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Under Open Skies #1
Scarred
Mackenzie fights to forget the life she left behind, but she can’t hide from the memory of the one man who forced her to run.
Thane's Story (Scarred).
When Mackenzie leaves New York City and returns home, she expects the small-town life will offer her a fresh start and a new career as a local reporter and financial adviser for the tiny area newspaper. But Mayville is nothing like the big apple, where she can hide from her past within a city of millions.
Going home means facing the man who crushed her dreams and broke her heart all those years ago.
Thane left home in a whirlwind to heal from Mackenzie's betrayal, but a tragic accident has him right back in Mayville. Mackenzie stumbles back into his life, and Thane is determined to make her his once and for all.
But to convince Mackenzie to stay, Thane must confront the scars of his past.
Thane's Story (Scarred).
When Mackenzie leaves New York City and returns home, she expects the small-town life will offer her a fresh start and a new career as a local reporter and financial adviser for the tiny area newspaper. But Mayville is nothing like the big apple, where she can hide from her past within a city of millions.
Going home means facing the man who crushed her dreams and broke her heart all those years ago.
Thane left home in a whirlwind to heal from Mackenzie's betrayal, but a tragic accident has him right back in Mayville. Mackenzie stumbles back into his life, and Thane is determined to make her his once and for all.
But to convince Mackenzie to stay, Thane must confront the scars of his past.
262 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 14, 2014
18 people are currently reading
207 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 19, 2015
1.5 on this one. I'm still unclear on what I just read. It wasn't HORRIBLE it just wasn't cohesive to me and the characters didn't connect for me.
May 22, 2017
I had high hopes for this book, but it ended up just dragging on. I had to skim through the last 20% of it. There wasn't much of a climax. Thinking back, I don't really remember what the point of the book even was. There may have been some minor twists, but they weren't exciting enough for me to consider the story to be twist-worthy. I expected Mack to put up more of a fight towards Thane, given the condition their relationship was in when she left, but it was nothing too exciting. It seemed to just fall back into their usual routine. There was some steam. A lot of the scenes faded out before it got to the good stuff, unfortunately. Overall, I didn't really find anything special about this story, but I was able to make it through the whole book!
September 16, 2014
The first line in the book description talks about "the man who forced her to run", right? At no point is that ever explained. How did Thane force Mackenzie to run? Based on what I read, she felt smothered by the country, wanted him to go with her to the city, he didn't want to, so she left. How is that forcing her to run?
Mackenzie returns home to learn the grandmother who hated Thane (the "hero") suddenly thinks he hung the moon. The scars he has are on his back, and while they're bad, they conveniently didn't mar his face or chest. And in case you're wondering why I used quotes around the word hero, my reason is simple. This guy is one unibrow away from being a Neanderthal. On at least two occasions, he picks Mackenzie up and "throws her into his truck." Those are the author's words, not mine. He blows hot and cold and tells Mackenzie (regarding the many jealous women in town), "I am a man, M. I am not going to change." He says the same thing about being in fights, because, you know, bar fights and indiscriminate sex make one a man. There's strong, alpha male, and then there's misogynistic horse's behind.
Now let's talk about grammar and punctuation. The author uses the word anyways (anyway), would of (would've), and other literary jewels throughout the book. She really needs to research comma usage versus ellipses to indicate a pause in thought or conversation. And don't even get me started on the stilted dialogue. Is that really how people in the Midwest talk? Has she never heard of a contraction? "I am a man." "I will take you where I want to." "You will come with me."
Flat characters, under-developed plot, poor grammar, stilted dialogue, and a lack of editing all add up to a bad book. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
Mackenzie returns home to learn the grandmother who hated Thane (the "hero") suddenly thinks he hung the moon. The scars he has are on his back, and while they're bad, they conveniently didn't mar his face or chest. And in case you're wondering why I used quotes around the word hero, my reason is simple. This guy is one unibrow away from being a Neanderthal. On at least two occasions, he picks Mackenzie up and "throws her into his truck." Those are the author's words, not mine. He blows hot and cold and tells Mackenzie (regarding the many jealous women in town), "I am a man, M. I am not going to change." He says the same thing about being in fights, because, you know, bar fights and indiscriminate sex make one a man. There's strong, alpha male, and then there's misogynistic horse's behind.
Now let's talk about grammar and punctuation. The author uses the word anyways (anyway), would of (would've), and other literary jewels throughout the book. She really needs to research comma usage versus ellipses to indicate a pause in thought or conversation. And don't even get me started on the stilted dialogue. Is that really how people in the Midwest talk? Has she never heard of a contraction? "I am a man." "I will take you where I want to." "You will come with me."
Flat characters, under-developed plot, poor grammar, stilted dialogue, and a lack of editing all add up to a bad book. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
August 23, 2014
This was good for a free download. I read the prequel first and really liked it and then immediately read Scarred. The Thane in the prequel seemed different from the Thane in the story. I don't know if the prequel was written first or as an afterthought to book 1. I'm not sure if reading the prequel helped or hurt to be honest. With the differences in Thanes character it almost made it confusing. I liked having the back ground of Thane, but having the prequel in his POV made me hungry for more of his pov in the main book.
This book would have been so much better if it had been multi pov. There were so many times through out this book I wanted to hear Thanes thoughts and feelings. This was lacking in that respect. I am a multi pov enthusiast and find most books without it, lacking.
There were also continuity errors and missing words that the content editor in me cringed over. I would loved to have gotten my hands on this before it was published to polish it up.
All in all, I liked it. This was about second chances. It did give me a few Aaaawwww moments but no heart twinges. This was a really short read, only took me maybe 3 hours or so (including the prequel). One thing that kept popping up that I found odd, during the romance/sex scenes, kept repeating "ghost touch" There are so many other things that could have been used in place of that. But I guess that is just me nit picking. Who knows.
So anyway.......
Would I recommend this book? Yes
Would I read more from this author? Yes I think so.
This book would have been so much better if it had been multi pov. There were so many times through out this book I wanted to hear Thanes thoughts and feelings. This was lacking in that respect. I am a multi pov enthusiast and find most books without it, lacking.
There were also continuity errors and missing words that the content editor in me cringed over. I would loved to have gotten my hands on this before it was published to polish it up.
All in all, I liked it. This was about second chances. It did give me a few Aaaawwww moments but no heart twinges. This was a really short read, only took me maybe 3 hours or so (including the prequel). One thing that kept popping up that I found odd, during the romance/sex scenes, kept repeating "ghost touch" There are so many other things that could have been used in place of that. But I guess that is just me nit picking. Who knows.
So anyway.......
Would I recommend this book? Yes
Would I read more from this author? Yes I think so.
August 26, 2014
Well I finished it...
No offense to the author, but I really had to make myself finish this one. I actually feel a tad bit let down after reading the prequel to this book, because it was so good. I now understand why a few of the reviews state they didn't like the heroine, I tried but she really irked me. Her constant complaining about the hero running hot and cold, when in reality it seemed to be her tqhat was so on/off, ugh just annoying. I'd also like say that perhaps a better proofreader and editor can be sought, because I don't know if Nana is in her 50's or 60's, or if all the girls and their mom died in the fire or just the mom. Is it possible that someone can tell me what's with all the 'I'm gonna spank you/you need a spanking' dialogue? You know men in these books can be alpha males without having to paddle the heroine all the time. I've also got to be honest and say the book just didn't flow as sell as it could have, it's like we have a little bit of a storyline, and then sex. After that the heroine going 'Oh woe is me, he's so bad but I don't deserve him, but I want him to be bad, oh why won't he let me in'..... I'm rooting for your next book to be better, maybe hook up the best friend Katie and Clayton the cowboy, more romance less spanky spunky!
No offense to the author, but I really had to make myself finish this one. I actually feel a tad bit let down after reading the prequel to this book, because it was so good. I now understand why a few of the reviews state they didn't like the heroine, I tried but she really irked me. Her constant complaining about the hero running hot and cold, when in reality it seemed to be her tqhat was so on/off, ugh just annoying. I'd also like say that perhaps a better proofreader and editor can be sought, because I don't know if Nana is in her 50's or 60's, or if all the girls and their mom died in the fire or just the mom. Is it possible that someone can tell me what's with all the 'I'm gonna spank you/you need a spanking' dialogue? You know men in these books can be alpha males without having to paddle the heroine all the time. I've also got to be honest and say the book just didn't flow as sell as it could have, it's like we have a little bit of a storyline, and then sex. After that the heroine going 'Oh woe is me, he's so bad but I don't deserve him, but I want him to be bad, oh why won't he let me in'..... I'm rooting for your next book to be better, maybe hook up the best friend Katie and Clayton the cowboy, more romance less spanky spunky!
August 28, 2014
Thane that boy sure has a damn temper, "I don't want your effing help right now, M. I just want to get these damn sheep and get going, so we can get right back here, so I can dump your a** off." He's very alpha male, "he gripped her tight as he wrapped his arm around the small of her waist. "I told you I had plans for you tonight. You are coming home with me." Thane peeled out of the driveway and set off down the dirt road." He also likes to make sure he gets his sugar from his woman, "he crossed the room and grabbed her, his strong arms pulling her into his chest as he looked down at her. "I ain't goin' nowhere until you look up at me and kiss me." I enjoyed this book a lot I loved Thane.
August 27, 2014
Sadly, I could not connect with the characters. Half the time I didn't understand what motivated Thane and/or Mackenzie to act the way they did. Thane seemed more of a bully than a damaged, hurt alpha male. Many times, he sounded abusive in how he addressed Mackenzie. I can take pretty much from an alpha male, but this one did not work. The story seemed disjointed and lacked characterization. There was promise in Thane's story, but this one fell very flat. 1.5 stars.
September 6, 2014
Wow. This was not a man blowing "hot and cold" as the "heroine" put it. This was a man that was verbally abusive. If someone screamed and cursed at me as much as Thane did Mack, I'd kick him in the nads and walk away. And maybe I'm old fashioned (even if I do like kink), but for me, it's not okay to sleep with one guy but date another guy. Unless it turns into a good ménage. And I'm sure this wouldn't have. Another DNF for me.
October 7, 2014
Meh.....I read the prequal, and started to get into the main book. It started off well enough, but became a bit predictable quickly. I have a real problem with grammer errors and missing or mis used words, and there were a lot in this book. It was ok, a quick read, but nothing to go out of your way for. I've actually picked up another KS book, so we'll see if things improve. I'm willing to try again, but god help me, I hope this author found a better editor.
February 7, 2015
I wish there was an explanation to what caused her to run and why she was forced (little neglected by the author on this one...) Overall an ok story just I wasn't thrilled with the execution on how the story was told.. as well as the on again off again odd behavior of the heroine I found to be annoying.
3 stars
3 stars
April 12, 2015
Good book.
The book was a good read. After I finished the book I still had a lot of unanswered questions. Thane was a hard characters to like, don't get me wrong I was cheating for them to be together. I would probably read another book from her.
The book was a good read. After I finished the book I still had a lot of unanswered questions. Thane was a hard characters to like, don't get me wrong I was cheating for them to be together. I would probably read another book from her.
dnf-gave-up-on-gave-away
August 23, 2014DNF.
Just couldn't get into it.
Just couldn't get into it.
Did Not Finish
August 24, 2014DNF. Writing was too choppy and storyline was all over the place.
August 25, 2014
2.5 Stars
I thought the ending was pretty abrupt.
I thought the ending was pretty abrupt.
Read
August 29, 2014struggled with this and gave up at approx 20 %!
Read
September 10, 2014DNF....hated the heroine. Disliked the hero.
October 5, 2014
This was pretty good. I just had a bit of trouble with the back and forth between the leads. It could had used a bit more editing to help the story flow better. JMHO
October 30, 2014
4 stars. Thane a beautiful man, have went through a great ordeal. Mackenzie, that wench, ooh I wanted to hurt her. I gave 4 stars because of Thane. Mackenzie nada.
April 7, 2016
Lame! Feel like In reading the first version of the movie Hope Floats.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews