I have chosen not to read and review this tile. While the blurb drew me to the story, I was not engaged with the characters or the way the story was written.

I appreciate the opportunity to review this early title and am looking forward to the next title through your company.

Thanks,
Laura

I’d recommend this story to any Romance reader who enjoys realistic romance, sometimes tough to like characters and finding that person who really “gets” you even when you push them away. It was an overall ok read.

A brilliant read with a brilliant storyline and characters and I will look forward to reading more from you from thank you for my arc

Both hero and heroine had a host of their own problems, and that's where their love and relationship comes in to save them. A solid character driven contemporary romance.

I have recently discovered another author who has a series set in Nashville, they're a band and a songwriter.. I couldn't help comparing the two and this one just came out on the bottom. I'm definitely going to come back to this and read the whole series without comparing it to another's work.

Kindly provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.....
Oh I REALLY liked this read. This was different. Its Russ and Josie's tale.
Russ does a little of this and that and in that reportage he is a bouncer. One night he ends up needing some medical assistance and runs into Joslynn (Josie) a friend of a friend. As a side note when I read this scene I mentally decided Josie wanted to probably render Russ unconscious rather than sew him up and send him on his sweet way !!!!. Lets just say opposites attract and go from there........
Loved the banter, story line and the fact Sandy wrote in the 3rd person gifting us with insight from both Russ and Josie topped my happy meter !!!!
A defiant one to read !!!
Great job Sandy and many, many thanks for this opportunity x
Later peeps xxx

4 1/2 STARS!

Feisty attitude, kind souls and feel-good moments! With the third book in her Nashville Dreams series, Sandy James brings us the story of the tough guy of the bunch, Russ. We've enjoyed the stories of his partners Brad & Ethan previously, so we're already familiar with their bar Words and Music. It's fun to reconnect with the previous couples and see where they are now, and there's just something about Brad that made him my favorite one of all! Really enjoyed this story!

Bad boy Russell Green just might have met his match! Russ has been living the good life. Pro football for awhile, now rubbing elbows with Nashville's elite while flitting from one gorgeous woman to the next. He should be riding high, but lately it's been noticeable to his friends and business partners that something is going on with him. He might be holding it close to his chest right now, but eventually he's going to have to confide in someone!

Nurse Joslynn Wright isn't expecting to fall for a guy coming through her ER, but Russ is kind of hard to resist when he smiles and looks at her with those eyes. She's enjoying living the best life that she can now that she's past the pain and drama of her childhood fight with leukemia. These days she's living healthy and enjoying life for all it's worth ... and she sees a kindred spirit in Russ that could use some relaxation in his life!

I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Busy time of year means this one took me FOREVER to read. Nothing again the story (I did give it 5 stars after all!), I just started it at a very busy time of year for me and just had major issues sitting still and focusing long enough to read more than a few paragraphs at a time.

This was the first time I've read anything by Sandy James. I even broke with my usual compulsion to read a series from the beginning even if I only have a book in the middle of the series. This book is definitely a stand-alone. I was able to jump into the series on book 3 and not need any sort of real explanation outside of what was given in order to understand what had gone on with Joslynn and Russ's friends' relationships in previous books. So, definitely a true stand-alone in a series.

Joslynn has always had a big impenetrable wall around her heart, ever since a health scare when she was young taught her that love doesn't exist and you can't truly count on anyone but yourself when times get tough. Russ likes to stay out of the limelight, going about his routine, avoiding being anyone's hero in favour of supporting his parents through their own major health issue. When a fluke ER visit throws Joslynn and Russ together again after a previous encounter at a mutual friends' wedding, they can't deny the pull of attraction between each other, regardless of what holds each of them back.

5 stars. Even though this wasn't the usual suspense-filled romance I've been going after lately, I really enjoyed this book! I will definitely be tracking down other books by this author in the future!

Can’t Fight the Feeling is book three in the Nashville Dreams series by Sandy James. Russ Green owns Words and Music with his partners and best friends, Brad and Ethan. Recently, Brad and Ethan fell in love in the first two books and now it's Russ's turn. He meets Josie when he gets knocked in the head with a bottle and has to go to the ER and she's his Nurse Practitioner. However, she was also at Brad's wedding much to his surprise. They both have their issues, especially parent issues. He dad has Alzheimers and is having issues and she's had issues with her own parents. They're both worrying about whether they'll turn up like their parents. This was at times a sad book but worth the read.

Russ and Jocelyn move in the same circles in their small town but they have never really connected until Russ has to go to the emergency room where Jocelyn is a nurse practitioner and there is an instant attraction between them.

Russ hates hospitals and leaves as soon as he is treated but before his paperwork is completed. Josie decides to take the paperwork to him and chew him out for his bad manners, but when she gets to the bar where he is part owner she soon realises that Russ is dealing with stress and she offers to design a running program to help to relieve it.

As they spend more time together their attraction grows until Russ tells her that he wants more. Josie's past makes her afraid to of more but she is unable to resist. There is continuous push and pull between these two until there is an unforeseen break. As a reader I wanted to shake both of them to make them come to their senses but luckily there was a happy ending!

This book was very enjoyable and made me want to read the others in the Nashville Dreams series. However this story can be read alone. The characters are very strong and lifelike and the descriptions of living with Alzeimers disease was heartbreaking but very tastefully written.

This is the first book from the series and I didn't read the previous so all the characters were new to me but you could read it as a standalone. In this one nurse, Joslyn and bouncer Russ fell first in lust and also in love. Joslyn is from young age alone in everything and is hard for her to let control to another person. Russ is also struggling because his family is facing Alzheimer and he could have the gene and is freaking him out. So they both have a reason not to get deeply involved in each other but the heart wants what it wants and that is love despite the obstacles. Would love be strong enough? The story is emotionally, both Russ and Joslyn and is understandable that under that circumstances person develope a coping mechanism. Both Russ and Joslyn were a great developed person but I couldn't relate to them really, Joslyn was for me to sterile from the start love had made her soft toward the end. And Russ has also found a stupid way dealing his trouble and ignoring the big elephant in the room. Together they worked as a couple and chemistry was there.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly.

This is another one of those technically well-written books that I just couldn’t bring myself to finish. Wanna know why? Sure you do! (Kind of like when you ask your significant other if the milk smells bad, then you shove it under their nose so they can take a big whiff, because that’s what people do. We smell the milk. So, smell the milk with me, people. And always remember that what I think stinks, lots of other people enjoy.)
First of all, Can’t Fight the Feeling is not to be confused with the 80’s wuss-rock ballad Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon, or the compulsively catchy Can’t Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake. (Great. Now I have a weird mash-up of those 2 songs stuck in my head. Yikes.) The book isn’t related to either song, even though I immediately thought of them when I read the title. ​

The book starts out with the hero, Russ, getting stitched up in the ER by nurse practitioner Joslynn, who happens to be a friend-of-a-friend that has been trying unsuccessfully to set Russ and Joslynn up on a date for a while. It isn’t much of a meet-cute, because Russ is kind of a jerk and skips out before filling out his discharge paperwork. Josie decides she’s going to hand-deliver his paperwork a few days later, along with some stern words to “teach him a lesson” in manners. If that had happened, if she would have marched up to him and put him in his place for his asshattery, I would’ve loved it. Instead, she wimps out and goes out on a date with him. It actually made me stop reading and say, “huh?” (Stopping a story to say “huh” is never a good thing, in my experience.)

Shortly thereafter, Russ steals a kiss from Joslynn. Now, I’m not normally opposed to the hero stealing a little kiss. But this particular kiss involves Russ “forcing his tongue” past her lips before she’s decided if she’s going to even open her mouth. Guys, it’s not cool to be the aggressive dude who shoves his tongue past a woman’s teeth. If she hasn’t opened her mouth, take a hint. Wait for her lips to part willingly, ok? That’s just a little friendly advice from Romance Rehab to all you men out there. You’re welcome.

I considered marking the book a DNF after the kiss, because honestly, at this point in the story, I don’t particularly care for either character, but I persevered. (Why? I dunno. I guess I wanted to be able to say I gave the book a fair shake. Or maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment. But I digress…)

So then, Joslynn and Russ go out on another date and things get sexy. But just as the clothes are starting to come off, Russ puts the brakes on and tells Joslynn that he wants a fairy tale ending with her, and banging her on their second date would be moving too fast. While I agree that second date banging is kinda quick, this doesn’t sound like the guy described in the blurb who isn’t looking for a relationship. Joslynn quite clearly tells Russ that she doesn’t want a HEA, she just wants some sex. Seems reasonable to me. But he fires back at her that she’s obviously scared to be in a relationship. OR, maybe, aggressive tongue thrusting dude, she just doesn’t WANT A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. Did you ever consider that?

Because, no, Russ never seemed able to consider the possibility that Joslynn wouldn’t be ready to marry him at the end of date two, I threw in the towel and quit reading. But if you don’t mind an aggressive tongue thrusting hero who thinks a heroine looking for sex is just too scared to commit on the second date, you’re a better reader than I am, and you might want to give this one a chance. Apparently there’s some life-threatening illness drama later in the story, so that sounds fun. (Not for me, but maybe for you. I don’t judge.)

Full disclosure: I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Russ Green was a former football player who had an anger management issue. One night after an altercation with a customer in his restaurant/bar, he met Josie Wright, a nurse practitioner who worked in the ER. Josie never wanted a long-term relationship with any man. Her parents had shown her that love wasn't something she could trust or have but Russ began to show her that love might be worth fighting for.

As she began to open up her heart to Russ, she began to see the possibility of forever and that scared her. Russ' father had Alzheimer's and Russ was so afraid that he might have the gene that made him susceptible to the same disease. He never wanted anyone he loved to have to deal with what his parents were having to deal with but love was through good and bad and he really wanted Josie in his life. Would he be able to trust in her love for him? Would Josie be able to trust in his love for her for the possibility of a forever kind of love?

I really enjoyed this story very much. My one criticism was the continual peppering of f-bombs through the story and the descriptive sex scenes. Neither of those are appealing to me. Unfortunately, for that reason I wouldn't recommend the book to someone else, as much as I enjoyed the story.

I was given an arc copy of this book to read and I willingly offer my honest review.

This book had potential but it was a little light. I would have liked to see their story developed a little more.

Received in exchange for a honest review.

Of the three books in this series this is my favorite. Why? These two people were strong independent and focused. They both had stress in their life and trying to deal with it on their own. Both felt happy to be alone until they met one another in a chance moment in the ER.

Russ was a good guy who had a lot on his plate. He was also afraid. Afraid to love someone because of what was happening in his world. His anger was always on the surface and he didn’t know how to let it go without a fight. when he met Joselyn at the ER the second time and the first after their friends wedding he was not in the best of moods. She did put a smile on his face but he just has alot on his mind. He was attracted to her and she him and you could feel the chemistry crackle between them. But neither at that moment really thought anything of it. In fact he irritated Joselyn at the same time as putting a smile on her face.

Joselyn was always independent. Her family made her that way but also had her believing love was an illusion that destroyed things. She was kind and sweet but not one who wanted a relationship. In fact she ran from them. So when Russ stepped into her world and she didn’t want not to spend time with the man that got her skin all tingly she was scared.

Russ had to go slow and slow her down at times because he wanted to show it was more than physical for him.As they got to know one another, they let each other in. Doing this showed us the trust they had for each other. Did they screw up? Yup and Russ admitted when he did. Did they love each other? Oh heck yeah. You felt for Russ because he was so comfortable with his feelings and wanted to have a relationship but Joselyn was skittish and he had to go slow and navigate some choppy waters. He never really knew what her feelings were but hoped they were the same. He knew she had feelings but how deep was a mystery. when his world got some bad news, he didn’t deal well and did something doofy thinking it was to protect Joselyn and all it did was hurt her. Good thing she has a desire to confront or we may have been at a standstill.

There is some great banter in the book. Friendships that are special and have you smile and a romance that has you laugh and swoon. Russ is a great guy and so right for Joselyn. He knows what she needs before she does. When he screws up he learns quickly and realizes his mistake fast. Especially when his parents set him straight about what he did and the kind caring woman he was stupid in love with and did something nutty to. So glad that this ended with a happy ending.

Russell/Russ hated the smell of hospitals and yet here he was in the E R but the evening shift manager left right after in to go back to work at Words and Music. Russ had a gash in his forehead and needed stitches. He wanted to leave but he might as well get treatment now as he would be charged anyway. If only that bottle hadn’t cut his head Josie realized this was was a partner in Words and Music with her best friend Savannah’s husband Brad and Nathan. She had only met Russ twice before, once at the wedding rehearsal and once at Savannah and Brad’s actual wedding. Three times if you counted when he seen her finish a swim workout the day of the rehearsal. Josie was a nurse practitioner now she had been a nurse first. Josie had run into Savannah’s daughter and her goddaughter Caroline and Russ was brought up. Josie said he seemed unusual and Savannah said Russ was getting a little out of control as he was coming into Words and Music on his days off and in the last month or so to act as a bouncer. Russ had been getting a bit rough and handsy with troublemakers latey. They didn’t need him there as a bouncer they already had several. It was almost like Russ enjoyed getting rough with people, like he misses his quarterback days- he had played some pro football but then there was a shoulder injury. Russ was normally a sweetheart but lately he seemed stressed and they couldn’t figure out why. Something about Russ called to Josie, something she couldn’t put her finger on it. Brad and Russell had been friends just about forever and Savannah herself had spent a lot of time with Russ and they knew underneath he was a great person and someone you could rely on. Russ thought about patience which was a virtue he didn’t have as he surveyed the bar at Music and Words. Brad came up to Russ and mentioned he didn’t need to be there then Russ told Brad to go home to his wife and Brad said no. This had been the thirty fifth day in a row Russ had come to work . But Russ didn’t care the restaurant/bar was his life, all he really had. Then a drunken wannabe cowboy made some vulgar comments and Russ was ready to fight but Josie had intervened and told Rss she needed his help and they went to an office , probably Brads as there was an electronic keyboard that took up most of the desk and Brad was also a composer. Then Josie said she really didn’t need Russ’s help it was just an excuse to see him again. Josie wasn’t really lying she wanted to get to know him better. But Josie didn’t mention she originally came to see Russ to scold him and give him a lesson on what not to do when leaving an E R but she changed her mind. Then russ asked her out to dinner and she accepted. Russ was unexpectedly pulled to Josie Then Josie told Russ she was a runner had been all her life. She had been in two marathons and hoped to do another that year. There was definitely strong chemistry between the two of them. Russ admitted he played the guitar for fun. Russ knew what his problem was he was terrified his “normal “days were numbered. As his father had early onset Alzheimer's disease now and Russ feared he to would have it at some point in his life he just didn’t know when. His father was only fifty eight and already the disease was stealing the memories of his past and control of his father’s life. Every since his father’s diagnosis, everything in Russ’s life was different. Urgency seeped from every pore. While Russ might have always been a bit manic, now he felt out of control. Like he had to do everything at once, right now. Josie and Russ went for a run the next day and Russ realized how unfit he had gotten. Josie’s attraction to Russ was stronger then she had ever experienced. Everything about him appealed to her - from his looks to his masculine scent. Even his offbeat sense of humor. That appalled Josie as her whole life had been about independence. Josie had learned early that only she would see herself through any challenge. The lesson had come when her mother had always been too busy to be there when Joslynn/Josie needed her. Josie wanted to have sex with Russ yet he stopped them and said they could have more and that they had something between them and russ asked Josie to give it a chance and she decided to at least see Russ again and go from there.
I liked this story a lot. It was a quick easy romantic emotional read. I loved how close Chelsey, Savannah, and Josie were. Also Ethan, Brad, and russell. Although Russ didn't let them in on what was going on with him and why he was so stressed and it seems like he would with at least Brad. I did love how Russ believed in love and marriage, and the one instead of it being the women trying to make the man believe in these things. I also was very impressed with the way he cared about and took care of his parents at least as much as they would let him. It was great to watch both Russ and Josie grow. I loved the plot and pace. I loved how the author portrayed the Alzheimer's disease and how it affected everyone around the person with this awful disease. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I recommend.

5 stars

Synopsis: Russ works with his partners at their restaurant and bar. Sometimes he moonlights as a bouncer there, and lately, he has been having increasingly vitriolic altercations with their patrons as a bouncer. When he ends up in emergency needing stitches, he runs in to Joslynn, the best friend of one of his partner's wives. Russ has met her, but doesn't want to do a relationship as he has some family issues.
Joslynn is a nurse practitioner, and when Russ makes a bad impression, by leaving after she puts in his stitches, she decides to track him down and call him out on his rudeness. When Joslynn catches up with Russ, he is about to get in another fight, and Joslynn decides to help him relieve his stress instead. She doesn't want to let him know that she was going to give him a dressing down, so she pretends that she wanted to ask him out on a date instead.
One thing leads to another, and they end up going running the next morning. The more they get to know one another, the more they realize that they just might be perfect for each other.

What I liked: although this relationship took place quite quickly, we actually get to see them learning about each other and beginning to lean on each other. There is a build in attraction between them, and it is built on them getting to know one another and all their foibles and interests and issues. Russ doesn't want to move to fast, because he wants something that has more than sexual tension as a base. He actually wants a relationship, and has to work to break down the walls that Joslynn has around her. Joslynn is strong and competent and caring. Even though she doesn't do relationships, she really cares for all her patients and tries to do the best that she can for them. When she realizes that Russ is hurting, she tries to figure out ways to help him, and find out his stressors so that she can help him deal with them. I liked the way that Joslynn slowly softened from "I don't need no man" to "hey, having someone around to share my excitement and woes with is pretty cool". Seeing Joslynn and Russ sort of flip and become the other person in terms of emotions when things were going on was interesting, too.

What I didn't like: nothing.

Overall impression: well written, with characters I would like to meet in real life. Imperfect, but perfect for each other. Told in 3rd person POV alternating between Joslynn and Russ. This is the second book that I have read by this author, and I really enjoy the writing style and characters.

*I received a copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really like the Nashville Dreams series. This time we have Russ's story. I liked him in the previous book, but in this story, he is having some serious anger management issues and loves his job as a bouncer a little too much. Josie is a nurse and good friends with the women in the previous stories. Brad is a typical guy and not a great communicator. Josie is a survivor and isn't interested in a long term relationship, so of course they are going to be attracted to each other. This is an emotional story and deals with illness and mental issues as well as a strong romance. The story is well written and relatable to me. I read Ethan's story previously and have to catch up with Brad's. I will definitely be reading more from Ms James.

Loved the story and the characters. Russ and Joslynn were a good match - pushing each other's boundaries and fitting together nicely.

A true opposites-attract romance with a strong emotional foundation

Russ is a bit of an old soul, a man who still believes in a forever love even if he doesn’t believe it’s possible for him. Joslynn, on the other hand, knows for certain that love is a fool’s errand and the only one she can ever count on is herself. These two are constantly tossed together by mutual friends who believe they’d be great together, but neither is in a good place for a relationship until Josie is on duty in the ER when Russ shows up needing stitches.

Their chemistry is off-the-charts, but Josie is stunned when Russ puts the brakes on the physical aspect of their relationship in favor of cementing their emotional standing first. In addition to their differing relationship goals, they each have a medical history that complicates their future.

This is a highly-emotional story that delves deep into the characters’ psyches as they work separately and together to become better versions of themselves. The writing is sharp, the characters are well-developed, and the emotions are insightful. The secondary characters were terrific, especially Russ’s parents. It’s a love story that will stay with you long after the last page is read. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.