Location: Canada
Member Since: July 18, 2013

Jo-Anne Boyko

Smashwords book reviews by Jo-Anne Boyko

  • Musk Creek on Sep. 02, 2013

    Musk Creek is a crime novel about murders and drug labs/sales in Australia. Sargent Lewis McBride is a homicide detective trying to solve the murder which he finds out is connected to the drug trade and the crimes involved with it also. This is a fast paced story that kept me wondering all the way through - who actually did it. Lots of characters were involved in the story in both the crimes as well as the Police force "solvers". The character descriptions were very detailed and well written. Kettle even described the secondary characters in detail so that I felt I knew them well.
  • First Strike on Nov. 08, 2013

    Laura Nilsson is a news reporter who covers news in dangerous situations in countries very different from North America. Javier Corbray is a handsome special operations Navy SEAL on a weekend leave. First Strike is the erotic prequel to Striking Distance and tells us how Javier and Laura met. They were at a restaurant in Dubai when two men approached Laura and would not leave. Being a SEAL Javier felt had to help Laura by getting rid of the men. Javier and Laura end up having a drink and talking a bit. They decide to have sex - no strings attached. This was tricky for them because in Dubai there are laws that unmarried men and women cannot be alone together so they had to be very careful. At the end of the weekend, they leave each other as agreed but both are thinking that they will find the other someday. Then there is the epilogue which is two months later and tells us something awful happens to Laura. Javier swears he will get back at the ones responsible. Definitely a cliff hanger ending. I won this book in a giveaway from Blithely Bookish Blog.
  • What the Doctor Didn't Tell Her: A Medical Romance Novelette on Nov. 16, 2013

    Daniel Durand and Sarah Matthews had a romantic relationship during their medical training. However, Daniel left suddenly without telling Sarah that he was going or why. After six years with no word from him, Daniel comes back to town and takes a job in the same medical group as Sarah. When he moves back to this little town, he has a little girl with him. What The Doctor Didn't Tell Her was a terrific story and Diamond is a terrific story teller. The story was drawn in such a way that I felt I could walk down the street or go into the hospital and know my way. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I didn't want this novella to end. But there really wasn't anything else to know since the author answered all the reader's questions. It had a great ending with a wonderful twist. I really liked that the story wasn't predictable. I will definitly be reading more by this author.
  • Father Found on Nov. 29, 2013

    Jamie finds an infant on his back porch with a note saying the baby is his. He is a bachelor that doesn't have a clue what to do with a baby. He found out that a nurse runs a weekly class called the Daddy School so he attends thinking he will find out what he is suppose to being doing for his new daughter. Allison is the nurse giving the class and there is instant chemistry when Jamie and Allison meet. I loved Jamie's character. He is the 'ultimate guy' and writes a weekly humorous column about men. Even though he is way out of his depth in looking after his baby, he tries so hard that you just have to love him. Allison was not so nice. She was so judgmental about Jamie and how he came to be a parent that I couldn't connect with her at all. I wanted to give her a shake but shaking a book really doesn't do much good! I enjoyed the novel. It was an easy read and it had me laughing, crying and angry at times which I liked so much.
  • Mistletoe Mischief (Romancing Wisconsin Series #1) on Dec. 13, 2013

    Mistletoe Mischief is a short, fun read that is about the zoo having a "Christmas in July" day. It could really be read at any time, not just at Christmas. Marissa was dropping her daughter, Heather, off for a day camp trip to the zoo when she found out that some of the chaperoning parents did not show up. She agreed to go on the trip even though she wasn't dressed for it, in order to not let her daughter down. One of the no-show parents arrives late and Marissa is pretty angry at him because she imagines he is like her ex who doesn't spend much time with Heather. Eric is the late arriving parent and is also divorced. He would love to have his daughter, Reese, more often but his ex-wife will not allow it. Going on the zoo trip is just as important to him as it is to his daughter so he is bothered by being late. He is attracted to Marissa and feels she is interested in him too but she goes back and forth with being angry at him and then nice to him. Lucky for Eric, Santa Butch is a big help in the match making department. The author made the characters very real so we got to know them. I liked that they weren't always perfect. Marissa was pretty nasty to Eric at the beginning because of her misunderstanding of his personality. The secondary characters were well developed and helped the story along without taking away from the main characters. This was a cute romance that left me smiling. I would have liked the misunderstandings between Marissa and Eric to have been straightened out sooner. Terrific ending to this story.
  • Bah, Humbug! (A Romantic Comedy Christmas Novella) on Dec. 16, 2013

    Lexi is divorced with two children and has a decorating show on TV. She buys a house on Christmas Street and moves in just before Christmas. Lexi immediately decorates for the holiday, both inside and out. One of her decorations is a snowman which she builds on the property line between her and her new neighbor. Kyle is a famous author and her neighbor. Lexi first meets him when he is taking the head off her snowman, but she doesn't know who he is - just a snowman murderer. Kyle is pretty grumpy and doesn't like Christmas - or almost anything. Kyle's brothers remind him that it is his turn to host their family Christmas but he says he can't because he is on a deadline. This is a very difficult time of year for Kyle's family because their mother passed away on Christmas Eve over twenty years earlier. Finally, Lexi and Kyle meet for real and Lexi makes a deal with Kyle that if he will go to her son's birthday party, she will handle all the Christmas decorating and meals for Kyle's family's Christmas festivities. I loved this book and didn't want to put down. I thought the writing was really good and the characters were wonderfully written. Even though Kyle wasn't likable at the beginning, he turned out to be a good guy. Even Lexi loosened up as the story progressed. The author did a great job with having a lot happen in such a short story and a short time frame. This was a great, quick Christmas read and I highly recommend it.
  • Crime at Cripple Creek (The Sisters Week Series #1) on Dec. 19, 2013

    Beth lives in Atlanta and is flying to Cripple Creek, Colorado for a vacation with her two sisters. They go on vacation together often and have a great time being silly and laughing at each other. On the plane she meets Tyler who is an attractive FBI agent, also going to Cripple Creek on vacation. It has an interesting story line with romantic and suspenseful scenes. Better editing would have made a big difference in how much I enjoyed it.
  • Second Chance Cowboy on Dec. 28, 2013

    Carly and Chance Taylor have been separated for two years when Carly goes back to her father's home for a visit and ends up having sex with her ex-husband. She falls down the stairs and gets amnesia - losing the last four years of her life. She doesn't remember that she had left her husband and lost her baby. Chance feels he has to play along with Carly's memories (or lack of) for her own good, so he pretends to still be married to her. He never stopped loving her. I have great respect for authors who do their research before writing fictional work based on fact. Rhonda Carver definitely researched amnesia patients. I could relate to Carly's injury since I had a head injury several years ago. While I didn't have amnesia, I did lose memories, especially unpleasant memories. So it made sense to me that Carly did not remember the death of their child or leaving her husband. I liked the writing style of the author very much, it flows smoothly and keeps you turning the pages. I absolutely love the characters in this novel. Chance is such a strong individual who was stuck in a situation that he could not change or control.
  • Worth The Weight (Worth Series Book 1) on April 16, 2014

    Liz has her own successful PR firm in Detroit where most of her clients are well known athletes. She had gained a lot of weight after school and worked hard to lose it in the last three years. One of the things she wanted to do now was to Find, F*^% and Forget Finn Robbins who she was in-love with when she was a teenager, but he broke up with her, leaving her heart broken. She goes back to that small town to stay with her parents for two months so she can carry out "The Plan" with Finn. Liz wants to complete "The Plan" for two reasons. To get Finn out of her system and to try out her new body before finding the real relationship. Finn's life has not been easy in the 15 years since he has seen Liz. His alcoholic wife left him and his two children and his 10 year old daughter is in a wheelchair with a spinal problem. Surgery may help her problem so Finn has constantly struggled to save money for the surgery. Also, he had to give up his career dreams for his family. What Finn thought was an accidental meeting with Liz was actually set up as part of "The Plan" but when they get together things don't go the way Liz expected. She didn't expect to fall in love with Finn again. I liked the character development and thought it was very well done. While I didn't like Liz's "Plan", I did like her and how she was so kind to everyone - except for what she planned on doing to Finn. Finn was a really nice guy and tried to provide for his family. He always felt like he came from the wrong side of town and was never good enough for Liz so getting rid of the chip on his shoulder was not easy. He had a lot of problems in his life but dealt with them. Finn's son, daughter and grandmother were great additions in this story. They helped show the strength of Finn's character. I really liked this book and thought the ending was terrific. I highly recommend it.
  • More Than the Doctor Ordered on Sep. 27, 2014

    Mimsy Miles found her job as the only doctor in the small town of Nowhere, Texas is not nearly as challenging as she hoped her career would be. Her patients have only minor colds and scrapes for her to handle until Lucas comes to town on his motorcycle and is forced off the road. The doctor is glad to finally have a patient who needs her expertice in dealing with his injuries. She quickly determines that he has amnesia (or does he) from the accident and needs constant supervision so she has him stay in her extra bedroom so she can keep an eye on him. I loved this well written story. I liked how Mimsy did her job well even though she wasn't challenged by it. She is almost happy when an actual epidemic hits the town so that she can use her medical skills to control it and determine the cause. Lucas was a fun character. He had a secret and was constantly worried that it would be found out. He realized that he had fallen for the doctor but tried to hide his feelings knowing he was not staying in town. He was a big help in town whenever needed, but his amnesia was a problem. Please note I received a complementary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I highly recommend More Than The Doctor Ordered.