Review: Making It Last

Reviewed by Carrie
 

I’m a big fan of Ruthie Knox’s Camelot series. This novella takes us back to the very first couple, Tony and Amber, from How to Misbehave. Fast forward 14 years and 3 kids later, Amber is struggling. She has lost herself in her duties to her husband and children and is running on empty. While on holiday to Jamaica for her brother’s wedding, Amber’s mother sees that all is not right with her daughter and encourages Tony to extend her vacation so she can catch a break from familial duties. Tony has been working himself to the bone trying to support his family during rough financial times, so this is the first time he’s really looked at his wife to see that something was amiss.

Those of us who are married with children will find this story eminently relatable. It gets into the nitty gritty of the very hard job of raising children while keeping a marriage going. Tony and Amber take on the traditional gender roles and come off a bit stereotypical. Amber is silent in her suffering and doesn’t communicate that she feels her family has sucked her dry. Tony is oblivious to his wife’s pain because he is all focused on working to give her everything she wants. Some late night confessions to each other probably would have gone a long way in avoiding the place where the couple sits at the beginning of the book.

I empathized with both of them. Amber feels this responsibility of having to do everything and bear the burden with pride - that’s the message society has taught us as mothers. Tony is very much a man’s man. He wants to give Amber things, like the house he built, to show her he loves her. He wants to fix what’s broken in her. Both of them acknowledge that it would be easy to just walk away, but also realize how much they couldn’t continue without the other. The couple’s journey back to each other is in fits and starts and I appreciated the authenticity.

The other message that the author relates are the choices that we make on a consistent basis when we are with a partner. When you feel that disconnect, how do you get back there? Anyone in a long time relationship can attest that hearts and flowers only last a short time. It’s the getting back and remembering those times and evolving in love with the person you chose, and continue to choose, that makes it all worthwhile.

This book can be read as a stand-alone, but I highly recommend all of the books in this series. Ruthie Knox writes funny, smart, real contemporary romance.

Grade: B+

*ARC provided by Loveswept via NetGalley 

Click to purchase: Amazon

Making It Last

by Ruthie Knox

Original Release Date: July 15, 2013

Publisher: Loveswept

Review: Donor

Reviewed by Shelly

This was a solid first story in the Dresdan Coven series and I’m a little mad at myself it was in my TBR so long. As a former member of District 5, Elaina’s role as a tracker of the Dresdan led her to Vicq. As a vamp creation of the master vampire Russo, Vicq is not your ordinary Dresdan. He has some special skills that he uses to woo and protect Elaina. After he was exiled from Russo’s coven for his affiliation with Elaina, Vicq has left Elaina alone long enough. He’s finally ready to make her his – permanently. Can this human and vampire find their own HEA? I hope so.

I was completely shocked and impressed that I liked this short story as much as I did. Kirk did a very good job of building the world where these characters live, because it’s certainly not like any I’ve read before. I admit that I love vampire stories and their paranormal world as much as the next person, but it wasn’t the vamps that really got my attention, it was District 5. What are those people doing? I can’t wait to find out what the real story is. Elaina thinks she knows what it is but I’m hoping it’s not as elementary as she seems to think. Kirk, please bring on the tomfoolery and shenanigans because it makes for an interesting read when it’s not the obvious.

Back to Elaina, she’s a very likable character and no whimpering female when it comes to holding her own. This chick can kick a vamp's butt then go out for a meal. How cool is that? I’m hoping there’s going to more about her history once the series continues, because I’m looking for the underlying reason she fell in love with Vicq. Yes, he has the ability to ‘glamour’ – that might be a True Blood term, but I don’t know else to call it –which he did when they initially met, but I’m hoping that’s there’s something more to their love.

Vicq --- oh my my, that’s one hot specimen of vampiliciousness. He’s got a thing for Elaina and nothing will get in his way, not even his creator. And the chemistry between the two was hot and heavy. Like Elaina’s motivation and background, I hope there’s more about him in the future installments.

The other members of Vicq’s newly formed coven are very loyal to their leader and have their own interesting quirks that made for good story telling. Other than the epilogue and a few spelling errors that made me reread a few sentences, this was a good story.

Happy Reading Folks!

Rating: B-

*Book provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Donor

by Ambrielle Kirk

Original Release Date: February 24, 2011

Re-Release Date: April 28, 2013

Review: The Secret Guide to Dating Monsters

Reviewed by Jen
 

What a great introduction to the world of Secret McQueen!  It's full of action, violence, and just a hint of romance -- perfect for a novella.  And it managed to give me a taste for the series, without any big info dumps or backstory.

Secret is part-vamp, part-werewolf, and all ass-kicking bounty hunter. She works for the vampire council, dispatching rouge vamps who need to be put down.  Her job and her supernatural side have made it difficult to hold down a relationship, but her friend Mercedes is diligently trying to change that. As the story begins, Secret is getting ready for a blind-date, set up by her friend.

Unfortunately, at the same time, the council has a job for her. She needs to take out a high-profile vamp who happens to be a very famous actor.  Secret actually likes her blind-date, Tyler, but the council doesn't really take no for an answer. So she tries to knock out both in the same night.

I liked Secret. She is tough and good at her job, but her date with Tyler shows how she still longs for love.  Her handler, Holden, is sexy and mysterious. I am very intrigued there. But I also hope we see more of Tyler in the future as well!

My only small gripe is that it didn't make sense to me for Secret not to reschedule her date. If she really wanted a chance with Tyler, trying to work an assassination into the evening was clearly a recipe for failure.  Forcing them to remain on the date felt like a tenuous plot device.  But like I said, small gripe.  I liked the story quite a bit and I am excited to continue on with the series.

Rating: B

Click to purchase: Amazon

The Secret Guide to Dating Monsters

by Sierra Dean

Release Date: July 19, 2011

Publisher: Samhain

Review: Days of Rakes and Roses

Reviewed by Jen
 

If you are looking for a sweet and sexy second-chance- at-love story, look no further.  This one hit the spot for me!

Lydia has spent the last 10 years mourning her chance lost love with Simon. They were caught in her father's barn together --just before they could, er, cross the threshold in their relationship.  Her father tossed him out and Simon left the country.  Even though her father died five years ago, she has heard nothing from him. And no man has ever made her feel what Simon did.  At some point, though, she realized that he may never come back and she made herself move on.

Now Lydia is engaged to be married to another man. She doesn't love him, of course, but it's a good match.  It's at her engagement ball that Simon makes his comeback. Lydia's brother summoned him to stop the wedding.  He's sure that his sister would be miserable with a man she doesn't love.  But it's not as easy as he hoped to reunite her with his old friend.  She was so hurt by Simon's abandonment and it has eradicated her ability to trust a man.  How could she trust him, of all people, with her heart again?

What I liked about this story was that Simon was just as miserable as Lydia over the past decade. He left to protect her reputation and muddled through life just as heartbroken as she did.  And when they were reunited, they both still felt that long ago love for one another.  Yes, there were roadblocks, but there weren't too many and they didn't feel contrived.  It was just right for the length of the story.

This is part of Anna Campbell's Sons of Sin series, and while I loved Seven Nights in a Rogue's Bed (and totally think you should read it) you don't have to be familiar with the previous book to enjoy this one.

Rating: B

*ARC Provided by Forever via NetGalley

Click to purchase: Amazon

Days of Rakes and Roses

by Anna Campbell

Release Date: July 2, 2013

Publisher: Forever

Review: The Bucket List

Reviewed by Shelly

This is a new to me author, so as with anything new, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I’ve read other full length stories through this publisher that I’ve really liked, but for me this story was bleh.

28 year old Grace is an accountant by trade and one of her clients is pro-wrestler Brett ‘The Wolf’ McAllister. Over the last three years, Grace and Brett have developed a friendship, during which Brett developed a pretty heavy crush on Grace. Grace has always liked Brett but he’s a bit of a player and her past two relationships have made her cautious of Brett’s type. In a moment of spontaneity, Grace makes a bucket list and at the top of the list is Mardi Gras. As her best friend Tia isn’t able to make the trip, Brett volunteers to take Grace and maybe check a few of those things off the list.

I really thought the premise of this story was good. I’m a big sucker for pro-wrestling and who better than show-man Brett to drive the shyness out of conservative Grace. Sadly, I could not get into either of these characters – they weren’t bad or not nice people. I just found myself not invested in them or their happiness. Grace’s personality was flat and immature. The amount of times I read about how her breasts are big was way too much. But what really put it over the top for me…when my interest gradually deteriorated - there’s a scene that happens pretty early in the story (no spoiler here) when Brett and Grace have stopped for gas while on their road trip. Grace sees an attractive woman hitting on Brett, when Brett comes back to the car Grace gives him an attitude and he tells her this priceless statement ‘…stop hating on white women with asses.’ Oh, that’s the game we’re going to play? That’s when I gave up.

Everything after that went downhill but I was determined to read the entire novella.

Happy reading folks!

Rating: D+/C-

Click to purchase: Amazon

The Bucket List

by Gynger Fyer

Release Date: October 19, 2012

Publisher: Beautiful Trouble Publishing

Review: Unbuttoned

Reviewed by Carrie

Carly Denton likes her life on the straight and narrow. After growing up in the family most whispered about in their small town, she managed to go to college and become the youngest elected councilwoman. She wants to be the opposite of her parents – controlled, predictable and drama free. This is why she has avoided her brother’s best friend, Lucas, all these years. The object of her childhood crush serves these days as the biggest thorn in her side. Lucas loves to push Carly’s buttons simply to watch her squirm. When forced to work together on a charity project, Carly’s tight strings start to unravel around Lucas and Lucas begins to realize how much he likes Carly squirming.

This is a new to me author. I ended up with this novella after a giveaway on Twitter and didn’t know anything more about it than it was contemporary romance. I began reading and was immediately sucked in. Carly is so neurotic that it’s palpable and you really do feel for her. Carly’s childhood was marred by parents who cared more about publicly airing out their laundry than taking care of her and her brother, Mac. Lucas had a similar miserable childhood growing up with an absentee mother and alcoholic father and the three often took comfort with each other sharing dinner together.

Where Lucas grew up and learned to shuck off the past, Carly is frozen by it. She is consumed by worries about others' opinions of her to an almost debilitating effect. She managed to strictly control any outspoken feelings or passions for so long, that when she is forced to interact with Lucas she realizes that she either has to take the bull by the horns or spiral out of control. When she buckles under and kisses Lucas, her world shifts. Objects under pressure tend to explode when released and all the tension builds up to some fabulous releases.

I really enjoyed this book and am somewhat miffed that it was only a novella. A longer length book would have provided a little more depth that would’ve really amped up the story. I will definitely be reading the next in the series and happy to have a new author to follow.

Grade: B

Click to purchase: Amazon

Unbuttoned

by Maisey Yates

Release Date: June 18, 2013

Publisher: Berkley

Review: The Wicked

Reviewed by Jen
 

Sometimes I think I am too hard on novellas. I complain because there isn't enough substance; that I don't connect to the characters; or I don't believe in the love story.  Sometimes I ask myself, Is it fair to expect an entire story in half the word count of a full length book?  Then --every blue moon-- I come across a novella like this one -- one that delivers-- and I'm glad my standards exist, because it proves size isn't everything

It doesn't hurt that story begins with a tie in to my favorite couple in the series: Grace and Khalil.  Our heroine, Olivia, is a great friend of Grace's who has been tapped to go on mission for the vampire Carling.  She is a human witch and a symbologist who is working with a team to move Carling's ancient library out of her island home.  There are seven people in the group, including Khalil's dysfunctional daughter Phaedra, and members of a security team lead by a Wyr named Sebastian.

Sparks fly between Olivia and Sebastian right away.  I liked our hero immediately. He's not seven feet tall or as old as time.  He is actually kind of short for a man --and about 200 years into his 250 year lifespan.  And if that doesn't humanize him enough, he is also fighting a curse that's turning him blind --and fighting the ennui of a life without love.  He is vulnerable, yet still powerful.  He's fast and strong, feared and filthy rich.  Plus, he sees the value in Olivia.. despite the fact that she isn't a 20 year-old virgin or a raving beauty.

There is a tangible sexual tension between them, but their path to happily every after looks wide open.  I really enjoyed watching them fall for one another and the love scenes were great too. There's a bit of drama in an external conflict I won't spoil, but the love story is really the heart of the book.  Very satisfying --and reminded me why I love the Elder Races series so much. Now I am more jazzed than ever for Kinked!  (Is it November yet?)

Rating: B+

*ARC Provided by Samhain

Click to purchase: Amazon

The Wicked

by Thea Harrison

Release Date: July 2, 2013

Publisher: Samhain

Review: Miss Watson's First Scandal

Reviewed by Janell
 

This is a historical novella, set in a Regency-esque time period, but in the resort town of Brighton so there aren’t any balls or country house parties, just some swimming and friendly dinners. This book is the first in a series, and as such it introduces a core group of characters who live in Brighton and will have adventures in further books.

David Hawke is a rich bachelor banker. He visits Brighton once a year and hangs out with his friends and the menfolk all swim naked in the surf every morning. His friend Peter Watson lives next door, along with Peter’s sister Abigail. On the other side of them lives Abigail’s best friend Imogen, and Imogen’s brother. I guess no one has elderly parents in Brighton.

Anyhow, David has come to foreclose on Peter’s house because Peter is an unemployed gambler. Abigail knows they’re in financial trouble because she’s sneaky like that, and she tries to find a way to delay the foreclosure. When David agrees to consider it, she kisses him in gratitude. It’s her first kiss, she’s curious, she kisses him again.

That’s the setup. David is eight years older than Abigail. He hasn’t been waiting for her to mature so he can seduce her. He’s just been banking in London, too busy to feed himself or sleep or get married. Banking is serious business, you see. Abigail has not been crushing on David, either. He’s just been sort of there. Their kiss is out of the blue and gets them thinking about each other in different ways. I would like to say that sparks fly and eyes are opened and all that, but I didn’t feel it. I felt more like it was in the background of all their other problems, an afterthought.

I was underwhelmed by this book. Abigail’s forward actions didn’t ring true for her upbringing, and she seemed too sheltered to understand what she was getting into after this exchange: “Then you don’t really mind me being here.” “No. In fact, I think it would be best for you to stay.” When she nods, he scoops her up and carries her to bed. That’s the seduction, and it didn’t make me swoon.

A subplot involving Imogen’s secret identity was random and too convenient, probably laying groundwork for a future novel. I didn’t like how it was handled, though, probably because I didn’t have any sense of Imogen’s character. She mostly sat in her bedroom and talked to Abigail, which made me seriously wonder at first if she were handicapped and incapable of leaving her house.

You know how most Regency (if not all) romances end happily, and then there’s an epilogue showing off a delightful marriage and children? This epilogue was… wrong. It’s like how, when your favorite tv show is going to have a spinoff series, they spend an episode with new characters and settings and try to get you interested. If the new stuff is good, then you might get excited. But if not, you’re just mad that you don’t get to see your regular characters doing regular things. In the case of this book, I wasn’t even that invested in the original characters, but I would have liked them to have some screen time together. Resolving a final romantic problem in an epilogue without one of the romantic partners present is, well, lame.

Rating: C

*ARC Provided by LLD Press via NetGalley

Miss Watson's First Scandal

by Heather Boyd

Release Date: July 2, 2013

Publisher: LLD Press

Review: Love at First Date

Reviewed by Janell
 

This is a cute fairy tale disguised as a contemporary novella. Ellen, recently turned 30, is ready to marry and have two children. Her mother, now on her third marriage, has drilled into Ellen the mantra that compatibility is the key to a successful relationship. To that end, Ellen has joined an online dating service to screen out anyone who might prefer paragliding over walks on the beach, and to include only honest, successful men ready for marriage.

As the story opens, Ellen has narrowed her choices down to two matches. She is prepared to meet them face to face and begin her lifetime of shared goals and political views. But wait! First she has to dog-sit for her best friend, which leads to an evening at the vet, which leads to dog-training school and Henry. Henry is an unscreened, unknown, dog-rescuing, gray-eyed hottie in sweatpants. What should Ellen do?

Ellen forces herself to meet the two appropriate men, all the while daydreaming about Henry. Because he has nice eyes and a nice dog. What’s not to love? Over three nights of dog training she dreams, she doubts, she focuses, she despairs. In the end, everything works out, yay!

This is a short romance, I read it in about an hour. It introduces other characters who have their own full-length novels in the series. Based upon the writing style, the other books should be light, breezy, and fun. This story was pretty much building up to a kiss at the finale, so the heat factor was almost zero. I wonder how steamy the other books are? I probably won’t read them because I felt this story was too fluffy, too “waiting for Prince Charming”. But I bet my fourteen-year-old self would have fallen for it completely.

Rating: B

Click to purchase: Amazon

Love at First Date

by Susan Hatler

Release Date: October 31, 2012

Publisher: Hatco

Review: Spartan Frost

Reviewed by Jen
 

I have to say, I was so excited when I found out we were getting a novella from Logan's POV. I'm always down for getting in the head of a series hero, but this one was even more tempting to read because of the angsty way the last book ended. After all, the dude tried to kill his girlfriend!  The emotional impact should have been huge.  Only, it wasn't really.

Yeah, Logan feels like crap for what happened. He blames himself. He doesn't trust himself. And he wants revenge on the Reapers.  But if you're looking for anything deeper than that, you're SOL.  This is novella is really short. A third of it focuses on recounting the events of Crimson Frost, a third of it focuses on a battle with some Reapers, and the rest is a look at Logan's relationship with his dad (and a really descriptive scene involving the contents of their breakfast.)

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy Estep's writing (and her foodie scene always make me hungry.) But this was pretty superficial and didn't show me anything new about Logan as a character.  It wasn't a bad read, but it felt I could have gotten just as much out of this if it were pared down and delivered as a web short.

Just ok.

Rating: C

*ARC Provided by Kensington via NetGalley

Click to purchase: Amazon

Spartan Frost

by Jennifer Estep

Release Date: June 28, 2013

Publisher: Kensington

Review: Hope Breaks

Reviewed by Shelly

This is the first in a series about Hope Jones. Hope’s job as a photographer doing romance novel covers could be construed as the lush life, but Hope will beg to differ because she can’t seem to produce a cover that the publisher’s star author seems to like. She’ll be lucky if she can keep her job. I wasn’t expecting such a banger (no pun intended) of an introduction. I thought Bello would ease us into Hope and her life, but no, she brings it straight to the heart of the matter. I gotta say that I like it, I like it a lot.

Hope is what I like to call a hot mess. She’s not really sure what she’s doing and the inner monologue makes her that much more likable – she’s witty and sarcastic. Waking up one day to the trial of finding a male model so she can take some scintillating pictures, Hope goes to the local Wal-Mart looking for painkillers to fend off that headache she’s working on. While she’s isle hopping, she meets Drew. Bingo! Perfect Wal-Mart experience: you walk in for one thing and walk out with something a little extra. Now all Hope has to do is make sure that Drew shows up for the photo shoot.

In the parking lot her trusty steed, okay it’s really a Ford Taurus, has decided that Hope needs to find another way home. Once she gets her car over to the Tire and Lube Express area, she meets hunkalicious #2, Jake Troy. Turns out that Jake remembers Hope from high school and from what happens later, that’s not a bad thing. The chemistry between these two was really good. Jake is a flirt and he knows it, but I’m not convinced (yet) that he’s a player, just a guy who knows what he wants. There’s a vibe that there are things that Jake is not giving away this early in the game and I can’t wait to find out what they are in the next story.

I had couple of time related issues – I’m not sure of Hope’s age, it’s either 37 or 26. I’m hoping it’s 26 because that would make sense and but some of the (Def Leppard/Van Halen) concerts mentioned wouldn’t. Maybe it’s the version I received?

Suffice it to say, that didn’t take away from the story enough that I didn’t enjoy it because I did and will be reading the others in the series. Be warned, this does not have an HEA or HFN.

Happy reading folks!

Rating: B-

*ARC Provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Hope Breaks

by Alice Belo

Release Date: June 14, 2013

Review: Falling for the Lawyer

Reviewed by Shelly

Working as an assistant Personal Assistant in a big law firm, Alex Farrer is sure that she’ll be out of a job as soon as the new boss shows up. Little does she know that the nice stranger who helped her that rainy morning is her new boss. JP McKenzie is the new partner at Alex’s law firm, he’s also Alex’s boss and after meeting the mud-drenched Alex, JP’s first day on the job grows into something that’s a little bit different than he’s used to.

This was a pleasant, quick, fun, and angst filled story - just like I like ‘em. Even though this is a ‘clean’ romance, no sex – zero zip nada – I couldn’t stop turning the pages. Clifton had me on the edge about what Alex would do about her staid, predictable and unhappy life. Would she fall back on what’s comfortable or make the change for something different? Suffice it to say, if I could life a (drama free) angst filled life I would, but since I can’t, I live that vicariously through these kinds of characters.

Alex’s character went through her share of change and growth. From an insecure and malleable character, Alex’s metamorphosis into a woman of strength and substance was a welcome transformation. That she was able to stand up to those around her, including JP, was handled really well without any melodrama and tantrums. Instead I saw Alex grow some and manned up to get down to the business of living the one life she’s got.

I must admit that I didn’t like JP at first.  Actually about the first half of the story I though he was a jerk because he came across as brash and loud and wouldn’t stop yelling at Alex. I thought he was just going to bully this girl and she would take it – oh nay nay! I warmed up to him eventually though and I could see that he cared about Alex as a person and didn’t want to see her wasting her potential because of fear. It’s always nice to have someone believe in you, even when you don’t believe in yourself.

There were some secondary characters that helped to move the story along and were quite enjoyable to read about. If you’d like a clean, good story about a discovering yourself and finding happiness, then I would definitely suggest that you give this one a go.

Happy reading folks!

Rating: B

*Book provided by Harlequin Enterprises Australia via NetGalley

Click to purchase: Amazon  

Falling for the Lawyer

by Anna Clifton

Release Date: March 1, 2013

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

Review: On Every Street

Reviewed by Jaimie
 

Ellie Watt grew up in a family of con artists and a bad decision by her parents results in a notorious drug dealer dumping battery acid on her leg, permanently scarring her. Now 20 years old, revenge haunts Ellie’s every thought so she gets help from a friend of her parents to transform herself into the ultimate con artist – Eden White is born. Eden’s goal is to seduce someone in drug lord Travis’ organization and get close enough to him to throw battery acid in his face. She sets her sights on Javier Bernal, a smooth talking, dangerous man and she winds up falling in love with the man she is supposed to betray.

This book was a very strange experience for me. Karina Halle was a new to me author and the blurb for the book sounded like one I would really enjoy. In the first couple of chapters I liked Ellie/Eden and she was presented as a strong woman who wanted payback for what had happened to her. I’m not even sure at what point it went downhill, but it happened very fast and it never got better for me. One of the first things that rubbed me the wrong way was the fact that Eden was going to seduce a high-up member of a drug organization – and yet she was a virgin. Given that I knew from the blurb she would fall in love with Javier I really figured the loss of her virginity would wind up actually working within the plot but it just didn’t happen that way.

The scene where she actually has sex for the first time bothered me and it really takes a lot to bother me in a book. I didn’t expect hearts and flowers but the entire scene was way over the top and to me it played out more along the lines of a rape scene. First Javier ties Eden up and blind folds her while she’s on her stomach. Okay it is not the first time I’ve seen that in a virginity scene but it usually involves some tenderness and caring. However Javier then has very rough sex with her and she is crying and telling him to stop because it hurts. He tells her that her pain is beautiful and then puts his hand around her throat and she struggles to breathe. At some point she begins to enjoy the sex but I still couldn’t quite get past my initial dislike of that scene.

Even though Javier is a member of this drug organization, I kept waiting for the “other” story - like that he was really on his own revenge quest or something even moderately redeemable about him but that never came. He really is the ultimate douchebag and you don’t usually see those guys as the love interest in the story. Their relationship moves at a very fast pace and it isn’t long before Eden throws her battery acid into the sea and abandons her plans for revenge. Javier becomes obsessed with Eden almost immediately and he tells her that if she ever leaves him he will hunt for her on every street – hence the name of the book. Eden finds this sweet and takes it as a sign of his love for her. I find it creepy and disturbing.

My biggest problem with the story was Eden. I’ve fallen in love with plenty of vulnerable, not as strong female lead characters but Eden was just pathetic. There is nothing redeemable or likeable about her. She starts off as a kick ass woman who has a goal and she winds up a simpering cliché. At one point Javier tries to break up with her saying she deserves better and she begs him not to – even though she knows the truth about who he really is. She witnesses him murder someone he considered a friend – in their dining room – and she decides enough is enough and she runs away. He finds her because he had placed a tracking device in her car (stalker much?) and she is relieved that he has kicked the door in and found her and they have sex before heading home. Their “love” story continues for a while until she comes home and finds him having sex with someone else in their bed. She takes this harder than the fact that she saw him murder someone and she finally decides to leave for good.

This book is the prologue for a trilogy and I honestly cannot imagine sitting through another story about Eden/Ellie. A tortured, vulnerable, abused heroine I can get behind, but there is not one likeable thing about either of the main characters in this story.

Rating: D-

*ARC Provided by Forever

Click to purchase: Amazon 

On Every Street

by Karina Halle

Release Date: March 9, 2013

Publisher: Metal Blonde Books

Review: Toxic

Reviewed by Shelly
 

I’ve read McBride’s ‘Imperative Series’ and I very much liked the first two stories in the series. I didn’t really understand the motivation of one of the main characters in the third and last story, but I’m sticking with the theory that two out of three isn’t bad. So when I saw this new series coming out I was intrigued enough to read. Small disclaimer before going on - there’s a message on the book blurb with a couple of things: 1) This is a revision of a short story "Sex and Chocolate: Toxic" (publisher not mentioned). 2) This series follows Educating Evangeline (Doms of Dark Haven 1) and precedes Hunting Holly (Doms of Dark Haven: Western Night). I’ve not read any of those so I can’t tell you how these characters are related.

Briony Theale is the town veterinarian. Her unusual connection and empathy with animals has led to both her profession and the Wildlife Rescue center. Other than the animals, Briony has a thing for chocolate and Wildlife Rescue ranger Rico. Rico has his own thing for chocolate and it includes Briony with her sweet chocolate scent. After a very casual dinner, Rico and Briony share a kiss. They then realize and admit that they share mutual feelings of attraction. After returning to her clinic, Briony reassess her chocolate addiction and its contribution to the extra pounds on her hips (and everywhere else) and decides that going cold turkey is the way to go. She decides to throw away everything including that secret stash.

I had a very hard time writing this review. I have what I consider a very simple theory – make it make sense to me. I don’t care the genre, contents, location, anything – just make sense. Maybe what’s missing for me was I didn’t read any of the other stories and maybe those would have explained more about this story. For me, this book started out with promise --especially about the person who ends up raising Briony -- so exciting! It had me going to the point that I was pretty sure Briony would take on some of those skills, but that didn’t happened. To be honest, I wasn’t disappointed in that at all because I liked where the story went... until the end where I think I was supposed to have had a lobotomy; more on that later. I thought that Briony held her own just fine. She’s smart, funny with a kind heart. Her attraction for Rico came off as real and sincere and I wanted her to get her man and I wanted him to get his woman.

The problems that Rico has with eating the chocolate is the same problem that dogs have with theobromine, but even though he hated being compared to dogs, like a dog he’ll eat things that are bad for him. I didn’t have a problem with that either, because it was good drama. What I wasn’t so sure about was Rico who said that he had control – why wasn’t he able to control his wolf?  I didn’t realize that chocolate could make the Rico’s wolf harm himself.

There’s a lot of mystery around an organization name Abraxas – maybe that’s something that’s mentioned in the Doms of Dark Haven series, not sure there. But this organization has the ability to manipulate something in people to produce a certain behavior. I had a lot of questions as to how, what, when and where but maybe that’ll be explained in future installments of the series or maybe it already touched in DoDH. But my butt really got chapped in the ending on this book. I would have definitely liked it more if the ending was more about Briony and Rico, but to me it wasn’t. And somewhere along the line I must have missed the basic biology/science topic - how can a transgender male to female be an alpha female? Did the surgery change XY to XX? That just didn’t make sense to me and totally took me out of the story’s enjoyed. I’d already suspended my belief as far as it would go.

Happy Reading folks!

Rating: C+

*Book provided by Loose Id via NetGalley

Click to purchase: Amazon

Toxic

by Belinda McBride

Release Date: April 23, 2013

Publisher: Loose ID

Review: Tempted

Reviewed by Jen
 

This novella is a nice little side romance that takes place between the events of Claimed and Hunted. It doesn't really advance the overall arc of the series, but it features several characters from the full length books. It also dips into the established worldbuilding and the romance provides some great sexual tension and some satisfying bedroom action.

The hero of the story is Max. He's one of the vampires who helped take care of Janie in the earlier books. He is tough as nails and built like a brickhouse.  The Kayrs brothers sort of adopted him after he left behind an abusive father in Russia, but he never really considered himself part of the family. He never really let himself feel, until Janie helped open his heart.

Now he has a new mission: find and protect a special, enhanced woman who is in danger from the Kurjans.  Sarah was almost killed by them, but when she went to the police, it earned her a one-way ticket to an insane asylum.  Max must convince her to trust him, while teaching her all about the supernatural world she has stumbled into. It won't be easy; her own brother is working with the enemy to take her down. But with Jase and Conn around to help, the good guys are armed for the fight.

I liked the romance here, because even though Max is tough and powerful, he doesn't feel the need to utterly dominate Sarah.  Even though he knows she is his mate, he gives her choices. He treats her with respect and doesn't threaten her dignity. My favorite line of the book:

He had no intention of being a bossy asshole with her.

If only more alpha heroes felt that way! As for Sarah, she is ok.  I didn't have strong feelings for her one way or another, except that I was happy that she accepted Max without the requisite drama of the other heroines, and gave him some happiness.

Rating: B

Click to purchase: Amazon

Tempted

by Rebecca Zanetti

Release Date: March 27, 2012

Publisher: Kensington

Review: Rebound

Reviewed by Shelly
 

This was a fun, short by new-to-me author Sabrina York. When I initially read the blurb I was intrigued because I’m a sucker for unrequited lust/ like/ love, then *poof* like magic everyone is in-love. This story is a good telling of that. Having just found her boyfriend sexing up her employee (while at work) Kristi Cross’s week can’t get any worse -- or can it? Getting out of town and away from her problems for the weekend, Kristi heads down to the house that she and her friends share.

Of all people to be at the house, her college crush Cameron Jackson is there for his weekend getaway. There’s not going to be a lot of stress though because Kristi knows that she’s not Cam’s type... until he suggests a game of Hearts and the prize is a kiss! Umm, seriously who can resist that? Kristi already knows she can’t resist Cam’s suggestion.

Other than Kristi jumping from one man’s bed right into another, she was very likable; her sarcastic humor was something that I completely enjoyed. Yes, she’s curvy but she wasn’t too self-conscious of that, at least not any more than any other girl would be when they know the type of woman the guy they’re interested normally goes out with. But what I liked the best was Cam’s POV; it’s rare that I’ll read more of the guy’s angle than the girl’s -- refreshing and sexy, yeah those words totally describe what Cam was feeling and thinking. I adored these two as a couple and the lusting was pleasantly lush. For such a short story, York did a lot in conveying strong emotions not just sex sex sex. It was definitely enough for me to look forward to the next story.

There are some secondary characters that I would love to know more about especially ‘doesn’t have a job playboy’ Lane and his ex-wife who’s also Kristi’s business partner.

Happy Reading folks!

Rating: B

*ARC provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Rebound

by Sabrina York

Release Date: March 29, 2013

Review: The Mad Earl's Bride

Reviewed by Jen
 

This book had great potential. The premise hit my tortured hero hot buttons. But sadly, this one did not do it for me.  It wasn't bad. It was just (*whispers*) kind of boring at times --and completely unbelievable at others.

So the setup is this: Dorian thinks he is dying of a brain disease. His mother had the same ghostly visions and blinding headaches, mere months before she started pulling out her hair, got institutionalized and died.  If her story is anything to go by, he hasn't got long and there is some crazy in his future.  The thing is, though, Dorian is the Earl of Rawnsley and when he dies, his line dies with him.  That idea is actually ok with him, but a well meaning acquaintance takes matters into his own hands and sets Dorian up with a bride.

Gwen is fascinated by the mysteries of the body and the mind. She would have been a doctor had she only been born man.  So she figures she can accomplish two things by marrying Dorian: studying his illness up close and, once he dies, use his money to help open a hospital for the poor.  Finding himself drawn to the unusual redhead, Dorian agrees to the marriage.  From there, it's only a hop, skip, and a jump for the marriage of convenience to become the real-deal.

With my deep-seeded love of tortured heroes, I was all ready for to hear about his misery, and how he was going to protect Gwen from loving him and whatnot.  But it was... meh. I was bored a few times and had to fight the urge to skim.  And then came my Issues.  First, I had some trouble believing Gwen's family would marry her off to a guy they think is truly crazy.  Then, I thought the nature of Dorian's illness was painfully obvious from the very beginning (you probably could figure it out from the review) --making the big reveal anticlimactic.  On top of that, he's a guy that goes from guzzling laudanum to stopping cold turkey with absolutely no effects.  I was just like... wha?

I will say that despite his maudlin tendencies, I liked Dorian.  He treated Gwen well and I believed he did everything in his power to make her happy. Plus, Gwen was independent and (marrying a crazy stranger aside) smart.  The sex was pretty good and ending was satisfying, albeit more than a little predictable.

This novella was previously published as part of the anthology Three Weddings and a Kiss.

Rating: C

*ARC Provided by Avon

Click to purchase: Amazon

The Mad Earl's Bride

by Loretta Chase

Release Date: June 4, 2013

Publisher: Avon

Review: Scarlet

Reviewed by Shelly
 

A short but sweet read that's just the beginning of the Alpha Marked series as the Sisters Wickham find their mates. Of the triplets, this is story of Scarlet and her Alpha mates. To the minute on her thirtieth birthday Scarlet gets an invitation to the yearly Gathering where it's expected that she'll meet her two mates.

This is a delightful and fun introduction to the series. There was enough humor, tension, passion and alphaness to get and keep my attention. Scarlet is a bit of a troubled soul in that she’s convinced that having two alpha mates is not going to be the best choice for her considering alphas are so, well… alpha. The Ruling Alpha pair Keller and Madden bonded (not mated) when they were much younger and know that they must share a mate and have spent their lives preparing for this; they know each other well enough to know how to share and share properly. I was content with the way the bonding was explained and even more impressed with the way that they took care of Scarlet. And the bonus for me was that they were not overbearing with the – me Tarzan, you Jane.

Last thing before I finish, even after meeting her mates there was still some hesitation and tension between the three to keep me interested. There are few things that turn me off as fast as when the heroine just gives up all of herself immediately after meeting her hero – thanks for not letting that happen Kyle. Nice!

I’m totally looking forward to the next book in the series.

Happy Reading folks!

Rating: B

*ARC provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Scarlet

by Celia Kyle

Release Date: April 3, 2013

Publisher: Summerhouse Publishing

Review: Secrets From Her Past

Reviewed by Jaimie
 

After reading the first installment in this series, Sins From Her Past, I was excited to hear that Evelyn’s brother Dylan would be getting his own story and that I wouldn’t have to wait a painfully long time to read it. I must admit I love “fast reads” that involve tropes like a secret baby, a horrible secret that will tear the couple apart, or when the hero believes the heroine did something bad and then finds out the truth. They are comfortably predictable and we know that there will be a fairly quick resolution to the story that ends with happily ever after. So in that respect this book was right up my alley and as a bonus I am a big fan of Jules Bennett.

When they were just teenagers Cori broke Dylan’s heart by running away one night shortly after his parents were killed in a car accident. She never explained why she was leaving and left Dylan with plenty of questions and unresolved feelings. Years later she returns to take care of her ailing parents who live right next door to the house Dylan grew up in and is now renovating. She is once again running away from a crisis and we learn fairly quickly that she had been arrested for possession of cocaine and eventually the charges against her were dropped. There was a lot of mention at the beginning of the novel that the District Attorney made it clear he wanted to pursue Corinne and could eventually arrest her again but then that storyline seems to drop and is not really mentioned again. I’m not sure if that is possibly going to be a plot point for a future story but it seemed a bit strange that we never really heard about the issue again.

I enjoyed reading about Cori and Dylan and I particularly liked seeing more of Evie and Vin. If I had my way they would not have jumped into bed so quickly after she returned to town because it didn’t really seem to fit with how much hurt had been caused when Cori ran away. Also at the time of their first encounter Dylan is still harboring doubts about her innocence with the drug charges so the fact that Cori would ignore that and just jump into bed with him kind of took her down a few notches in my mind. I also felt that the inevitable reconciliation after the big reveal of the secret Cori was holding was way too rushed and again didn’t fit with the hurt that each had caused the other, but with shorter books it is harder to play those things out.

That being said it did take me a little while to figure out what the big secret was and what I initially suspected turned out to be off base. I liked that because it meant the story, although predictable due to the nature of these books, still had the ability to take twists I didn’t expect. It doesn’t happen often with these types of books so I definitely appreciated that!

Overall, I thought some parts were rushed, but it was still well written and I hope there are more books in this series so I can see more of these characters.

Rating: B-

Click to purchase: Amazon

Secrets From Her Past

by Jules Bennett

Release Date: May 21, 2013

Publisher: Samhain

Review: Valkyrie Slumbering

Reviewed by Shelly
 

My first VanHorn, but not my last and while it’s a novella it definitely drew me in. Kyra’s on a revenge quest. Her father’s been murdered and the need for justice is high with her. Along the countryside she meets Grim who has some (if not many) secrets and skill (both on the off the battlefield) and is on his own personal quest.

This story took about a chapter for me to get in to, but once I was in – I was on board for the adventure. I must give one single warning before going on. This is meant as the beginning of a series, and judging by this installment,they’re going to connect and more enjoyable if read in sequence. This one ended in a cliff hanger so it’s no stand-alone and I would definitely recommend sequential reading.

Kyra is a tough one – she has her feminine traits but she can kick some butt when she needs to. I liked her quite a bit but if I had my druthers I want to see more dialogue between these two. There are a lot of inner thoughts which is usually so one-sided, it’s from Kyra’s point of view. I can’t wait to read more about Grim. He’s the strong, unselfish and kinda chivalrous, in an ole school Viking way.

Best part and what I really liked about this story is the world building that VanHorn has started. The scenery and correlation to myth is vivid – really pretty awesome stuff and fun. So for that alone I can’t wait for the second story in the series. For such a short story, there are a few sexy times and while they were good (don’t judge) I think I would have liked to see this couple show some restraint. But hey – when in Viking land you gotta live everyday like it’s your last!

Happy Reading Folks!

Rating: B-

*Book provided by author for review

Click to purchase: Amazon

Valkyrie Slumbering

by L Vanhorn

Release Date: March 2, 2013

Publisher: Inferno Publishing