other and tell them to just "say it"..LOL. i literally had to walk a way a few times and calm down.. lol... it was GREAT !!! I love the family setting. the plot of the story was great and i loved how Sarah n Angel where still apart of the book, it only makes me want to read the next one more.
if you enjoyed Forever Mine, you'll love this one !!
May 29, 2011
Not as good as Forever Mine but still a really great read. I can't wait for Sal's story and Sofia's novella.
November 25, 2011
Val and Alex's story was so intense and so passionate my heart is still racing. It is so much fun reading this series because I have fallen in love with all of the characters. The interaction, horse playing, and relationships between everyone feels so genuine. You can tell they really love and care for each other.
I felt that this story is a lot more intense than Forever Mine because Alex is so intense. His presents, his feelings for Val, his responsibility to keeping the family business doing well; these are all things he tackles with great intensity. So when he find out that Valerie has a stalker he handles that with the same determination and no-holds-barred intensity. But that still might not be enough to save Val. Bruce, Valerie's stalker is relentless in his pursuit to getting what he wants from Val. It's terrifying.
Valerie is so strong headed and independent she won't let anyone of anything get in her way of becoming successful in any part of her life. I have loved her no nonsense, no bullshit attitude scent the first book. She lives her life with a "grab the bull by its horns" motto but not when it come to Alex. She learned to hold herself back and approach with caution when it comes to him because he has proven in the past that he can't be trust. He crushed her heart with there past relationship being so rocky and Val not knowing what he was up to or who he was with when he would take off for days at a time.
It is so much fun being in the Moreno's world I can't wait to get more details from Sofie's story which I'm starting now....see you in my next review!
I felt that this story is a lot more intense than Forever Mine because Alex is so intense. His presents, his feelings for Val, his responsibility to keeping the family business doing well; these are all things he tackles with great intensity. So when he find out that Valerie has a stalker he handles that with the same determination and no-holds-barred intensity. But that still might not be enough to save Val. Bruce, Valerie's stalker is relentless in his pursuit to getting what he wants from Val. It's terrifying.
Valerie is so strong headed and independent she won't let anyone of anything get in her way of becoming successful in any part of her life. I have loved her no nonsense, no bullshit attitude scent the first book. She lives her life with a "grab the bull by its horns" motto but not when it come to Alex. She learned to hold herself back and approach with caution when it comes to him because he has proven in the past that he can't be trust. He crushed her heart with there past relationship being so rocky and Val not knowing what he was up to or who he was with when he would take off for days at a time.
It is so much fun being in the Moreno's world I can't wait to get more details from Sofie's story which I'm starting now....see you in my next review!
July 11, 2011
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I LOVE this series!!!! Always Been Mine was amazing and I think I liked it more than Forever Mine! *Squeal!!*
Always Benn Mine is the story of Alex Moreno and Valerie. The story is different from Forever Mine, while Forever Mine was more on Angle and Sarah falling in love Always Been Mine focusing on Valerie not wanting to be in love with Alex and some other issues in their relationship. They sort of get into this Here We Go Again relationship which, to my surprise and delight was not tedious at all!! I was looking forward to all of their encounters and at times was at the edge of my seat.
What I most Love about this series is that they are Highly filled with romance but still Elizabeth Reyes manages to add suspense that gives me Goosebumps. Think stalker. Think really creepy stalker.
This Novel will not disappoint! Hot Moreno Brothers, desire and romance that turns the hear up, A novel completely deserving of its title. I Loved it!
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I LOVE this series!!!! Always Been Mine was amazing and I think I liked it more than Forever Mine! *Squeal!!*
Always Benn Mine is the story of Alex Moreno and Valerie. The story is different from Forever Mine, while Forever Mine was more on Angle and Sarah falling in love Always Been Mine focusing on Valerie not wanting to be in love with Alex and some other issues in their relationship. They sort of get into this Here We Go Again relationship which, to my surprise and delight was not tedious at all!! I was looking forward to all of their encounters and at times was at the edge of my seat.
What I most Love about this series is that they are Highly filled with romance but still Elizabeth Reyes manages to add suspense that gives me Goosebumps. Think stalker. Think really creepy stalker.
This Novel will not disappoint! Hot Moreno Brothers, desire and romance that turns the hear up, A novel completely deserving of its title. I Loved it!
October 12, 2011
Bk 2 and this series is still going strong. The group is in their early to mid twenties now and this bk progresses the relationship of the characters from the last book – Angel/Sarah, Sophie/Eric and friend Romero who meets the girl who’ll be the subject of bk 4 “ Romero” to be released in December. We also get a bit more of Sal, the oldest Moreno brother. But Alex – LOL! What a hot head. You really need to read Forever Mine – the first book to get a handle on how the Alex/Val relationship starts. Wasn’t sure anyone could tame lady’s man Alex. Alex and Val’s relationship has its ups and downs but eventually smoothes out nicely. Val makes Alex work for it, but oh to have an Alex (makes me hot and bothered just thinking about him.) His protectiveness not only with Val but with their sister Sophie is so endearingly sweet if not a little on the overprotective side. The Moreno guys are purely alpha. Alex makes me think of Travis from Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire (another fantastic book). There’s an element of suspense in this bk that plays well with the story. Elizabeth Reyes has done it again – another keeper. And btw....BIG POINTS for the cover.
July 19, 2012
I think this one is my favorite. I loved Alex in FOREVER MINE. And his story with Valerie Zuniga was just told so well. Elizabeth Reyes is a great storyteller and can write emotions so well, it's amazing. The Moreno Brothers' are a great set of guys with some demons, but they love with all their heart and can get really caught up in a relationship, even when they don't want one. I really liked that this story takes place about three years after the first book. So they're all adults in their 20s.
Alex and Valerie's relationship was one built on lust and sex and then not seeing each other for a while. Once she graduated high school and went to college, they started seeing each other a bit more. Although they never said to each other they were exclusive it seemed that way. Until Alex pulls his not calling routine for a while and Valerie is sure that he's shacking up with some random woman. When she stops by his house to confront him after seeing a leggy woman enter his house, she's livid and she finally breaks everything off with Alex.
Flash forward to a year later, Angel and Sarah are getting married, Valerie is maid of honor and when she has to attend the bridal shower, knowing that Alex will be there, she does everything can to avoid him at all costs. However, Alex has other plans. And after kissing her so passionately at the shower, Valerie knows she's done. She's his and he's hers. However, a stalker has other plans for Valerie and her co-worker Luke makes his intentions quite known as well too.
Alex finally realized that what he feels for Val is love. Epic love and he'll do anything he can to save her.
Alex was awesome. I got a bit pissed at Romero for constantly tattling on Val. (R runs a security service) and Alex has hired his services to protect Val, but at times it seem more like spying on her every move. But Val has issues with being upfront with Alex. She tries to keep her heart secure and knows that the more she opens it up to Alex, sometimes he fucks up and she gets hurt.
I highly HIGHLY recommend. Love this series!
Alex and Valerie's relationship was one built on lust and sex and then not seeing each other for a while. Once she graduated high school and went to college, they started seeing each other a bit more. Although they never said to each other they were exclusive it seemed that way. Until Alex pulls his not calling routine for a while and Valerie is sure that he's shacking up with some random woman. When she stops by his house to confront him after seeing a leggy woman enter his house, she's livid and she finally breaks everything off with Alex.
Flash forward to a year later, Angel and Sarah are getting married, Valerie is maid of honor and when she has to attend the bridal shower, knowing that Alex will be there, she does everything can to avoid him at all costs. However, Alex has other plans. And after kissing her so passionately at the shower, Valerie knows she's done. She's his and he's hers. However, a stalker has other plans for Valerie and her co-worker Luke makes his intentions quite known as well too.
Alex finally realized that what he feels for Val is love. Epic love and he'll do anything he can to save her.
Alex was awesome. I got a bit pissed at Romero for constantly tattling on Val. (R runs a security service) and Alex has hired his services to protect Val, but at times it seem more like spying on her every move. But Val has issues with being upfront with Alex. She tries to keep her heart secure and knows that the more she opens it up to Alex, sometimes he fucks up and she gets hurt.
I highly HIGHLY recommend. Love this series!
July 13, 2011
The shelf says it all. The heroine was the classic 'Oh, I have someone stalking and threatening me? Let me blow up at the guy who wants to make sure that I'm protected, hide things from him and and better yet! Let me walk around outside at night...alone.'
Right there is where my patience snapped. Right. There. She was completely wishy washy, tactless and just dumb as a rock in terms of what the hell she wanted and how she interacted with both the H, her boss and the villian. Speaking of the 'Hero', he needed some anger management sessions and honestly, in my head he looked like one of those guys from Jersey Shore (with all the weight lifting going on) on steroids (what with all the zero to 150 in the rage department). NOT my idea of a male lead.
Right there is where my patience snapped. Right. There. She was completely wishy washy, tactless and just dumb as a rock in terms of what the hell she wanted and how she interacted with both the H, her boss and the villian. Speaking of the 'Hero', he needed some anger management sessions and honestly, in my head he looked like one of those guys from Jersey Shore (with all the weight lifting going on) on steroids (what with all the zero to 150 in the rage department). NOT my idea of a male lead.
November 27, 2011
I say it again, I LOVE this series!!!! This was my favorite book so far. I truly do love a strong Alpha male! Alex is just so intense and certainly yummy! Not only was the romance well done in this book, but there are other complexities to the story. They both had some pretty serious situations during their time apart and because of that, I think they were both able to appreciate the relationship they ultimately developed. I also enjoyed the suspense of the storyline and as a woman, genuinely felt Val's fear. Elizabeth Reyes definitely has a knack for making you fall in love with her characters! Can't wait to see what happens to Val and Alex in the future! MUST MUST have more Alex!
July 3, 2017
Lets see what this book includes - hero with anger management issues (he growls and makes sounds when he is mad), use of a woman as a victim of stalking/sexual violence to tell a story and bring a couple together, double sexual standards between men and women (not just one incident, multiple), ridiculous lack of communication across multiple characters seemingly done to create tension and many other poorly thought out plot devices.
There are so many repeated bad choices made in this novel - its almost laughable. Its like watching that really cheesy bad horror movie.
I enjoyed two books in her Fifth Street series, but this book makes me want to walk away from the author.
There are so many repeated bad choices made in this novel - its almost laughable. Its like watching that really cheesy bad horror movie.
I enjoyed two books in her Fifth Street series, but this book makes me want to walk away from the author.
May 28, 2013
I didn't love this one as much as the first but I still loved it!!! I couldn't get enough of Sarah and Angel in Forever mine but I think what it really boils down to is I can't get enough of them Moreno brothers!!!! I love both Alex and Angel and their territorial ways!!! Got to love a man who has undying love for his woman. Can't wait to read the next :). Don't ever let the negative reviews bring you down Elizabeth Reyes.
March 2, 2013
For some reason I didn't connect with these characters as much as I have wih the 5th Street series. I did feel like the situation with Luke and the suspense with Bruce were dragged out a bit. I do enjoy this author's story telling so I will continue on and read more of this series.
2.5-3 Stars
Side note: There was a glimpse of Abel from 5th Street which I appreciated :)
2.5-3 Stars
Side note: There was a glimpse of Abel from 5th Street which I appreciated :)
January 4, 2012
Another great installment to the Moreno brothers. Alex and Valerie's story was frustrating but you can't help rooting for them.
September 5, 2019
Me ha gustado muchísimo. Dos personajes muy carismáticos, enamorados hasta las cejas. Su historia estuvo a la altura de mis espectativas.
Creo que lo que más me ha gustado es que los dos siguen siendo ellos mismos, con sus errores y sus aciertos, y no cambian su personalidad para agradar, al revés, aprenden a convivir y a confiar el uno en el otro. Adoro a Alex, pero Valerie es sin duda una de mis protagonistas favoritas.
Mi puntuación un 9.
Creo que lo que más me ha gustado es que los dos siguen siendo ellos mismos, con sus errores y sus aciertos, y no cambian su personalidad para agradar, al revés, aprenden a convivir y a confiar el uno en el otro. Adoro a Alex, pero Valerie es sin duda una de mis protagonistas favoritas.
Mi puntuación un 9.
October 27, 2011
Always been mine is the second Moreno Brothers book, but it is transitioning from Young Adult Romance to Adult Comtemporary Romance. In Forever Mine, we follow Angel and Sarah through love, laughter, and tears; with just a side salad of Alex and Valerie's wild sex craze. Always been Mine digs deeper into that romance, and finds that emotions run much deeper than the occasional hook up previewed in the first book. After a disasterous spy mission, Valerie has given up on the relationship she knows can and will never exist. Alex has proven to be the ultimate ladies man that will not be capable of settling down with just one woman, and she refuses to continue setting herself up for heartache.
All the while, Alex has many things he is not proud of; including letting Valerie walk away. Valerie is the one person he wishes he could spend the rest of his life with, but he just let her walk away rather than tell her the truth. Now after a year apart the pain of her loss only seems to be increasing. If he could just find a way to get her to see how much he really loves her, and that he can be the a one woman kind of man. His opportunity comes at Sarah and Angel's wedding shower.
This begins a rollercoaster of frustration when Valerie lies to Alex telling him she is seeing someone, and they can no longer be more than friends. Followed by a month of lies and secrets that will keep the readers infuriated with the characters. Valerie has spent this entire year trying to get over Alex, and made several mistakes. One of which turned into a controlling and psychotic boyfriend. When he begins calling her, and making corner her alone she begins looking for somewhere she can feel safe. It becomes evidently clear that the only pace she will truely feel safe is the one place she has vowed not to go back to.
Always been Mine was very different from the Young Adult Romance that Forever Mine offered. This was anticipated seeing as how we were changing genres, but I think that it was also a little shaky as Elizabeth Reyes finds her Adult Romance groove. Overall, even with the transitioning occuring I it was an incredible read. I love how each book highlights one romance, but there is some much about beginnings and continuations of the romances prior. Reyes is one exceptional author; that offers story packed full of hot and steamy romance. As mentioned before I believe she is still learning and working out the kinks, but all around she has a very promising future. Great read!!
All the while, Alex has many things he is not proud of; including letting Valerie walk away. Valerie is the one person he wishes he could spend the rest of his life with, but he just let her walk away rather than tell her the truth. Now after a year apart the pain of her loss only seems to be increasing. If he could just find a way to get her to see how much he really loves her, and that he can be the a one woman kind of man. His opportunity comes at Sarah and Angel's wedding shower.
This begins a rollercoaster of frustration when Valerie lies to Alex telling him she is seeing someone, and they can no longer be more than friends. Followed by a month of lies and secrets that will keep the readers infuriated with the characters. Valerie has spent this entire year trying to get over Alex, and made several mistakes. One of which turned into a controlling and psychotic boyfriend. When he begins calling her, and making corner her alone she begins looking for somewhere she can feel safe. It becomes evidently clear that the only pace she will truely feel safe is the one place she has vowed not to go back to.
Always been Mine was very different from the Young Adult Romance that Forever Mine offered. This was anticipated seeing as how we were changing genres, but I think that it was also a little shaky as Elizabeth Reyes finds her Adult Romance groove. Overall, even with the transitioning occuring I it was an incredible read. I love how each book highlights one romance, but there is some much about beginnings and continuations of the romances prior. Reyes is one exceptional author; that offers story packed full of hot and steamy romance. As mentioned before I believe she is still learning and working out the kinks, but all around she has a very promising future. Great read!!
August 4, 2013
My first book by Elizabeth Reyes...... I liked this story and will read this series. I went out of order this is book #2 so I will have to go back one.
This is Alex & Valerie's story. Alex & Valerie have been off & on since high school. It was supposed to be a physically thing only but they both knew it was more than that. After Val finds Alex in a compromising position, Val breaks it off with Alex. Val is heartbroken & knows that she will never get over him. Val tries to get on with life & dates Bruce which is a huge mistake. Bruce is bad news. She breaks it off with him after finding out some upsetting information. Bruce vows that Valerie owes him & he will come to collect.
Alex & Valerie have a lot of common friends but manage not to see each other for a year. Now they are thrown together when a wedding is going to take place between Alex's brother Angel & Valerie's cousin Sarah. After seeing Valerie at the wedding shower Alex realizes he must get her back & explain exactly what was happening the night that Valerie broke up with him.
Alex is a sexy lead male character. You like him right away but after the secret is out about the night they broke up you think how freaking stupid is this guy. He should have just been honest & they could have avoided this whole situation.
Bruce is now stalking Valerie & is not giving up on her. Bruce wants what Valerie owes him & what Bruce thinks Valerie owes him is sex. Bruce will take it if Val is not willing to give it.
Now with Alex back in her life Valerie has to find away to explain her ex Bruce & more recently her boss Luke which she dated briefly trying to get over Alex. Alex is not a Luke fan & hates that she has to work with him everyday.
Things get heated between Alex & Valerie, communication is what is needed in this relationship & both are keeping stupid things to themselves which is just going to push them further apart.
All in all this was a nice story with a little drama.
This is Alex & Valerie's story. Alex & Valerie have been off & on since high school. It was supposed to be a physically thing only but they both knew it was more than that. After Val finds Alex in a compromising position, Val breaks it off with Alex. Val is heartbroken & knows that she will never get over him. Val tries to get on with life & dates Bruce which is a huge mistake. Bruce is bad news. She breaks it off with him after finding out some upsetting information. Bruce vows that Valerie owes him & he will come to collect.
Alex & Valerie have a lot of common friends but manage not to see each other for a year. Now they are thrown together when a wedding is going to take place between Alex's brother Angel & Valerie's cousin Sarah. After seeing Valerie at the wedding shower Alex realizes he must get her back & explain exactly what was happening the night that Valerie broke up with him.
Alex is a sexy lead male character. You like him right away but after the secret is out about the night they broke up you think how freaking stupid is this guy. He should have just been honest & they could have avoided this whole situation.
Bruce is now stalking Valerie & is not giving up on her. Bruce wants what Valerie owes him & what Bruce thinks Valerie owes him is sex. Bruce will take it if Val is not willing to give it.
Now with Alex back in her life Valerie has to find away to explain her ex Bruce & more recently her boss Luke which she dated briefly trying to get over Alex. Alex is not a Luke fan & hates that she has to work with him everyday.
Things get heated between Alex & Valerie, communication is what is needed in this relationship & both are keeping stupid things to themselves which is just going to push them further apart.
All in all this was a nice story with a little drama.
June 29, 2012
Actually I would give this book 4.5 stars. I really loved this book. It have everything... suspense (& I mean, I actually screamed & through my kindle across the room), romance (smokin' hot alpha male), humor, drama, & everything else in between.
The best thing about writer Elizabeth Reyes is that she makes you really care for her characters. They are so realistic & fun, you feel like you know them in real life.
What I loved about this book: It wasn't a predictable book (which is my favorite thing). I also loved the hero & heroine, although, I did want to smack Alex upside the head once or twice. I loved how you got to see all the characters from the first book grown up. It was really fun to see what everyone was doing once they graduated high school & college. You also truly felt the tension between Alex & Z.
What I didn't like about this book: Not much. This book was very well written... another winner from Elizabeth Reyes.
If you love smokin' hot alpha males then you will love & I do mean LOVE this book. Excellent job Elizabeth... I just finished Sophie's story & have already started on book 4.
The best thing about writer Elizabeth Reyes is that she makes you really care for her characters. They are so realistic & fun, you feel like you know them in real life.
What I loved about this book: It wasn't a predictable book (which is my favorite thing). I also loved the hero & heroine, although, I did want to smack Alex upside the head once or twice. I loved how you got to see all the characters from the first book grown up. It was really fun to see what everyone was doing once they graduated high school & college. You also truly felt the tension between Alex & Z.
What I didn't like about this book: Not much. This book was very well written... another winner from Elizabeth Reyes.
If you love smokin' hot alpha males then you will love & I do mean LOVE this book. Excellent job Elizabeth... I just finished Sophie's story & have already started on book 4.
December 23, 2011
Hooray! No funky line breaks this time! No awkward spacing! A few typo's but nothing huge. It was so much easier for me to focus on the story through this book instead of all the strangeness with the format of the book itself. For those who read Forever Mine, you will probably be excited to know that you get some updates on Angel and Sarah and the rest of the crew. I felt like the flow of this book was MUCH smoother than its predecessor and the premise of the book was a lot stronger than that for Forever Mine. The characters are older and wiser and behave, mostly, as such. I adored Alex and I liked seeing a different side of Valerie. If you liked Forever Mine, you might just like Always Been Mine even more.
November 30, 2011
Once again i loved this book as i knew i would... The tension and desire between Alex and Valarie was unbearable i could not wait for Valarie to realise that she could not be without him and that Alex needed to get her back no matter what then when Valarie finally did realise there was no one else for her there was the problem of Luke oh and i loved the story line of Bruce the psycho...This was more erotic than the first one becuase they are older and it made me love it all the more...I love the passion the Moreno boys have for there woman, i love the jealousy and the fact that they would risk it all to protect them...I love this series
July 15, 2011
As with Forever Mine, I didn't like the possessiveness of the love interest but something about these boys draws me to them. Maybe that they are possessive only of those they love, and that they don't really give that love so easily. I don't know, but I liked to story and the writing.
I have to add:
the cover on both books, but especially this one, are TERRIBLE and i put off buying both for a long time for that reason alone! My God Ms Reyes, I BEG you to do something different for the next books! Stick with the black and white, that's fine, but come on! There are much better drool-worthy photos out there!
I have to add:
the cover on both books, but especially this one, are TERRIBLE and i put off buying both for a long time for that reason alone! My God Ms Reyes, I BEG you to do something different for the next books! Stick with the black and white, that's fine, but come on! There are much better drool-worthy photos out there!
April 5, 2016
MAJORLY FRUSTRATING! This is what I get for not reading reviews before picking up a book. The writing was okay but the characters were unlikable especially the h and her friend. Part of being a writer is using creativity to make a story interesting but the way angst was created in this book was so pointless. I like angst but not the kind that makes me dislike the main character. People just kept lying to each other and disregarding others feelings for NO reason. There was no good motive it was just a plot device to create tension and it was annoying. If I'd read review prior and saw all the 2 stars I would of known that but oh well you live and you learn.
June 3, 2011
Love me some Alex Moreno....yummy. Good second story, a little much for a YA book, more of a Twentysomething book!! The story was a little drawn out, but I liked the characters and I liked the conflict between Alex and Val. Who doesn't love a man to be so crazy in love with you he can't see straight. Keep them coming Elizabeth.
January 10, 2012
Emotional, steamy and even scary at times! Alex's story is another great read by Elizabeth Reyes. I saw many set-ups for the other books and it makes me excited to continue the story with the Moreno family. I loved Alex and Valerie, but Angel is still my favorite! Gotta love that Moreno pride and attitude!
May 27, 2013
The first book was a sweet teenage, low heat, romance, this one was more mature content. The only thing that I have to complain about is the Luke situation. It just got a little annoying after a while. Can't wait to read Sofie's story where we meet all of them when they were young and Sal's story seems like a good one too!
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