Sin's Haven

Sin Pointe #3

by Carlene Love

~Editor's Pick~

When Sin Pointe webmaster, Benjamin Wright, is publicly humiliated on his birthday, he knows he’s never gonna be able to show his face around the guys again. But an angelic hostess who lets him sleep it off at the club seems surprisingly eager to help him out. Is his luck changing or does she just feel sorry for him?

Hazel Temple, bagel mistress by day and club hostess by night, feels horrible for inadvertently playing a part in Ben’s embarrassment and vows to make it up to him—by telling him they had a sizzling hot one-night stand. Still recovering from losing her fiancé to suicide, she worries about Ben when he discovers her lie. Is she bound to hurt the men she cares about?

A Sin Pointe camping trip provides Hazel her chance to get Ben’s groove back.
Will her webmaster be the one to rock her world?

Genres: Contemporary

115 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 26, 2013

About the author

Carlene Love is a big fan of love, the stars, music and the ocean. These things inspire her intimate style of writing. Sharing her works with the world from the very special city of San Diego, California, she knows that time is one of the most valuable things a person can give these days and she thanks you from a humble heart for yours. She hopes this finds you happy, healthy, positive and passionate, and if not, that it finds you on your way there. Happy Reading.

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

***The author provided me with a copy of this book for my honest review***

Nice guys finish last has never been more true than in this book.
Benjamin Wright has been in love with the same girl for over six years. Unlucky in love because the girl doesn't really acknowledge his existence. After a foolish last ditch effort to win her affections ends in a horrible and humiliating birthday for him, he is looked after by Hazel.
Hazel is a woman defeated. Her fiancé committed suicide and she feels she failed him. Looking after Benjamin seems important to her......but there is also a connection there to explore.

This book started slowly for me.....the characters seemed juvenile and I really struggled. But I pushed through and I am glad I did as the characters grew on me as they grew themselves. Benjamin became very real to me and incredibly sweet. Super tall, long hair and by the sounds of things a bit of a hipster, maybe also a bit of a goof, he really managed to turn this book around for me. I started to care and really root for these two to finally get their turn at happiness. Although this is quite a short book at only 127 pages, I felt like it had an well paced story progression and a good happily ever after. A nice bit of passion ,the sex scenes were very well done. Not corny and not kinky, just right. Sin's Haven was a satisfying little romance.

[Gaele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this contemporary romance that is wholly focused on healing damaged souls, even when they are both doing everything in their power to not move forward. Carlene Love Flores has skillfully introduced characters who are dealing with the aftermath of suicide, and fighting the inherent guilt and questions that are omnipresent as they deal with the loss. Her care and concern, and ability to extend emotional angst into her characters as they come to grips with their loss and the overwhelming questions and self-doubts comes forward, as well as showing the grief and its paralytic grasp on forward motion for those left behind.

Ben is a bit of a fish out of water: holding a crush on a girl who would rather chase fame and fortune, and barely acknowledges his presence, he is the odd man out in the group of friends. The webmaster and techo-geek for the band Sin Pointe, all of the band members are paired up, and he is, six years in, not dating, no girlfriend and single. Hazel is approaching the year anniversary of her boyfriend’s death by his own hand, and while she has moments of starting to feel alive, most of her life is a dull haze, broken only by moments of overwhelming sorrow.

The interaction between these two is a series of tragi-comic errors and missteps, interference by his friends and some local thugs, and some moments where Ben may just not be the good guy who gets a girl. Yet his patience and perseverance pays off: we did know he spent six years without dating as he crushed on one woman, patience is his overwhelming virtue. Patiently he allows Hazel to see the ‘real’ him, the gentle and soft man who wants to care and cherish, and she starts to open up to him, learning to feel again.

Characters are beautifully crafted in this short novel: I have not read the others in the series, but I do think that a bit of background on the other players might have been helpful it is not necessary to enjoy these characters and their journey. With displays of genuine friendship and caring throughout the pages, a ton of heart and wrapping up the path to a happy ending with some sensual steamy moments, this is a story well worth the time to read, and a series that is being added to my tbr pile.

I received an eBook copy from the author for purpose of honest review for Tasty Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

[Lisa Filipe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, for my readers like me who are "Series Whores", I highly suggest reading the first two books in the Sin's Pointe Series first, because to be honest when I first started SIN'S HAVEN, I was a bit confused as to what I was jumping into, so I'd say read them in order, even though this is a standalone, I would still suggest it.





On to my thoughts...Benny...Sweet Benny!! That was my first though when the book first opened. My heart just went out to him, cause we all know the feeling of unrequited love...IT SUCKS!! And on his birthday...talk about stepping on someone's heart.





In comes Hazel, our heroine who has a need to "save" after the trauma of losing her fiancé to suicide. She falls for Benny the moment their eyes meet, I guess she see's something in him, maybe a kindred spirit...whatever it is...it's quite strong, and as the night progresses, Hazel feels the bond strengthen, maybe out of need to "save" or to just have that closeness with someone again.





Anyway....there is a misunderstanding and they see each other again, this time they both feel the pull of that "thing" that keeps them connected, and things escalate, only to have a cold water bomb dropped on them.





Since the book is so short, I don't want to give anymore away, but let's just say, they finally get together...and it truly made my heart feel so good to see these two "lost souls" find each other. Some might say it was a bit rushed towards the end, but I say, "When You Know, You Just Know", and Benny and Hazel just knew!!





So, check out the Complete Sin's Pointe Series, and get to know all the characters along with Benny and Hazel!!

[Kate Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been following this author and have read all the books in her Sin Pointe Novel series, as well as her other books, so I've grown attached to the characters in Flores' books. From the beginning in Sidewalk Flower, you come to love Benny.

I'm extremely pleased that Benny has found his "happily ever after" but most importantly his character development and how much of a man he is. Hazel is exactly what he needed!!

I'm looking forward to Flores' next book!

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by this author and I found it a truly sweet and interesting story.

[Mandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Our hero Ben is the webmaster for the band Sin Pointe. He is a bit of a quirky fellow. 6’5, long hair and the first night we meet him he is wearing really tight pants and a turquoise leopard shirt. And as you get to know him he is quite beta. He is shy and has no confidence when it comes to women. It’s been six years since he last went on a date. He is in lust with another singer named Erby Wells, whom he meets out at a bar one night. At this bar is our heroine Hazel. Her fiance committed suicide a year earlier, and she is still broken up about it. She is singing at the bar tonight to raise money for suicide prevention, and the member of Sin Pointe are there sponsoring the event. It is here Ben meets Hazel and there is a definite spark. It is also here that Erby embarrasses Ben and leaves for good. Ben gets totally drunk and falls asleep at this bar, while Hazel takes care of him.

The next day, Hazel leaves a note while Ben is still drunk saying something like – thanks for the amazing night. He thinks he slept with her and feels awful.

I’ll stop there with the set-up. A few things to note about this book. First of all, the first chapter is very confusing. I feel like we jump right into a situation and I had no idea what was happening or who the characters were. But I kept going and the next few chapters this book took on a very quirky tone – which I appreciated. Ben is such a different hero – down in the dumps, no self-esteem, shy, gentle. I liked him.

But I started to have a lot of problems. First, Hazel. Oh Hazel. She is still reeling from her fiance’s death and I never felt this subject was handled great by her. At one point she freaks out on Ben but they never have a big talk to discuss this suicide that happened in her life. This is a pivotal event in the book, but it needed to take the next step. This event would definitely affect her relationship with Ben and we needed to see that discussion.

Also, Hazel lets Ben believe they slept together for so long. I have said this a dozen times on this blog – I hate it when secrets are kept to create conflict for no reason! I don’t like it when secrets are kept that make the other person feel terrible when they actually did nothing wrong. And Hazel had many, many moments to tell Ben the note was fake. She did it to boost his self-esteem, but when she realizes it has the opposite effect she could have stopped it right then and there.

The end is very rushed with the I love you. It would have been better with a ‘happy for now’ ending.

I like the chance the author took with a quirky hero, but not a big fan of the story.

Rating: C-

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s Ben’s thirty-first birthday. He and everyone else in the Sin Pointe family have high hopes for him and the special girl who will be joining them. Unfortunately, things don’t turn our quite the way they expect. In fact, it ends up with Ben being broken-hearted and drunk. Normally this would be a sad ending except for the gorgeous singer/bagel server, Hazel, that performed for Ben’s birthday. There attraction is almost instant but their pasts hold them back from fully realizing the potential. Ben must move passed the six years of waiting for his girl and Hazel must move passed her ex-fiancee’s suicide. Can the two of them heal each other and monopolize on the connection they have or will a lie and some pain keep them apart?

I loved this book. This is another great addition to the Sin Pointe series. All of my favorite characters are back with lots of teasing for Ben. This book did seem shorter than the others though. I would have liked to have seen more especially since I am a huge Ben fan :). Hazel was the perfect girl for Ben. Her character had just the right amount of what Ben needs. Again, I felt we could have gone further into her story. When the story ended with the camping trip I was a bit disappointed and wanted to know more and only one steamy seen with Ben was just not enough for me. Overall, I loved this book and can’t wait for the next in the series. If you’ve been keeping up with Sin Pointe you will definitely want to pick up Ben and Hazel’s story.