Captivated

Captured (Wolf in Exile Part I): Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance

This book grabs you from the moment you start reading. Its like a really good roller coaster; hard and fast! I would recommend this to ANYONE looking for a good adventurous book that is very interesting and fun.

The good:
Great characters that are easy to identify with and believe.
Great scene setting. It was the perfect amount of information for each chapter. Like it was a movie in my head

The bad:
The book came to an end

Overall:
Heck ya I'm going to read the next installment, so should you!


Read this book here!

Check out the next installment Unchained (Wolf in Exile Part II): Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance here!

Find out more about dynamic author Amber Ella Monroe

Grounded

Wingless: misery's company by Holly Hood

Eve Cardwell, is willful and fiercely independent, she has to be, she lost her everything; her brother Marcus. He was her sense of security and her ability to believe that life is worth living. You know, that one person in the world that gets you, forgives you, and loves you unconditionally.

Along comes Evan, saving her from herself and from everything she is trying to run away from. 

The good:

I actually liked the "death as mob" theme. Great idea. I think overall this book was full of a great deal of really good ideas. Ms. Hood is an out of the box writer with a real talent of keeping her creativity relatable; as in there is something in Eve that we all understand. There is something about Evan's struggle that we can all relate too, yet he invites Eve and us into his dangerous and new world.

Evan is really hot.

Fav line:

"...My life lesson was simple. Believe with your heart, fear is real, and no one ever is going to make it out by the skin of their teeth. Death may be scary, but there was one thing that death gave us, and that was blindness to not see it coming until it was too late. And now I believed in everything that I was told I was wrong to believe..."

The bad:

Eve was really depressing and whiny. She comes from a rich family with parents who love her and two perfectly good siblings who want the best for her; I generally hate people like Eve who have to make up drama because they don't really have any. Yes, she lost her brother, but who hasn't lost someone? And, that is one bad thing that happened to her compared to people who persevere through hardship with far less support and resources than what she has to work with.

I believe that Ms. Hood meant to make the character "unlikeable," so I continued to read and met Evan who seemed awesome, I kept wondering why was he dating this dark and annoying whiny 'blah' of a girl.

Then the arguing started, Eve and Evan spent quite a bit of time YELLING! at each other, flip-flopping from happy to violent way too often; to much drama for me. I was rolling my eyes and thinking, "Just leave each other alone." 

Overall:

This was an okay read. I wasn't blown away, but I will continue to read Ms. Hood's work because I think she is a really talented author with a bright future. Meet Holly Hood

I'm jus sayin:

I should tell you that I am one of those "Men are like buses, next one comes in fifteen minutes."  I'm just not a epic love story kind of gal, sorry "Twilight" and "Titanic," but I have better things to do, like paint my fingernails and watch them dry or go to the golf pro shop with C-mac.  

Check this book out at Amazon and goodreads

Seduced

Seducing the jackal by Seressia Glass

Blurb: Centuries ago, tragedy severed the alliance between the jackal shifters and powerful Egyptian priestesses. But when four of his brothers succumb to a deadly curse, clan commander Markus kidnaps one of the witches and insists she undo the evil magic.

Although Tia can undo the curse, she insists her coven is not behind it—and she is shaken to her core by her intense attraction to her captor. The sparks between them quickly ignite, filling them both with passion and power unlike anything they've ever known. Will it be enough to heal the rift between their peoples?

The good:

I found this to be a really solid read. The author is a good writer with a strong voice. Her characters are well thought out with understandable motivations. In other words, as readers we’re provided enough back story to understand the why the characters choose the decisions they do. I also liked that the story focused more on the relationship between the H/H and not so much on the mythology of ancient Egyptian deities. And Tia’s power, YASSS! I love the whole situation (You have to read it or visit my blog to figure out what I’m talking about).

I found a few problems, so I can’t use the term ‘bad’

A few minor grammatical errors

The story was a little predictable

I’m jus sayin: ****spoiler alert***

Sexual energy feeds her power ( How Awesome!)

Get the book here at Amazon or check it out on goodreads

I do.

If you've never heard of Kim Harrison, shame on you. SHAME!

She is an amazing writer with an eclectic group of characters that will make you love to read. Seriously, she is amazing and I am a bookie when it comes to her. I once wrote on her blog and she wrote back. I giggled like a school child and told all of m co-workers and friends about the experience.

One of the main reasons that I love her is her Hollows series. Its AMAZING. no seriously, its STUPENDOUS!

Who else could blend supernaturals into one storyline: vampires, fairies, nymphs, elves, demons, and Tinkerbell (pixies).

I'm humbled every time I read one of her novels: "Pg 38 describing Trent, "Elegance coupled with savagery and a frightening grace, magic sung into existence"


So effing amazing! How could you not read this? Did I mention the lesbian tension? Or the hot chemistry between Rachel and Trent, one of the main protagonists, or Rachel and Al (the demon). I mean I'm a little in love with Trent ( He was one of my book boyfriends), yet I hate him a little. Don't you love it when authors can pull that emotion out of you?
NO? Than get off this blog!
Pg 692. "It was beautiful. It made us deadly. It was an ancient war machine. The rings were made for this. And now we had access to the weapons vault."
Dayum!

Check out this series! Amazon, goodreads, B&N

Kim Harrison's Goodreads page

Chocolate....

Toxic: Truckee Wolves by Belinda McBride

I saw this on Amazon and was like, a book about an African American woman with a chocolate addiction? Hey! Who wrote my life storye without my permission! So, I read the story to provide evidence for my case. However the heroine is a Veterinarian and leads a more fascinating life than mine. Alas I read on and enjoyed this read!

Dr. Briony Theale loves. her job as a veterinarian, a good bar of chocolate, and Rico, the ranger in charge of the Wildlife Rescue center. When a dinner date with her crush turns surprisingly intimate, Briony realizes that she might just have a chance with him.

Rico Montgomery fell hard for Briony the first time he set eyes on the curvy little doctor. Her rich brown hair and cocoa skin trigger cravings he can barely control, and her fragrance is like the sweetest, richest chocolate he's ever scented in his life. That's a bad thing for Rico, because to a werewolf like him, chocolate is literally a toxin. 
Rico can't live with it, and Briony can't live without it. And when a certain wandering wolf finds a bag of chocolate in the trash near Briony's clinic, these two will find out just how toxic love can be.


This was just an okay read. I felt like I was missing part of the story, so I went about trying to find other books in the series and it turns out that this is the first. Then their was the drawn out story of Rico being stuck in his wolf form and not being able to tell Briony. Then their was the pack taking her hostage after Rico goes 'missing.'

There were just too many unexplained details and the 'drama' was a little to drawn out. The bombshell at the end concerning Dion was telegraphed with the first chapter. 

Overall, heh!

Form your own opinion by reading this book, click here!

Donor (Dresdon Coven)

I saw this book in my inbox from Amazon.com so I downloaded the sample and immediately fell in love with this dark gritty love story.

Elaina was once a tracker of Dresdan, an ancient species of vampire. For years, she served District 5, until she learned their prime agenda is to create a new race of humans Before Elaina can expose the truth, District 5 discovers that her blood type contains the elements to create a successful hybrid. She becomes the hunted, but protection is found while in the presence of one vampire, Vicq.

Vicq who dies because of her. Or did he?

For a novella I found the characters to be well rounded and very believable. I am now a fan of Mrs. Kirk and will continue to read her novels future works. The story is great, with lots of action and well written romance. I pictured the story in deep crimson and shadows. 

My only gripe is towards the end in the nightclub. A few new characters are introduced towards the end and their interactions with the hero and heroine are kind of uncomfortable other than that A+ for Donor.


Check this book at Barnes and Noble or Amazon. To see more reviews check-in@ goodreads

You’re My Best Friend…Oh God! I Love You!

I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that one of my favorite romantic tropes is “Friends to Lovers”. Well not to me, anyway. It was how my husband and I fell in love. Our epic romance began in college. Though we attended different schools, we spent a lot of time together—partying, road tripping…partying. Eventually we became close. I trusted him with my most intimate thoughts, dreams and concerns—he was my best friend. Then, one fateful New Year’s Eve he declared his love for me. We were a tad bit inebriated—just a tad bit, mind you—but it was so sweet! I can still hear his impassioned declaration now: “I love that girl, man! I love her!” It just about moved me to tears…or it could’ve been the dry-heaving over the toilet that brought on the tears… It’s still so unclear. Anywaaaay, fifteen years later we are living our happily-ever-after! And he doesn’t need alcohol to tell me he loves me! *Cue the Disney birds chirping and One Day My Prince Will Come music now*

There’s something about falling in love with the person who knows you best—faults and all—and still adores you. In my new release, Secrets and Sins: Gabriel, with Entangled Publishing’s Entangled Suspense line, my heroine, Leah Bannon, has been in love with her best friend, Gabriel Devlin, since she was a teenager. She’s not blind to his faults—he’s broody, sarcastic, and has a thing against chatter—but she also recognizes that he’s loyal, trustworthy, loving and honest…well about most things. That’s where the Secret and Sins part comes in…

So who are some other famous Friends to Lovers? Oooh! Glad you asked!

Ross and Rachel/Chandler and Monica/Joey and Rachel –Like the title Friends indicates, the show was about six friends who lived, laughed and loved. And boy did they love! Sheesh! I intended to only mention Ross and Rachel, but then I remembered there were several hook-ups on this show! It was ménage a…a lot! Although the Ross and Rachel storyline is my favorite. “Unrequited Love” and “Friends to Lovers” all rolled up into one big, jumping-off-planes, I-realize-I-love-you-voice-mail happy ending!

Beauty and the Beast – From—you guessed it!—Beauty and the Beast! This is my favorite fairy tale. When most people read this story they think of the “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” or “the inside determines a person’s beauty, not the outside” themes. But this tale is also about a girl with a kind, loving heart who befriends a growling, lonely beast. Before their happily-ever-after, they took long walks together, dined together, talked and laughed together. Only later did she realize she loved him, and the power of that love and friendship ultimately broke his curse. 

Keith and Watts – Oh, Some Kind of Wonderful! It was one of my favorite 80s movie! Watts was a tomboy, I was a tomboy. She had a crush on her best friend, I had a crush on Michael Myler, my friend. I even think we shared the same haircut at one time…which was really unfortunate… Watts loved Keith and, though he was infatuated with popular socialite Amanda, she stuck by him. Even helped him win Amanda! But Keith eventually opened his eyes and realized Watts not just had his back, but his heart. Sigh.

Guest post

Hi everyone!


I'm so very proud to host author Naima Simone on my blog today. Mrs. Simone is a multi-published author in contemporary erotic romance, mother of two, lover of everything Vin Diesel, mother, wife, and RWA member of the Southern Magic chapter. You can visit her blog , twitter (I'm a fan), facebook (I'm a friend) or Entangled Publishing to learn more about her works.

Her new release Gabriel: Secrets and Sins is a great read for those of us who love Romantic suspense.

Secrets and Sins: Gabriel
Released from Entangled Publishing
June 24th, 2013
Available for pre-order now

Twenty years ago, Leah Bannon’s beloved Uncle Richard vanished without a trace. Leah, now a private investigator, begins to suspect it was murder. When she reopens the cold case, Gabriel Devlin—-the man she loves but can never have—-inexplicably stands in her way.

Only four people know the truth about Richard’s mysterious disappearance—-Gabriel and three childhood friends...who have all sworn to take that secret to the grave. But a hidden enemy wants those shocking secrets brought to light...even if he has to kill to make it happen.

After experiencing an unimaginable loss two years ago, Gabriel refuses to put himself through the pain of loving someone who could be gone in an instant. But as he thwarts Leah’s investigation at every turn—-both to keep his friends’ pact, and to keep her safe from danger—-the sexy PI makes it impossible for him to protect his secrets. Or his heart...

Lions, falcons, bears, and swans.......

Oh my!

Lion And The Falcon (Furry United Coalition) 

I couldn't make it past the sample for this book. There were too many characters with backgrounds that I didn't like this sample enough to buy the book.

Swan And The Bear (Furry United Coalition):

This was just an okay read for me. I found some problems that kep me from loving the book:

Repetitive
Wrong words
Needs better editing
The correct term is stylist, men don't go to hairdressers. Barbers or stylists

But overall, I enjoyed the read enough to continue reading Mrs. Langlais; i mean come on, she has a book titled "Delicate freakin Flower" I have to love her just for that!

 Click the titles to view these books at Amazon.com and form you own opinion!

What I've been reading.........

"She laughed as fell..." Because she's a boss!

Max Gladstone's novel is set in a world so different from ours; people called craftsman wield the power of God's. God's love, war, and trade their power and their devout love them all the more. Vampires roam free selling their wares to those addicted to their bite, and driverless carriages pulled by horse's ferry customer's to and fro the giant city of Alt Coulumb- a much easier task if the fare speaks horse.

Tara, a recent "graduate" of the hidden schools is approached by the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao. A prestigious firm offering her one shot at a position as associate and a chance out of the farm town her family lives in.
Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without Him, the metropolis’s steam powered technology will shut down and its occupants and his devout will tear the city asunderTara’s must help resurrect Kos before chaos reigns. Her companion, the last priest to see Kos the ever burning alive, Abelard, chain-smoking, non-horse speaking, devotee with a secret he doesn't know.

Was Kos was murdered? Or did he die of natural causes? They must find out in order to trial the case before Alt Coulumb’s court of justice pitting Tara against the very man who threw her from the sky as she laughed.


This is what I consider to be a hard read. Not because of the story or errors, but because my mind is so wrapped up in the present that it's hard to get into a totally different world. No cars, cells, or flat screen televisions. No love triangles, meaningless sex or angst ridden teens.
This is a the real deal, an honest to goodness piece of literary art. Not pride and prejudice style, but fantasy 'I WANT THIS TO BE A T.V. SHOW!' style. Completely and utterly original. I loved it. Imagining the city of A.C. along the lines of Hong Kong or Tokyo but with carriages and vampires, gargoyles, and craftsmen, men and women who use the start to draw power.
Oh, to be a craftsmen with my very own dagger and classroom full of mindless drones.

Awesome read, cool cover, great author who I can't wait to read more from.

Check it out here to buy it for your Kindle or go to goodreads to buy from a different retailer

Falling for a good book...

Edge of the falls by Nazarea Andrews

Sabah is an orphan child taken in by the mysterious ‘Mistress’ after being abdoned  to the slums as a child. Soon she grows up and falls in love, knowing her place living outside the great city nearby.

But when a ban-wolf saves her life, Sabah begins to change.

The book synopsis says that it’s a romantic retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but I found this book to be so much more than just a children’s story. I fell in love with the world that the author created. Not that it’s a magical fairytale with talking teacups and other server ware, a dark dystopia where a beautiful girl has more than just furry beasts to worry about when civilized gentry can change one’s fate on a whim.

Sabah is the best kind of heroine; fiercely passionate and strong, but also willing to be open and vulnerable when she finally sets her sites on what her heart desires.

I felt myself wrapped in Sabah’s story; fearing, feeling, betrayed, but also growing as Sabah did. I would recommend this story to anyone that enjoys a good well rounded read. The characters are magnificently written  and the story is thoroughly entertaining.



If you like what you read please hit the follow button. Thanks!

He's so my type....

He's so shy by Lena Matthews

Gillian and Lennon are co-workers. She mistakes him for being shy and decides to make him her project. He plays along. This is a good dirty book! I love the character, both the hero and heroine are well thought out with their motivations clearly made at the beginning of the story. Gillian likes the 'white guy' but won't admit it, so she takes him out for drinks and finds out that he's not shy at all. I admit my favorite character is her friend, she could by my wing-women any time. The big reveal in this book involves a party at a friends house, No I would NEVER participate in that kind of party. But the freak in me enjoyed reading about it. I also loved that the shero of this book was not afraid to find her love; I'm over women who run away from a good man. i would love to read more from this series.

There were a few errors:

Location 343 "And blind as a bat is she thought he could possible find any.....---> should be "possibly"

Location 1273 "Every since their little office escapade..." --> "Ever since"

The error at location 1373 is too adult to quote, but the wrong word is used, should be "fingering"

My new favorite word and  Favorite line of the book, Location 1226 "a fast convert to the religion of assianity"- Yeah, I will be using this to describe C-mac cause I converted him personally!

If you enjoyed this read click here. And if you like what you read please hit the follow button. Thanks!

False starts for the first week of April.....

Abandoned but not alone by Theresa L. Henry

A whole lot of telling without saying anything.

An immature annoying  heroine
1. Good thing you're an adult cause your parents couldn't afford to feed you
2. Hiding behind a grown stranger
3. A blurted chicken story

I have no idea the time and place the story takes place or any idea what any of the characters look like. DNF'd (Did not finish)

Needing Nita by Norah Wilson

Here is an example of the writing in this book "She'd only had" ---> translates to---> 'she had only had'

Enough said.

'Had'

1. 80% of the time its not necessary
2. Over usage- its annoyance to read over and over
3. Sometimes we write the way we talk to make our characters more realistic
4. Passive-aggressive: as the author its your story, take control and make me believe it
5. Feel a bit ameteur. I don't have the same complaint with GRRM or Anne Rice or James Patterson.

Please take my advice and re-read your work

The Admission by Jamallah Bergman

This book had so many errors, annoying characters, and No I'm not a hypocrite, I'm admit to being awful with grammar and I'm not charging for people to read my blog, it's free. So, if you're going to charge readers you will come under fire for having grammatical errors.

Location 470
"She stopped to straightening her clothes and took a deep..." should have been "Straighten"

The characters father is supposed to be verbally abusive (always negative and hurtful), but his lines to her aren't that hateful.

Location 680 or so:
"I like it the way it was, Cathy, I would appreciate it if you wire it the way it used to be for the party"

In my mind this is a case of "Don't talk about it, be about it" If the character uses his words as ammo than demonstrate that. Don't tell me 5011 (yeah, I stole that from my lil cousin) times that he's mean to her.  Show me.

Though this is a gorgeous cover and I'm not afraid to try something else by this author.

Happy Birthday Mr. Washington by C. Jackson

I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't do it. The Heroine is different and I usually like that, but I couldn't like the Hero. He breaks up with his girlfriend and goes out with a different girl on the very same day. That was a turn off to me. I also had a hard time with the sex scene's, they were boring and I hate boring sex!

The Gloom after reading this book......

The loom by Shella Gillus

I got this book from the library and began to read of a slave. A forward thinking slave who despite her misfortune of being owned and worked to the bone is forward thinking.

This is where it fell apart for me. A slave that believes whites were just as much slave. A mistress that convinces her slave to pass as white; a slave privileged enough to marry who turns her back on the husband she loves to end up with a white man that hates blacks.

So many themes and storylines. An oppressed person who feels bad for the persons who oppress her? No thanks. I can't imagine being a slave; the threat of rape hanging over my head, working to the bone and then feeling sorry for the people that kept me living in fear. The story seems too unbelievable and that is coming from a person who's favorite books contain male shifters with perfect bodies who fall to their knees for BBW's. So that is saying a lot coming from me.

If you're interested in a good book written about this era, try 

                     

"Wench" by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

No Clarity in the writing...............

Dark Clarity 

I bought this book based on some other people mentioning it on a group page that I frequent. I downloaded the sample to give it a go, but found it riddled with error after error. Finally at 20% I finally got fed up and returned it for a refund, I figure that if you're not willing to invest your hard earned money in an editor to improve your work, then I'm not willing to spend my hard earned money trying to read it.


Here are just SOME of the problems I encountered while reading this:


"I eyes popped open as I was yanked from the creatures crosshairs and slung hard against the wall"


"and wow the man was enormous, close to six and a half feet with broad shoulders,....." does not describe an enormous person, in fact it is only slightly above average height for males.


There is a tense problem, Location 2138: disappearing instead of disappeared


Many misuse/wrong words: Location 3523 "Slipped" instead of `sip' and "copse" instead of `corpse'.


Then there was the most unforgiveable of novel writing offenses; incorrect spelling:
Location 2944 "felping." Seriously? No matter what OS or program your working in there is some sort of spelling corrector built, why didn't the author use it?

Great title:

Scar by Kassanna

Great cover, mediocre read. I liked the concept of this book; someone kidnaps the son of the alpha. Fre, finds a puppy locked in car parked at a strip club; love follows. A single father, Rhys also happens to be alpha of his pack; he falls for Fre without revealing his true nature. 

I really enjoyed the cover of this book and saw that it had been reviewed favorably, so I got a sample. It was an okay read, though the hero and shero never became real to me.

I enjoyed the character Keen, but wish the author spent more time developing all of the characters in the story.

It felt flat when I read the love scenes and the actions were just white words on the black kindle screen. I prefer for the words to come alive in my imagination and this never happened. 

Maybe, it was the myriad of typos and grammar problems, or, the mundane details that didn't move the story (Why do I care about the way he sticks his straw in a drink? Location 392. And, an "ode" is a song, not an aroma. location 432). Either way this was just an okay read, certainly not worth $4.

And if you like what you read please hit the follow button. Thanks!

The darkness within- By Charisma Knight

Bitter beginning.

How am I supposed to like a book where it begins with the main character whining about missing her lovers? How am I supposed to like a book where the same heroine is proud of beating her abusive husband to death with a frying pan for cheating. Not in self defense, but because he called her fat and cheated; I guess the blows she received were just minor annoyances compared to the name calling and other women.

Juicer than expected!

Juicy by Pepper Pace

Good read, interesting characters that find an unlikely love. I didn't think I could stomach the hate words spewed by the heroine, but it was not very much and the characters develop quickly. As usual with Pace's work I learned something; how lack of human touch can effect people negatively. And, how often mental illness is misdiagnosed. Thank you again for showing and teaching your readers.

Can't wait for the next read!

please purchase this book here and drop me and comment on this book!

Adrienne!

Adrienne (Bron universe) by D. Renee Bagby

Adrienne is an average college student with a great destiny. Malik is the king of a country on Neon, a mirrored universe of earth.

The good:
I pictured Malik as Jason Momoa (that is him, Lisa Bonet's boo)

The bad:
A few grammatical errors

I'm jus sayin:
This is a good read worth the price of the book.

Devour this book!

Please leave a comment, I would love to discuss this book with you!

one more of Jason Momoa

Warrior come out and play

Warrior by Violet Dubrinsky

This is the fantasy love tale of Jaisyn head strong princess of Lytheria and stubborn Vulcan king of Morden.

The good:
So surprised how much I liked this book, though I'm obsessed with "Song for ice and fire" by George R.R. Martin, I just wasn't sure I would like another epic fantasy. So, so in love with this story; strong heroine, twists and turns, action and a good looking hero. Yes, please!

I'm jus sayin:
I'm so in love with V.D. right now. All of her books are good reads; well developed and interesting characters that can be both romantic and strong without making the story feel contrived . First Viktor, now Varian/Vulcan so in love with these manly men who have a sensitive heart and an adult imagination. 

V.D. Please, can I have another? And another two staring Varian, who I'm in lust with his controlled demeanor and of course one staring Malcolm. What about Malcolm, does he get over Jaisyn and find love? Please continue this series!

Have'nt read it yet? Buy it here

Please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you!!!