Oh my this book was so good! A couple that gets a second chance. After years apart they accidentally come across one another again. The road it leads them on isn’t easy. But boy is it spicy! And cute and heartfelt I loved this book so much! A must read!

Mara and Derek are high school sweethearts that break up and meet each other again later in life. I am all for a second chance romance, but didn’t feel for this couple. Mara deserved better than Derek. Unfortunately, I found myself pushing to get to the end of their story.

I am one for some steam to heat up a cold night (and this one has plenty), but I didn’t love it. I am guessing it had to do heavily with the daddy kink. I did like the authors writing style, progression of the story and spice and want to give another one of her books a try as this was my first.

I want to thank NetGalley, Eve Dangerfield for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

Return All by Eve Dangerfield

4.5 stars

Sum it up

Mara and Derek high school sweethearts till Derek moves away for football and Mara is left back in the small town they grew up in. Years later they run into each other again and everything they felt back then is still there as strong as it was back then. Mara is guarded and Derek doesn’t know if he can move on from the past, he’s finding out about.

 

My thoughts

Oh, I love a good kinky story at times been awhile since I’ve read one and ooo my goodness. I didn’t fully care for the back story on Mara and Derek but having them come together and slowly figure out how they can overcome their pasts and get to a better place together was so sweet. I love a lot of kinks, but the daddy kink is a little odd for me but the way she wrote it all was so good. I felt for Mara and her not trusting Derek after everything they went through. Derek was an asshole for how he acted and how possessive he is over Mara, but he does get better in the end once he takes his head out of his ass and realizes what he’s done wrong. It was a good ending now to wait for the next book to come out.

3.5 stars
Return All is a second-chance-romance between Mara and Derek. Mara was an interesting character and I felt like I really came to understand her as a person. Her character was very fleshed-out, but I didn’t get that same feeling from Derek. If there was more backstory to him, maybe I would’ve liked him better lol.
His reasons for ghosting her when they were young were pretty selfish and it didn’t endear me to him. I guess I’ll accept the “he was young and dumb” argument, but my main issue was that I felt like he still came off as pretty selfish up until the end. I just never fully warmed up to him.

One thing I did enjoy was how the Daddy kink ended up being a conflict outside of the bedroom. I liked seeing how Derek struggled to come to terms with the fact that Mara genuinely didn’t need him for anything. She was professionally and financially successful, and was pretty independent. I liked seeing how he eventually came to terms with the fact that he had more to offer her than he originally thought.

This was the first Daddy kink book I’ve read, and while it didn’t dive into the kink as much as I thought it would, It was definitely as steamy as I expected from an Eve Dangerfield book!

I love love love this book! This is the first book I read from this author but it’s not going to be the last one!
Derek Hardiman has been crowned a football prodigy—but success came at the cost of his dorky high school sweetheart, Mara Temple. A decade after she left town, he still can’t imagine marrying someone who isn’t her...Traveling for most of her twenties, Mara has returned home with a designer wardrobe, a sweet puppy, and a new last name.
When Mara and Derek are thrown back into each other’s lives the obsession that began when they were teenagers returns in full force. Derek can hardly believe the goddess his once-awkward lover has become, and he’s determined to win her back.
OMG these two!!! I couldn’t stop reading. This book is not for everyone. If you are looking for a sweet, nice romance story, this is not it. It’s not even just a hot one. This is a dark twisted romance between rich-mostly traumatized people with a Daddy kink. The characters are almost absurd in a funny way. He is a jerk and she is just insecure but when they are together, you just need more and more of them. Pan, the puppy is adorable. Chase, her best friend is an amazing side character. This book is intense in an engaging way and ultra-hot. What I like about it it’s that there’s no right or wrong here. Everything is about consent and pleasure. And embracing who you are, in and out of a bedroom. I enjoyed this book a lot.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

From the get go, this book will not be for everyone and that's what I like the most about it. I admire an author that explores areas that won't be generic crowd-pleasers and does it in a straightforward manner. She made me read about something I can't relate to, and I was still interested in the characters' perspective. The only drawback is that this became front and center, to the detriment of the plot and even the characters. Basically, I found the book interesting, but not engaging.

I received an Arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a roller coaster of a read and I didn't hate it! There is a lot to unpack and the beginning took a bit for me to fall in love with the characters and the plot.

Let's start with what I loved - I adored the dog mom energy and the very much - Mara is creating a life she wants and just living it. She doesn't need anyone to tell her how to live and despite having created it she also realized that she is a bit lonely which is very realistic. I liked Derek but I also felt like I didn't know him - was he just a tattooed football/ soccer player or was he more? What was his childhood actually like? But what I knew was that he was head over heels for Mara so I sort of could suspend my need to understand him.

Let's talk about what I struggled with - the weird about of references to pornography as a compliment? It really pulled me out of the story and made me uncomfortable. There is also a lot of discussions of body issues (weight gain and loss) as well as plastic surgery that felt like they were unneeded and unnecessary. But the real issue for me was I never totally understood why they had originally broken up or not? I have no idea what was happening there and then they weren't together...

TL/DR Review
Stars: three and a half
Steam: high steam, both solo and mutual, lots of role-playing and "Daddy"
Tropes: second chance love, blue-collar couple, paparazzi, professional athlete
For Fans Of: Tessa Bailey or Nicola Davidson
Theme Song: Heat Waves by Glass Animals
Subgenre: contemporary romance / erotic romance
CW/ TW: discussions of incarcerated parents, death of parents, death of caregiver, emotional cheating, body issues/ dysmorphia

Thank you to the author and publisher for my complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Eve Dangerfield is a gem. There are very few authors writing in contemporary romance today that can surprise me. Eve is one of them. Her books have all the traditional elements of a great romance but with the sensation of running downhill. It's a blast, but you're not sure how it's going to turn out. Return All was no different. The story is unique and plays with time and intrigue, but at the heart is a lost boy hero with good intentions and a heroine who is working to heal. I loved the journey and palpable connection of these two characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the advance copy of this book. I asked for this based on someone else’s review of it on Instagram. I read this for the spice and it definitely delivers that. I don’t personally care for a daddy kink but it didn’t ruin it for me or anything. I didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. This was exactly what I expected it to be.

Return All was pretty far out of my comfort zone. I have never read a "daddy kink" romance before and can't really say it was for me. The first half of the book dragged a little bit. We know Mara has a big secret and its a little frustrating to have her constantly giving vague answers to questions.

Once her and Derek reconnect it picks up, their relationship is dramatic and obviously very steamy. I wish we got some flashbacks or something to establish their history and familiarity with each other. It felt a little jarring to have they pick up so quickly after such a long separation.

By far the best part of this book were the side characters. Mara's company and the overall plot was probably what kept my attention, aside from obviously needing to figure out what her big secret was. Overall this was a great romance read but I don't think it was for me.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @evedangerfield for the ARC, Return All is out December 14th!

Why you should read:
Daddy kinks
Second chance romances
Reformed playboys
Sports romances
Quirky best friends
Found family

Childhood lovers Mara and Derek separated when Derek got drafted to the AFL and left Mara behind in their hometown. 10 years later they are reunited but they both have changed and have secrets and a history which they both need to try and understand and forgive. Derek is an ultimate Alpha male and wow these 2 have some serious chemistry. This was the first novel from Eve and I really enjoyed it, her writing style means we get to see both points of view, I will be going back to read the first in this series and look forward to seeing how the other characters in this series find love.

I usually love Eve Dangerfield's writing, Even when I DON'T love her writing, I like it. But this book's main female character just irritated me from the start. E.D. is showing how rich she is by excessive brand name dropping. I found it very distracting. I could recommend any of E.D.'s earlier books without reservation, just not this one.

So, caveats: I’m not big on second chance romances, this is my first read from Dangerfield, and this book contains kink.

I didn’t love the Mara character or the way the author was overly descriptive about her. I liked Derek a lot more. I did appreciate that they both grew and learned to forgive.

I wasn’t as uncomfortable with the Daddy kink as I thought I’d be—it wasn’t over the top or infantilizing.

Overall, it was fine, but a bit hard for me to get into this book, so a slower read for me.

This story follows Mara and Derek, high school sweethearts who find each other again ten years later, where things have changed drastically for both if them. Derek has never gotten over Mara, while Mara doesn't know if she can trust Derek with her heart again because of how their relationship ended (their relationship was pretty intense to say the least as there were elements of Bdsm involved).
I liked how the characters were written, Mara, because even though she had founded a non-profit, was experiencing imposter syndrome, not feeling like she was able to lead her company and thus handing over the reigns to someone she felt was more qualified. And Derek because he put all his cards on the table when it came to what he wanted from Mara and was not playing games (even though he did have moments of toxic masculinity when it came to some topics, which I felt was true to how society has presented gender roles and sexuality).
Another aspect of the story that I appreciated was the focus on housing affordability and how capitalism has made housing such a precarious issue for many, especially the poor.

Football star Derek Hardiman has been living his dream for the last 10 years after leaving behind his hometown and rough past. All he's missing is the love of his life, Mara Temple. After a couple of failed attempts at finding her, it seems she's just vanished. Mara Kennedy spent her 20's being someone she's not. All she wants now is to quietly live her life and fund her non-profit Housing For All, a cause that's near and dear to her heart. When Derek unexpectedly blows back into her life things get complicated.

I started off really enjoying this book, dying to know what was going to happen next, and when all of the big secrets and tragic backstories were going to be revealed. Some revelations fit and were devastating. A couple were not that surprising, but I had been hoping they wouldn't happen (in an "oh no, I know what's coming but I don't want to know" way). There was only one revelation that made me say "wait, what?" I won't say what because, spoilers. The ending slowed a bit and I struggled a little through it. But that all being said, it gets a 5 for spice (the cove is deceptively sweet), but a 3 for the plot, overall that's 4, so, not bad.

Return All is a second chance romance between Derek and Mara, two high school sweethearts torn apart when Derek leaves to play football (soccer for Americans). Now in their late 20s, they find their way back to each other despite Mara's resistance, and have to overcome their past, and how they got to where they are.

Derek was introduced in Dangerfield's previous book, Begin Again, Again, but we didn't get to learn that much about him other than how angsty he is. The angst definitely continues into Return All, but from both characters. Mara is dealing with the past she's tried to keep secret, and Derek's return to her life brings it back up.

I loved the dynamic that Mara and Derek had, I love how soft and caring he was for her, and my only real complaint with the book was that I wanted more of that. I felt like once we got to a place where they were open with each other about their feelings, the bond was immediately tested, and we didn't get enough time to fully appreciate them together.

Thank you to NetGalley and Eve Dangerfield for providing me with an advance copy!

DNF @ 5%. Not the book for me. It wasn’t the hero, but I’m not really interested in using women's anatomy as an insult.

Dirty sex! Talk and sex penned like none
A second chance at true love!
2 stubborn souls
Alpha male and running female
1 HEA
A story to be read read if that's what you want

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Eve Dangerfield and #NetGalley for my honest opinion. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I found it hard to get into, the characters a bit unlikable. It wasn’t my cup of tea.

This is not my first Eve Dangerfield book and all her other books I've read I really liked and I'm so disappointed this is not the case with this one.
So it's safe to say I didn't like Return All very much. It was dragging so much I had to make myself finish it. I haven't read the previous book in this series so I went into this one blind. What truly drew me to it was the premise and the promise of a good Daddy kink. I really wanted to like it but I just had a hard time connecting to Mara from the get-go. And I also wasn't a big fan of Derek, the hero. He made some questionable decisions in my opinion. And the chemistry between them, I did not feel it, at all - but, they were sweet together in the end. Honestly I should have know this won't be my kind of book as soon as I realized the Daddy kink started when they were teenagers already. I'm sorry, I know that's on me, but that just isn't working for me. But I'm an optimist and hoped for the best. And then I found myself skimming paragraphs before I was a quarter of they way into the book. I skipped pages because I kept getting bored.
Overall this story started out with lots of potential, but it fell pretty flat toward the end. Oh well, I’m still looking forward to reading more books by Ms. Dangerfield but this one didn’t quite excite me as much as I had hoped.