You want my hands on you, Celia. Making you shiver, making you moan, making you scream. Admit it.Celia Villarreal had wanted those things with Ryland Brody, Bitterthorn’s golden boy—and wanted them badly enough to make a fool of herself one idiotic night months ago.Naughty children shouldn’t touch what they don’t own.Rejection always stings, but putting a move on Ry had devastating consequences. … but putting a move on Ry had devastating consequences. Now her regret burns as bright as her need—until Ry, as glorious as ever, makes her an offer that might finally be her ticket out of town.
I’m not your enemy, darlin’. If you give me half a chance, you’ll see that I can be your hero.
When working together leads to grinding all naked-like with the very cowboy who’s seen her at her worst, Celia is afraid she’s made a mistake.
Until the truth comes out.
This is who we are from now on. Say it. Feel it.
Once Ry’s past motivations come to light, Celia must decide if she can give him another chance or turn her back on Bitterthorn—and the one man who’s always wanted her—for good.
One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!
This book is approximately 60,000 words
Edited by Angela James
more
Celia is working hard to make something of her life and get out of her small town. After an embarrassing birthday party incident with her crush Ryland, she tries to avoid him. Everywhere she goes she runs into him. Ryland and his brothers had a tough childhood. He is an alpha male to the max bordering on arrogant. He does redeem himself. A great start to the series. Looking forward to the next book.
I received a copy of this book via Netgalley and am leaving a review.
What is a girl to do when it seems the entire town has turned against her? One night of drunken fun, and an incident with one of the towns favoured families seems to have backfired on Celia pretty bad. So bad, tired of all the loneliness, the snubs, the lack of welcome she had always felt, she is taking steps to leave town. Before she can execute her perfect plan, the object of her mistake is pursuing at every turn. It isn’t easy, and both are pretty prone to giving in to their tempers, but the way they compliment each other is so much better. It is a hard lesson for Celia to learn, and growing up is never easy, but even Ry recognizes he isn’t the easiest person to get along with. Once these two work through things, utter perfection, and Celia learns being branded as Ry Brody’s isn’t all that bad!
Ryland Brody, rancher billionaire and total alpha will stop at nothing to get what he wants. And, what he wants is Celia Villarreal. He’s bossy and domineering and tends to give orders rather than ask Celia what she wants. Oh, and he’s about as sexy as can be.
Celia is smart, sassy and independent. At one time, she would have been right on board with Ry’s plan, but after she made a fool of herself by grabbing his butt when drunk, she was ostracized by the town. Now, she’s also had just about enough of small town life to take a job in the big city.
When Ryland offers Celia a job creating a marketing campaign for his ranch’s newest endeavor, she can’t refuse even though she wants to. The money is her ticket out of town. But with Ryland’s attention and declarations that she is his, she’s reconsidering her move to the big city!
The closer they get, the more Celia considers staying, however, when Celia discovers why she was being ignored by most of the town, she’ll need to decide if she can forgive and forget or if she’s ready to leave it all behind, including Ry for good.
Branded was definitely a sassy and steamy romance. Celia is a true sweetheart who is really struggling trying to understand why people she used to be friends with started ignoring her. She knows she made a fool of herself, but she didn’t think it would be enough to turn her hometown against her. She a loyal friend and goes out of her way to take care of those she loves. She doesn’t deserve what’s happening to her.
Ryland is super dominant, and, in my opinion, he’s a bit stuck up acting like he’s completely irresistible to womenkind. His bossiness and refusal to take no for an answer from Celia made him a bit of a difficult character for me to warm up to, even if it was because he had good intentions, although he eventually won me over.
I can’t deny that this couple has sparks flying, and their interactions are always entertaining. If you love a sassy woman and her dominant man, you’ll love Branded. 4 stars!
Who doesn’t love a good, sexy cowboy? Ryland Brody is exactly that and more. He’s always gotten what he wants, when he wants, and doesn’t really take into thought what anyone else thinks. When Celia Villarreal has a few too many drinks and makes a fool herself Ryland takes it into her own hands and teaches her a lesson. Too bad the attraction between them is still there.
Did I like Ryland? Nope, not really. He was cocky, obnoxious, and selfish. Although, he was good to Ceclia, when he wanted to be. I don’t think he realized how he was acting, how his actions made a difference to those around him. I hated how to had to rid her of the Brody worshipping before he could be real with him. What the heck… rid her? Brody worshipping? Isn’t that something that true love should control, that he should trust her to be able to handle? He never really redeemed himself to me and I was left with a semi-sour taste in my mouth about him.
Celia could have been a strong character. She did call Brody out many times on his actions but she let it go way too many times. She had the mentality that this was just how a Brody was raised and that he couldn’t help it. I wanted her to freak out on him, put him in his place, not forgive and forget so quickly. He knocks on the door, breaks the door down, and she swoons at his feet. UGH!
I really wanted to love these characters, I wanted to be invested in their lives and be happy when they found the HEA but it just didn’t happen for me.
4 Star review Branded (The Brody Brothers #1) by Stacy Gail
Stacy Gail is a new author to me and this book is about Ryland Brody and Celia Villarreal.
Ry was an arrogant jerk, but he grew on me slowly. Celia got on my nerves a bit with her constant harping on her behaviour towards Ry at her birthday party; we kept hearing about it and it got a little frustrating at times.
I can only imagine the loneliness that Celia was feeling as she slowly realised that people in her home town were avoiding her and treating her as though she had the plague.
Celia has always had a bit of a crush on The Brody Brothers and when Ry offers her a job that could ensure her dream of moving to the city, although hesitant at first, she decides to take the job.
There was certainly a great deal of emotion and angst in Branded, throw in the sizzling chemistry between Ry and Celia and you are in for a ride.
The story was well written and the characters were strong. The supporting characters were just as interesting and I look forward to reading more from Ms.Gail
Loved this story of Ry and Celia it was funny, cute and romantic! Celia got drunk one night on her birthday and did some obnoxious things to Ryland Brody but she has always had an eye on him until he retaliated and embarrassed her. Ryland believes the Brody men have a curse and he wants Celia for his own but not for how he looks. Celia wants out of this town because of the birthday stunt no one really socializes with her especially men. When Ryland offers her a job it’s to keep her in town with him but Celia is headstrong and stubborn so she is on the fence about taking it but so is he. This story is fun to read even when Ryland is being a caveman. Looking forward to more books in this series.
Reviewed on behalf of Once upon an Alpha
I loved this book!! When the book ended I wanted more. Celia grew up in a small town where everyone knows your business. Everyone knew she lusted after all of the Brody brothers at one time or another. She made a little drunken mistake and all of a sudden she was treated like a pariah. Ryland was just the right amount of alpha for me. He is bossy with a capital B. Once Celia grabbed his butt he knew he had to make her his. Once he heard she is leaving town he makes her an offer she can’t refuse, even though she knows she needs to. Will they let bygones be bygones and move past the “incident”?
What a down right adorable story. At least that’s one way of describing this fun flirty romantic storyline the author has given us with Branded. If fact, for me, the story and characters were so well written I felt like I knew the townsfolk and exactly how they were thinking and feeling as I read along.
You gotta love a storyline where the man knows what he wants and goes after it to the point “No” is just not acceptable. Which is exactly what Ryland, the eldest of the Brody brothers does. But the rich bossy rancher has one problem, Celia, the object of his desire. You see, Celia wants nothing more than to avoid Ry and move away from their small country town after the drunken life altering mistake she made involving him at her birthday celebration. A mistake that has made her the pariah of the town even months afterwards. Can Ry convince her to give him a chance or will he finally hear that “No” the rest of the world can’t seem to say to him?
This is a wonderfully written RomCom with a sassy sexy strong female (Celia) and a very handsome, bossy cowboy (Ry) leading the way. In my humble opinion it’s a story you don’t want to miss out on. I highly recommend grabbing up this wonderful book that is packed full of southern charm, hospitality and romance. Not to mention it sets the tone for the series to come, and this reader can’t wait for the next Brody to fall. I give Branded 5 stars and a Hardy 2 Thumbs Up!!!
“Branded and boldly bossed”
I received an Advance Reader Copy for BRANDED (Brody Brothers) written by Stacy Gail and voluntarily reviewed this book. One drunken move made on one of Bitterthorn, Texas’ highly prized and single Brody brothers, Ry, instantly made Celia a hot topic of this small town’s gossip, one she can not longer live down and actually cannot wait to leave town once and for all – as soon as she can afford to.
So when said object of her focus comes to her with a proposal she simply cannot refuse because it will be the coup-de-grace of her graphics campaigns portfolio, she has to just work out a way to avoid this insufferably bossy and rough-edged man and do her work to promote the new line for his family’s Black Angus cattle ranch.
Not having had a lot of relationship guidance growing up, Ry and his brothers have had to take matters into their own hands to get through their childhood. None came out unscathed, all banding together tighter for their experiences. Contrary to what Celia thought, Ry was not the only one affected by the Drunken Birthday Episode at The Spot that night – there was something about her that made him sit up and take notice. And once again, he finds himself having to take matters into his own hands regarding this sassy, fiery girl he decides he now wants in his life. So when Ry finally opens the tap for his feelings for Celia, she soon realizes she is the lucky sole source of his special brand of Brody loving! Great HEA to their story.
Looking forward to reading the stories of the other Brody brothers as well!
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Lee’Anne –
5 stars isn’t even enough – I loved this book! Ry and Celia’s story had me sucked in from the very first chapter and now that I’ve finished, I’m left wanting more!
Celia grew up in a super-small town, always having had a crush on the Brody brothers. At her 21st birthday celebration, Cel gets drunk and grabs the butt of one of the eldest brothers, Ry. Ry embarrasses Cel and after the incident, no males in their town will so much as look at Celia, having her believe she’s a complete pariah. When Ry finds out Celia is planning to move out of their small town to get away from the dirty looks being thrown her way, he decides to hire her… and claim her as his.
I’m not sure bossy is a strong enough word to describe Ryland. He pretty much dictates his and Celia’s life from their very first encounter. Though I really did love this book, there were a few parts that I was so frustrated with. It seems like every time Ry was trying to explain something he’d keep telling Celia “you’re not hearing me” and it made me want to jump into the book and punch him. Plus, he’s overwhelmingly bossy at times, it’s hot most of the time but others it was just… a bit much. Other than that though, the author does such a great job not only keeping this book steamy, but it has a terrific and interesting storyline as well. It left me definitely wanting more of the Brody brothers.
Mary Jo –
Not your typical romance. Both Celia and Brody have trust issues and they have to learn to trust each other in order for any relationship between them to work.
Ry is high handed and tends to order instead of ask. Celia is wanting to get out of their little town because she’s tired of being the town pariah. Celia doesn’t take orders very well so they each must learn to compromise.
Ruthie –
This is the first in a new series, and it sets the scene for the future books, but maybe not quite quickly enough for me to really appreciate this one. I do now understand why Ry is such an idiot with Celia, but I was close to giving up a few times in anger. I still have my reservations, but at least more understanding. So, if you feel the same, just give him a chance, and then another, and possibly a third!
I like strident, take charge men in stories, and the cowboy category regularly fits the bill, but the line is clearly one which can be crossed into arrogance and offence, and this fell over the line at times. Even when Ryland was given Celia’s viewpoint, he gave a reason which excused him, rather than really vowed to change to support her.
Although I had a mainly negative reaction to his character, I am really glad I read this book, because it did make me conscious of just where my push points are. Interestingly, Celia managed to maintain a strong personality even when he was being an idiot, and for one so young she did stand up for herself. I would have been in Dallas in a flash!
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Branded (Brody Brothers #1) by Stacy Gail to read and review.