Release Day Reviews ~ Bad Habit (Bad in Baltimore Book 6 ) by K.A. Mitchell (Series Review+Giveaway)

Release Day Reviews ~ Bad Habit (Bad in Baltimore Book 6) by K.A. Mitchell

Title: Bad Habit

Series: Bad in Baltimore: Book 6 

Author: K.A. Mitchell 

Release Date: November 6, 2018 

Category: Contemporary 

Pages: 221 

Dreamspinner

Life is always looking for ways to screw you over. Scott McDermott survived the foster care system and knows better than to let anyone close, but Liam Walsh is his one vulnerability.

Twice Scott let down his guard, and twice Liam vanished from Scott’s life.

So when Scott comes face-to-face with Liam for the first time in six years, he punches Liam in the nose. Only after Scott’s friend—and Baltimore County police officer—Jamie reads him the riot act does Scott discover that in the intervening years Liam has been to war and lost his leg.

Liam hasn’t had the easiest life either. He took care of his drug-addicted mom when she was unable to take care of herself. He’s fallen in love with Scott twice, but when Liam saw Scott going down the same path as his mother, he left. The lesson that he can’t save everyone has been a painful one for Liam to learn. Maybe what he and Scott had can’t ever be fixed.

Scott and Liam have never fallen out of love—which becomes obvious when they start working together—but what will make this time any different from all the others? Will the third time really be a charm?

4.5 Stars

I haven’t read all the books in this series because not all the themes, BDSM and whatnot, appeal to me, but for the most part, the ones I have read, I’ve really enjoyed and Bad Habit was no exception.

Truthfully, I wasn’t so sure I’d like it at first. Scott seems like a complete ass, well, okay he kinda is an ass, and Liam has a boyfriend, so I almost closed the book, but I’m glad I decided to stick it out. While, as I said, Scott is an ass, there was also something endearing about him that touched me and his backstory, both of their backstories really, were heartbreaking. Together these two men set the pages of my iPad on fire. Their chemistry was explosive and even with Scott being rough around the edges, they were perfect together and complimented one another.

Like the rest of the stories in the series that I’ve read, the story was emotional, but it’s filled with comic relief that had me chuckling out loud as well. I loved getting to catch up with some of the previous couples and I’m looking forward to seeing more of all of these guys in future installments.

This was a well-written and enjoyable read and as much as I wanted a happy ending for Scott and Liam, I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to them yet. Definitely recommendable!!

*copy provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review*

4.5 Stars

KA Mitchell ups the ante in this installment to the Bad in Baltimore series. Bad Habit is a second-chance love story about Scott and Liam. They met as teenagers and quickly became best friends and lovers. Their love was found in the foster care system due to the serious abandonment and neglect they suffered as children. These two were two halves of a perfectly imperfect whole. Unfortunately, being perfectly imperfect, they stumbled on their way to a happily ever after and were apart for many years. When they literally stumble upon each other unexpectedly, the sparks do fly.

What I think I liked the most about this book is the angst. It wasn’t the torturous, never-ending should I or shouldn’t I often found in second-chance romances. Instead, it was gritty and real as these two realized early-on that their love hadn’t died after so many years apart and difficult struggles. In the end, they didn’t let anything, including their pride or family dramas, get in the way of that intense love. I was surprised how two characters that were so utterly broken by their childhoods, past mistakes and physical disabilities, were so able to get out of their own ways for love.

The angst was balanced so well by the snarky banter between Scott and Liam, which provided much needed comic relief from heavy subject matter. And the chemistry between these two is off the charts hot! This is so well-written.

I usually am not a fan of how long the books in this series are, but this one felt like the right length. It told a beautiful love story and there was no real lull or break in the “action”. In fact, I think I would’ve appreciated more of a glimpse into how it turns out for Scott and Liam, not to mention David and Tai, even Silver and Zed.

*copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review*
  

~Bad Company: 4 stars~

This was a sweet and slow burn book with a bit of sass and banter that kept things going. Nate is fairly grumpy and a bit cynical so when Kellan jumps back into his life after so long, he pretty much has no clue what to do. Kellan is genuine, a little clueless at first but that changes drastically from the beginning to the end of the book. There is a lot of character development between both MCs but we really see Kellan's growth a lot by the end.

Even though Nate was a little grumpy I still really liked his character. He was a good guy and did not seem to really believe that him and Kellan could be together. It was fun to read Kellan put him in his place a little for that and convince Nate to take a chance on them.

The writing in this story and the internal dialogue was incredibly honest. The writing was very authentic to me and I felt like I was reading a real story about real people. It was easy to connect to this book because of that. This story ends in a HFN so I really hope to see more of them in future books. I also loved Eli and cannot wait for his book next!

~Bad Boyfriend: 4.5 stars~

The first chapter of this book was like a punch to the gut. I had so many dang feelings about what Quinn's boyfriend did to him. And after that chapter, I NEEDED him to get his HEA. And then we get to chapter two and the first interaction between Quinn and Eli and it was HOT HOT HOT. Also, Eli is pure gold of a main character. He is funny and sassy but loyal and sweet.

I like my books with a little bit of drama and the jerk of an ex-boyfriend in this book gave us just enough. I actually liked that storyline and appreciated the end when there was some closure from that entire situation. Eli was a bit of a firecracker so he handled all of the drama perfectly! I adored him as a MC. Quinn was a solid person and easy to like and understand. It was sweet how they both immediately turned to protect each other when confronted with the drama in this book. It was nice to see the small signs of them connecting on a deeper level. I was so sad when this book ended! I want more from it and I really hope we get to see a bit of them in the next book!

~Bad Attitude: 4 stars~

I very much loved grumpy Jamie. I actually read book 5 in this series first so I had already met Jamie and Gavin. I knew I wanted to read their story because Jamie is just as grumpy, if not grumpier in that book so I wanted to see him connect with Gavin. This author does a great job of writing steamy af sex scenes. Jamie and Gavin were very much on fire when it came to their sex scenes. Gavin was the perfect match for Jamie. They were both closed off to a degree but I think that it helped them to get closer without either of them running from their connection.

One thing that I really wanted from this book was for Jamie to really unfold his past and confide in Gavin about it. I also wanted to see some interaction with Jamie and Gavin's family after they got together. These books end mostly with a HFN but it is clear that we get to see them move into their HEAs in the following books in the series. It was great to see the characters from the previous books. We also get the teaser appearances from new characters that make me want their story!

~Bad Influence: 4 stars~

This book was different than the previous books in this series in that we only get Silver's POV rather than Zeb's too. I usually want dual POVs but only getting Silver's POV worked perfectly for this book. There was a lot to unpack with Silver as a character. He had been through a lot from the time he was a teenager to when we see him in this book and I think it was important to learn all of those things through his eyes. Zeb was an easy character to pull for because he as so calm and kind. He was patient in his quest to be in Silver's life and I think that is really what helped to start breaking down the walls that Silver had put up.

I like how much these books are intertwined with each other. In this book, we obviously see a lot of Eli and Quinn and I think that is another important piece to Silver letting people in. Eli is a force all by himself and he sort of makes Silver act like a friend and be a friend.

This is a pretty slow-burn story with Silver and Zeb really not completely connecting until later on in the book. However, it really works for this story and for the MCs and their history together. It was true to their characters and their situation!

~Bad Habit: 4.5 stars~

Oh, this book gave me feelings after just the first chapter! I will be honest in that anytime I start a book and it says "... years ago", I sigh. I do not know why but I just want to get to the good stuff already in books! But this chapter, this set up everything for this book. It set up these characters so perfectly and it gave me all the emotions. It set the stage for who these characters were and gave us the perfect amount of background to really understand Scott and Liam.

There is so much I could say about this book and so much that I cannot say. It was heartbreaking and beautiful. The characters were grumpy and sassy and chaotic but endearing too. Scott and Liam were loyal. They seemed to hate each other at times but they were loyal to each other as well.

The writing was emotional. There were certain parts that I just read three or four times before I could go on to the next section. The words did not come easy between these two characters. With Scott being as grumpy and jaded as he was, we had to read between the lines some. But even with that, the chemistry between these guys was insane. And of course, the sex scenes were hot hot hot. I cannot wait for more from this series!! I hope to see some Reeve and Marco stories in the future!

*copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review*

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