Lovegame – Release Day & Review!!!

Title: Lovegame

Series: N/A

Series Number: N/A

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Author: Tracy Wolff

Publisher: Loveswept

Publication Date: June 7, 2016

Format: Ebook/ARC

Pages: 320

Rating:5

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb From Goodreads:

Hailed by J. Kenner as an author who “knows how to steam up the pages,” Tracy Wolff delivers a darkly addictive novel of seduction and psychological obsession. The stakes are high in Lovegame, when a movie star with a shattered past meets a man who can either break her or make her whole.

True Crime novelist Ian Sharpe has spent his career writing about serial killers for very personal reasons. For his latest exposé, he is taking on the sadistic madman known as the Red Ribbon Strangler, and when his research leads him to Hollywood’s most private and provocative actress, he will break every rule to uncover her truth.

The daughter of one of Hollywood’s golden couples, chased by paparazzi and treated as a commodity her entire life, Veronica Romero wields her sex appeal like a weapon. She expects Ian to be as easy to control as every other man she’s ever known. But from the beginning, he refuses to fall into line. Mysterious and cool, challenging and just a little bit dangerous, Ian somehow makes her feel safe—even as he digs into the deepest secrets of her life and pushes her to the breaking point.

As raw ecstasy gives way to agonized truths, their dark obsession exposes secrets that have been buried for far too long. Ian wants to tear down her walls and heal the sensual woman underneath. But if Veronica’s learned anything, it’s that the line between pleasure and pain is a narrow one—and when caught between them the only thing that matters is how you play the game.

Lovegame is intended for mature audiences.

My Review:

Wow….just wow! That was intense. A story of two people buried under 20 years of weekly subscriptions to their issues, weighed down by their fear, coming together explosively. It’s a wonder that anyone survived. I absolutely LOVED it! Each chapter switches from his point of view to hers, so we really get to know each one intimately and I am always so enchanted by that. I enjoy learning as much as possible about each character, why they react the way they do, or how they came to be who they are today. Although all the secrets don’t really come out until close to the end of the book I had some idea of what happened but was shocked when I finally got the whole story. I had to stop reading a few times just to process the depravity. Make sure to add this to your TBR list, it is so worth the read!

                    

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The Shadow Prince (Mortal Enchantment #1) – Review

Title: The Shadow Prince

Series: Mortal Enchantment

Series Number: #1

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Author: Stacey O’Neale

Publisher: Phoenix Reign Publishing

Publication Date: March 25, 2014

Format: Ebook

Pages: 111

Rating: 5

Blurb From Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Rowan has spent most of his life living among the mortals—learning to control the element of fire, impatiently awaiting the day his vengeful mother, Queen Prisma, will abdicate her throne. When he finally returns to Avalon for his coronation, his mother insists he must first prove his loyalty to the court by completing a secret mission:

Kill Kalin, the half-human, half-elemental daughter of the air court king.

Willing to do anything to remove his mother from power, he agrees to sacrifice the halfling. He returns to the mortal world with his best friend, Marcus, determined to kill the princess. But as he devises a plan, he starts to question whether or not he’s capable of completing such a heinous task. And what price he will pay if he refuses?

My Review:

OMG I could not put this down! And ARGH….cliffhanger from hell! This was an awesome tease of what is to possibly come and I can’t wait to read the next one. This story is told from Rowan’s point of view and boy is it easy to fall in love with him. You can’t help but feel bad for him as you get to know his mother, yikes she’s  horrible. I love the world that Ms. O’Neale has created and look forward to visiting it again as soon as I possibly can. This quick read will have you engrossed until the very end where you will end up screaming and scrabbling to get the next book. I’ve already got my hands on it and can’t wait to start it!

                

Winterlust Tales – An Erotic Anthology – Review

Title: Winterlust Tales – An Erotic Anthology

Series: N/A

Series Number: N/A

Genre: Erotica

Author: Ray Sostre

Publisher: AfterDark Press

Publication Date: January 2, 2016

Format: Ebook

Pages: 64

Rating: 4

Blurb From Goodreads:

Prepare for a cold winter, but because the season has changed it doesn’t mean the sexual fantasies have to. Author Ray Sostre delivers six steamy reads, related to a winter theme. Whether you’re snowed in or vacationing, or celebrating a holiday with your passionate one, this book will guarantee to heat up your winter.

This story contain explicit, descriptive erotic scenes that may not be suitable for readers under 18 years of age. This story contains anal play, m/m, f/f, and multiple partner scenes.

My Review

I was lucky enough to win this book in a giveaway and was quite excited to read this since it’s written by a man. I’ve read romance written by men but not erotica so I was looking forward to seeing what erotica would look like from a man’s point of view. I was expecting less romance and more outfits, pretty much porno. Needless to say I was quite surprised with these stories, yes there were a few outfits, but there was some romance, really sweet romantic scenes. Because these were all really short stories I was expecting less story and just sex but there was a story! I know, I judged first, shame on me. I know better now, and I’m looking forward to reading more by Mr. Sostre.

         

The Boy with Words (The Boy with Words #1 & 2) – Review

Title: The Boy with Words

Series: The Boy with Words

Series Number: #1 & 2

Genre: NA Sci-Fi Romance

Author: C.E. Wilson

Publisher: CreateSpace

Publication Date: April 23, 2016

Format: Ebook

Pages: 460

Rating: 4

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb From Goodreads:

White Frost has only ever known the darkness. Everything outside of her closed society is The Unknown – a strange and dangerous place accessible to only a chosen few. White’s only glimpse of the world beyond comes from her beloved cousin in the form of mysterious collections of words that hint at astonishing wonders. When an accident upends her simple existence, she’s given an unlikely chance to see the truth for herself. What she finds is greater and more terrible than she could have imagined, and before long she is forced to make the most important choice of her life: does she accept her safe, limited world that she’s known or take a desperate gamble in a world not meant for her with the Boy with Words?

My Review:

Needless to say the blurb does not do the book justice. I was pleasantly surprised by this story. When I was asked if I would be willing to review this story I immediately went to Goodreads to check out the blurb and cover, but for some reason I did not read any of the reviews. After reading the blurb and seeing the cover I thought “this sounds interesting enough”. I’ll admit that I somewhat put off reading it because I had other books that seemed more interesting, but I couldn’t put if off any longer so I dove in. I’m not really sure how much I should share about the story, just because the author obviously left things out of the blurb for a reason. Although, I have now read some of the other reviews and they have explained more so I guess I will too.

This story is about a love that does not fit into anything normal by anyone’s standards. It’s a love that transcends size and social norms. It’s a beautiful love story between someone that is 6 inches tall and someone that is 6 feet tall. The trust that grows and the willingness to let go when necessary just to come back together again. Absolutely beautiful!

The only problem that I really had was the words, haiku’s written on paper in the normal sized (our size) world somehow being small enough to for a 6 inch person to have many of them covering her ceiling. Or a 6 inch person writing one and it being easily read by someone much bigger. This baffled me, I think if it wasn’t so important to the story I could get past it but it’s such a big (ha ha) part of the story that it bugged me. I couldn’t let the question go, “how can this work?”. Every time I talked to my hubby, who doesn’t read a lot of fiction so I can give him spoilers, I was stuck on this issue. It just didn’t make sense. Everything else in the story was awesome, I loved how I was surprised, it was like getting a present. You have some idea of what you’re getting by the size/shape/weight but you still don’t know what it is exactly until you open it. You might know it’s a book but until you unwrap it you don’t know what book it is. I wanted to give this 5 stars but the words on paper not making sense due to size is somewhat important due to the title of the book. I hope you still decide to pick up the story and enjoy it as much as I did.

Lance (The Santera Series Book 2)

Title: Lance

Series: The Santa Espera Series

Series Number: #2

Genre: Erotic Romance

Author: Harley Fox

Publisher: N/A

Publication Date: June 3, 2016

Format: Ebook

Pages: 240

Rating: 5

Please note that I received a complimentary ARC copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb from Goodreads:

He turned my world upside-down, and gave me exactly what I needed.

KATIE

I’ve spent the last seven years working non-stop. Building my own therapy practice, carving out a name for myself. It isn’t as easy as it sounds. Now that I’ve finally made it, I wonder where I’m going to go from here.

Life has a way of making decisions for you.

Part of me wishes I’d never met Lance. Just gotten in my car and driven away, instead of going behind the restaurant and getting f***ed three ways from Sunday.

Who knew being bad could feel so good?

It wasn’t till later that I found out how dangerous he is. And it wasn’t until after that that we started running for our lives. Now it’s just the two of us together. I wonder where we’re going to go from here?

LANCE

Being a hitman can be stressful.

The work is tough, even if you get into it for the best reasons. Sometimes you just need someone to talk to. So when my friend Willy told me about this shrink, I figured I’d give her a shot.

I didn’t expect to see her again.

I thought that night behind the restaurant wasn’t going to mean anything. I didn’t know it would take me over, make me want nothing else but her.

But we’re together again and I’ve got to have her. It doesn’t matter that someone’s trying to kill me. It doesn’t matter that we’re on the run. I’ll keep her safe. I’ll take care of her.

I’ll show her that even a bad boy is capable of love.

Lance: A Hitman Romance is a full-length bad boy romance novel with NO CLIFFHANGERS and NO CHEATING. It contains dark themes, a happy ending, and some incredibly hot sex!

My Review:

Talk about HOT!! This is the second book in the series and in both the characters get down and dirty without even knowing names then later there’s an unexpected encounter. The characters are total opposites but it works. Each chapter flips from one point of view to the other so we really get to know each of the main characters intimately. I love being able to understand the characters this way, I know what they are thinking, hiding, feeling or some of their past and it makes the story that much better to me. I love erotica but I want a story that if you take the sex out there’s still a great story. Ms. Fox has definitely done that and then some. Great writing that pulls you into the story to the point that everything else around you seems to disappear. I am loving this series and I can’t wait for more!

The Mediator (Jade Dober) – Review

Title: The Mediator

Series: Jade Dober

Series Number: #1

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Author: Milana Jacks

Publisher: Inked Refuge

Publication Date: May 13, 2016

Format: Ebook

Pages: 252

Rating: 4.5

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb from GoodReads:

The world is fractured. Few dare to cross the lines dividing the three main factions – Humans, Horned, and Shifters. Except for the Mediators trained to settle inter-factional disputes and enforce the Human Office’s regulations in the lawless zones.

Jade Dober is one of those Mediators, though sometimes she feels more like a glorified halfling social worker sent into the hinterlands to make it appear the Office gives a crap.

Deep in the Second Nevada Trade Zone is her next case: a human/werewolf halfling, a trade school student, trapped in a “wild” state. The teen’s half-sister wants to claim him under her pack—a sure death sentence—while the school’s principal fights to free the human trapped within the animal.

Saving a life is Jade’s stock-in-trade. But when her investigation uncovers an illegal plot to breed a new species of shifter, the resulting ruckus captures the attention of the Horned King. This is bad. Very bad. Because Jade isn’t quite what she seems. And if the Horned King lays claim to her first, no one on this planet—or her own—can save her.

***This urban fantasy is written for an Adult Audience.

My Review:

This was fun and exciting, with some unique characters that was really refreshing. The halflings are just that, half shifter and half human not really anything new. The uniqueness was that they can only partially shift and each one is different. May be that only be the top half of the body can shift, maybe only the bottom half, or a mixture in between. Then throw in the fact that there are shifter birds, horses, wolves, bears, bunnies, almost anything and I can see this series going far. The joy of the story being unpredictable pulled me in, I had no idea what what going to happen next and that makes for an awesome read! Yes, a few things were obvious but that’s normal. For the most part I would think something was going to happen and it wouldn’t or vice versa. The world that Ms. Jacks has created is fantastically built and I can’t wait to jump in again!

CLONES: The Anthology – Review

Title: Clones: The Anthology

Genre: Sci-Fi

Author: Many

Publisher: Holt Smith LTD

Publication Date: May 24,2016

Format: Ebook

Pages: 256

Rating: 4.5

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

CLONES: The Anthology

Human cloning.
Technology evolves faster than we do.
The law shields us from our worst temptations.
But the opportunity is there, dangling just out of reach—perfection and ascension… or delusion and destruction.

In this collection of clone-themed stories, ten of today’s top speculative fiction writers explore our morality, our built-in societal restraints, and reflect upon our state of grace.

Similar is not necessarily the same.

“CLONES: The Anthology” features stories from Amazon bestselling authors Rysa Walker (the Chronos series), R.D. Brady (the Belial series), Susan Kaye Quinn (the Singularity saga), Best American Science Fiction notable Samuel Peralta (Faith), and USA Today Bestselling and Multi-Award Winner P.K. Tyler, plus five more of today’s top authors in speculative and science fiction.

My Review:

This was a great collection of little clone stories that made you think about the pros and cons of cloning. There were stories that were very futuristic, scary, and had very probable issues that could arise if we did clone people. I really enjoyed the twists that some of them had and the arguments for and against following this path of technology. I think this would be a great book for discussions, like book clubs, since so many different ideas are brought to light in each story.

                         

The Witches of Panay – Review

Title: The Witches of Panay

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Author: Fayr Willow

Publisher: Unknown

Publication Date: May 27, 2016

Format: Ebook

Pages: 169

Rating: 2

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

 

Blurb from GoodReads:

I was a normal girl, went to school, stayed out of trouble, and did my homework. I hung around with my best friend, Chantelle, and worked part-time at my Mama’s floristry. My life on Earth was as normal as anyone’s could be, other than my being a witch. Nothing exciting ever happened. That was, not until the day Jake arrived. Then, slowly everything changed.
Now, I find myself entering Magickal realms, talking to animals, and encountering monsters that I thought were just myths. I am told I am the Chosen One. I have a job to do. I have to save the Earth.

My Review:

I hate giving bad reviews but this book just annoyed me. The first few pages were great and made me want to read more but once 11 years had passed my enthusiasm for the story fizzled. The main character, Larissa Emi, was not at all a normal 16 year old and it seemed like everyone talked down to her like she was only 6 instead of 16. When she was 5 and fleeing for her life with her friends and family she seemed like a powerful witch, but at 16 it was like she didn’t even know spells anymore. As I read on it got even worse, now she has to go on a quest to repair the Aurora Borealis  and defeat the Dark Witch to save all the galaxy, all with practically no training. She does have moments of “great power” but she seems as clueless as the humans that live on Earth that know nothing about the paranormal. Parts of the story reminded me of reading The Golden Compass (which I loved) and it wasn’t subtle enough to seem like it’s own story. Needless to say I was very disappointed.

Denial (Careless Whispers #1) – Review

Title: Denial

Series: Careless Whispers

Series Number: #1

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Author: Lisa Renee Jones

Publisher: Gallery Books

Publication Date: November 24, 2015

Format: Ebook

Pages: 321

Rating: 5

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb From GoodReads:

Book one in the CARELESS WHISPERS series. This is a standalone spin-off of the INSIDE OUT series (soon to be a TV show) that follows Ella Ferguson, Sara McMillan’s best friend.

Ella Ferguson awakes alone in Italy, unsure of who she is, and a gorgeous man has claimed her as his own. He’s tall, dark, and sexy, with money and power, the kind of man who makes a girl want to be possessed. And he does possess her, whispering wicked wonderful promises to her, stealing her trust and her heart. Soon though, the past finds her, yanking her from a cocoon of passion and safety. Everything is not how it seems. The truth will shatter her world, but it can set her free, if it doesn’t destroy her first.

My Review:

Ella wakes up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there or who she is. The only reason the reader knows her full name is because the blurb tells us. She does end up remembering her first name but not her last, so this is the only thing we know about her that she does not (unless you’ve read the Inside Out series which I have not yet). The story is told from Ella’s point of view so we know as much as she does (other than her name of course). This story has everything I love, suspense, mystery and some romance. It takes off with a bang and carries you on a roller-coaster ride that leaves you panting and screaming for more. So yes, it’s a doozy of a cliffhanger with a whammy of a hangover. But it is SO worth it! Kayden is a wildcard, he’s the one protecting her and trying to help her figure out who she is. Problem, he seem familiar and that would’ve raised some red flags for me but having a hot guy demanding to protect you can cause thoughts to be forgotten. I do love the fact that Ella isn’t just some damsel in distress though, she is tough and smart with just enough vulnerability to make her believable as a character. All I can really say is this…

GIMME THE NEXT BOOK!!!!!

                    

Midnight Burning (The Norse Chronicles #1) – Review

Title: Midnight Burning

Series: The Norse Chronicles

Series Number: #1

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Author: Karissa Laurel

Publisher: Red Adept Publishing

Publication Date: July 7, 2015

Format: Ebook

Pages: 280

Rating: 4.5

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb from GoodReads:

Solina Mundy lives a quiet life, running the family bakery in her small North Carolina hometown. But one night, she suffers a vivid nightmare in which a wolfish beast is devouring her twin brother, who lives in Alaska. The next morning, police notify her that Mani is dead. Driven to learn the truth, Solina heads for the Land of the Midnight Sun. Once there, she begins to suspect Mani’s friends know more about his death than they’ve let on. Skyla, an ex-Marine, is the only one willing to help her.

As Solina and Skyla delve into the mystery surrounding Mani’s death, Solina is stunned to learn that her own life is tied to Mani’s friends, his death, and the fate of the entire world. If she can’t learn to control her newfound gifts and keep her friends safe, a long-lost dominion over mortals will rise again, and everything she knows will fall into darkness.

My Reveiw:

This story was told from Solina’s point of view so we know as much as she does, which is nothing, other than her brother seems to have been killed by a wolf. There are so many questions that arise that remain unanswered until close to the end, which leaves you with a cliffhanger. The build-up to that cliffhanger was brilliantly written. Even with all the unanswered questions I felt like I really knew each character, choices they would make and how they would react. Ms. Laurel did an excellent job turning this centuries old myth into a present day possibility.

The characters are awesome, you have the simple Solina, the tomboy Skyla, the brooding Thorin, and the laid back comedian Val. I loved getting to know each and every one of them. Solina is the perfect daughter, doesn’t rock the boat in any way but on this journey she starts to overcome her fears and learn to live. Skyla is the perfect friend, she comforts yet doesn’t let Solina wallow for too long. Thorin, well he seems to love control but doesn’t seem to like to communicate which was a total piss me off. And Val seems to just want to get laid lol. It’s more than that but I don’t want to give anything away.

Favorite Quotes:

“But everyone’s abrupt departure left me alone in the company of the Patron Saint of the Perpetual Erection” – Solina thinking of Val.

“That was a real gem of an apology,” I said. “I’m polishing it up. Maybe I’ll get a setting made for it and wear it around for others to envy.” – Solina talking to Thorin.