DNF-- Dare You to Run (Unbroken Heroes #2) by Dawn Ryder

Things did not go well with me and Dare You to Run. I DNF-d at 33%. I usually try to make it to at least 50% but nothing had me engaged or even remotely enjoying it--characters, plot, sex scenes, etc. Basic gist is Vitus rescued Damascus and they got hit with a case of insta-lust/love but then are separated for years before coming back into each others lives... just as she's about to escape her father's clutches.

Alright so what didn't work.

DNF/ 1 star-- How to Handle a Scandal (The Scandalous Sisters #2) by Emily Greenwood

< There will be spoilers for this one >

Oooo! I love a second chance romance trope. Plus the gorgeous cover? Totally in.

Aaaaaand DNFd at the midway point.

The quick of it is that when they were young Tommy proposed and Lizzie...laughed. She was young and stupid and hurt him badly which sent him off to India for years. He's come home for a visit a hardened man. A hero. And someone who had little interest in the flighty girl who hurt him years earlier even if everyone claims she's changed.

1 star/DNF--How to Wrangle a Cowboy (Cowboys of Decker Ranch #3) by Joanne Kennedy

Cowboys! I love cowboys. And I was kind of digging the set up on this one. After her long estranged grand dad passed away Lindsey's come back home for the funeral only to find out she's now the new owner of a sprawling family ranch. Even worse? She's gotta deal with the ranch foreman who just rubs her wrong. She's sure he's trying to con her grandmom. And his feelings aren't much more friendly towards her and her intentions. That could totally lead to some fiery interactions, right?

Alright, despite a set up I would typically enjoy and a single daddy hero (total sucker for those!) How to Wrangle a Cowboy turned out to be a DNF at the 50% mark. There were just too many things I couldn't get past that landed it in the meh category.

Alright so...

and then there was a sad...a couple dnfs--The Perfect Stranger, The Unleashing, Sharp Shootin' Cowboy

Alas, sometimes a dnf happens. Here are a few that were misses for me.

DNF: Better Homes and Hauntings by Molly Harper

When Nina Linden is hired to landscape a private island off the New England coast, she sees it as her chance to rebuild her failing business after being cheated by her unscrupulous ex. She never expects that her new client, software mogul Deacon Whitney, would see more in her than just a talented gardener. Deacon has paid top dollar to the crews he’s hired to renovate the desolate Whitney estate—he had to, because the bumps, thumps, and unexplained sightings of ghostly figures in nineteenth-century dress are driving workers away faster than he can say “Boo.”

But Nina shows no signs of being scared away, even as she experiences some unnerving apparitions herself. And as the two of them work closely together to restore the mansion’s faded glory, Deacon realizes that he’s found someone who doesn’t seem to like his fortune more than himself—while Nina may have finally found the one man she can trust with her bruised and battered heart.

But something on the island doesn’t believe in true love…and if Nina and Deacon can’t figure out how to put these angry spirits to rest, their own love doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance.

Type: Contemporary Romance/Light para
Heat: None by the time I quit
Rating: DNF

Amazon | All Romance | Book Depository | BAM | Goodreads

And can't believe I'm saying this but I ended up calling it quits on Better Homes and Hauntings. I usually love Harper and her quirky characters/storylines but just couldn't get into this one at all.

DNF--After The Storm (KGI #8) by Maya Banks

Over the years, Donovan Kelly has fought relentlessly for justice, women and children always holding a special place in his heart. Working side by side with his brothers, Donovan has witnessed firsthand the toll it’s taken—physically, mentally, and emotionally—on his loved ones, and the innocent lives caught in the crossfire. What he never expects is for his next mission to happen right on his home turf—or for it to take a very personal turn.

Picturesque Kentucky Lake is the perfect place for a soul in search of safe harbor. A beautiful stranger has arrived—desperate, breathless, and on the run from a dark past closing in on her and the younger siblings she has vowed to protect. Donovan must now draw on every resource at his disposal—if he wants to save a woman and the children who may prove to be his destiny.

Type: Romantic Suspense
Heat: N/A tension but nothing at point of DNF
Rating: DNF/1 star out of 5

Amazon | Goodreads

So. Yall know, I love me some Kelly brothers. Absolutely love them. These guys are pretty much everything I look for in a hero or fictional family. I'm always pretty damn excited when a new one hits the shelves. So it's pretty incredible for me to actually be typing this but After the Storm has joined the minuscule list of books I've DNF'd.

There were things I liked, of course. I mean, it's the Kelly family, hello! They're amazing! Sexy and alpha and all make-a-girl-swoon amazing. And there were some nice scenes at the beginning that really had my heart pounding. But it was the romance that had me calling this one quits by the 50% mark.