Design: 4.7

Suck me in with those eyes, why don’t you?!? The cover model depicting Brady, HELLO!!! Those eyes are magnetic – you have no choice but to be sucked right in! Those Carribean blue-green eyes “pop” right out, aided of course by the same color of the title word “Defiant” below it. Smartly played by Walsh’s graphic designer, smartly played! The cover model is fantastic, the stance, the look, the setting – it’s all perfect. The fonts and placement of the book’s title is really fun. That said, it is all just about perfect… my only “critique” (if you can even call it that) is such a nit-pick item, buuuuuut the size of Brighton’s name is just so overpowering. If anything, the book’s title should have been that size and her name should have been the size of the title as it is now… the size of her name kind of steals the focus a little bit – competing for the viewer’s attention – and the attention should be on the image and title more than anything. The author’s name should be tertiary to the other two elements. I would have loved to have seen the cover exactly as is, just with Brighton’s name like 60% of the current size. I mean, I guess this is following the format of her newer-designed books (her name displayed in this format and this size), but if you go back, her name used to be on one line (opposed to two lines here) at the bottom and I just think that would have been more fitting here. But aside from this one critique, I think the design of this book is fantastic!

Review: 4.5

This book was the perfect reminder of why I love me a good Brighton Walsh novel: she is the Queen of Sexy, Sultry and Sweet. Now, it was hard for me to leave her previous novels that took place in Havenbrook and go to Maine for this one, but DEFIANT HEART is the start of another great series by Walsh. She has set us up with a plethora of characters and has already laid the groundwork for this cute and close-knit Maine coastal town. Well played, Brighton, well played. You’ve got us hook-line-and-sinker ready for the next few stories – like Brady’s one brother who keeps to himself, what’s up with that – what’s his story?

My two favorite things about Walsh’s writing revolve around her level of detail – she literally makes you feel that you are in the middle of her story no matter where it takes place – her writing completely immerses you in both time, space and place. Pair that with how everything is so seemingly real, and often sweet, and then BAM! She hits you with her sexy and sultry scenes. And they are everything .. like e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! This book is all of that. Such a typical Brighton Walsh move – and I love it.

This was one of Brighton’s lighter reads – the content wasn’t as deep or heavy as some of her other stories have been, but it was refreshing. Sure Luna and Brady, the main characters, had faced some adversity, challenges, and even loss, and that in turn has affected who they are as people – but it didn’t overpower the book or story. The setup of the characters and story were seamless, but of course, this is a Brighton Walsh book after all! For me the best part of this book was the attraction and the moment “they give in” … when Walsh takes us from sweet – the anticipation we’ve all had and been waiting on with baited breath – and we all give in together, and then she takes us over the edge and cranks the shit out of the sexy and sultry knob and the heat just sores! Pheww. Did we just step into a sauna, because it got hot in here. But that’s what I love about Walsh’s writing, and somehow she catches me off guard every-single-time! Like, at this point, how is it still a surprise to me? I have read all of her books (multiple times at this point), yet she always catches me by surprise when she turns that sultry and sexy knob. I think I blame her great writing for that: she has me so captivated by her story that all other preconceived notions or stories along with things you might be anticipating have just long disappeared.

Another stellar HEA story by the Queen of Sexy, Sultry and Sweet. Hats off to Brighton on yet another fantastic story – I very much look forward to the second book.

Amazon excerpt:

I’ve slapped my cuffs on Luna Lancaster too many times to count and not a single one was for fun.

As the sheriff of Starlight Cove, I shouldn’t crave her, but I do. She’s chaos, mayhem, and sunshine wrapped up in too-tight yoga pants. The lawbreaker might have the town enamored with her free spirit, but she’s a thorn in my side, even if she is the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.

I want her out of my town and out of my head.

Trouble is, she’s made it perfectly clear she’s not going anywhere. And her spree of minor infractions—who runs a yoga class without a license?—is hitting dangerously close to home. Her latest protest has her chained to a tree on the boundary of my family’s resort. The last thing we need is bad press ruining the short tourism season when the resort is already one bad month away from bankruptcy.

I’ll do whatever it takes to save Starlight Cove. Even if that means handcuffing Luna to my bed.