Wolf and Soul (The Alaska Princesses Trilogy, Book 3)

Theodora Taylor is one of my 1-clicks. In case you don't know, by one-click I mean that I don't read the synopsis, check the page to price ratio, or sample before I buy. I simply purchase with one click. This is major trust on my part, I am frugal and snobbish when it comes to books, but 2T earned my devotion several books ago.

With that being said, I woke up in the wee hours of Friday morning and checked my Youtube and facebook- don't judge me, it was 5:20ish and I refuse to get out of bed until I absolutely have to- The very first thing that I saw was a status update from 2T announcing that Wolf and Soul was available on Amazon. From her FB straight to my ipad I clicked; it was downloaded before I jumped into the shower.

I was finished with the book before my eyes drifted closed at my evenings end. Yes, that's right, I read this book in one day. I fought off sleep depravation and an annoyingly snoring husband because I just had to know how the book ended. The characters and story really resonated with me, so much so, that I ended up waking up early on Sunday and re-reading the book a second time.

I have to say, for me, this is the best 2T book that I've read since her Russian Billionaire, in fact this book cracks my top five favorite books by this author.

Singer Esperanza Spalding as Tu

One of the reasons that I really enjoyed this book was that the characters are more than just shifters, more than just interracial, more than just black letters on a white page. Dare I say they felt real to me? Well, as much as a Bi-racial-Alaskan-wolf-shifter-Princess can be. What I'm commending is the world building; werewolf royalty, meth dealers, dowry's, and deejay's? Oh my! But it all went together so well. The characters were tragically vulnerable, yet strong and protective at the same time. Beautiful. Wonderful, and a gem in my library.

Fav characters:

Tu. Of course I love the she-ro of the story, she is the first Alpha female that I believe 2T has ever
written. What I liked about her is that yes she beautiful with a great body and a wealthy family, but she is also strong, intelligent, yet "ruined." I cheered Tu, I jeered her, and I was really happy that she got her happy ending.

Grady. His "Dudley do-right" persona so endearing, which is not always the case since I tend to like them like I like my coffee, dark and brooding. But, in this case his courage, protectiveness, and vulerability really made me fall for him. Well, that and his large muscular body and giant appendage. I also related to him because of how disrespectful people were towards him because of his handicap.

Fav scene:

When Tu sees Grady and pronounces him, "mine" I fell in love with this book.

I'm jus sayin:

One of the biggest complaints that I had with the last 2T book that I read was that it was feeling a little "wash, rinse, repeat," however, this book blew that idea up like it was a giant killer shark (Get it? Remember? You know, Jaws! Really? They blew up the shark in one and three).

With that being said, I have to throw a little shade, reading the ASL grew a tad tiring to me; like reading a dialect. I know that it was intentional, and it wasn't too awful, I still had to say something.

Say What:

I Actually got on itunes and looked up Colid Fairgood's "Alabama Girls.." That's when I realized that he is character from one of her other series! Ha!

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To purchase this book, click the link to your favorite on-line retailer. Amazon, Goodreads, B&N

Quickies

Deceived by Thayer King

not well received....

I have read everything by Ms. King, I usually love her stories and make my husband act out some of the more gallant scenes (He has to rub lotion on my feet at night, I got that from "The matchmaker").

But, I didn't care for this book. I thought that the whole thing was to forced. The set-up, the scenes, the relationship.

I really feel like Ms. King could do better. I will continue reading her books, cause I know that she will do better than this.




Kuma by Kassanna

Love bear style....

I love Kassana, but this book was not my favorite.

I was looking forward to reading Nix and Boris' love story, both characters made great impressions in the other book, Nix is kick-butt and Boris has alpha male written all over him, but overall too short and a little rushed, which was a bit disappointing since I was really looking forward to this book.

With that being said my biggest complaint is that while Nix background is delicately handled, the S&M was not. I just needs another twenty pages of actual love story and maybe five less pages of hardcore "get it on."




The swan an the bear by Eve Langlais

Interesting....
This is my first F.U.C. read. I really liked how unique the shifters were; definitely really diverse. I even like the characters back and forth. The book was a little short for me, but I may try this series again.










Black Gold by Vivian Arend

I read this book and really enjoyed it. The characters are solid and the storyline is easy to follow. My only complaint is that sometimes the characters felt misplaced. His use of the term, "love" as in "sure love, I can get that" seemed a like the character should have been British. Just something stupid I noticed, not really a deterrent.

I will read this author in the future.




Birthright by Sydney Addae

I was very confused with the beginning of this book, I had no idea what was happening until two thirds the way through. From there I quickly got into the story, though some mystery still remains.


The good:
Interesting and unique story about wolf shifters

The bad:
I don't feel any emotional attachment to any of the characters.

Overall:
It was just okay.

This is definitely sinful.......

Sweet As Sin I saw this book on a social media site and really liked the premise and the historical aspect of this novel. In the aftermath of WWI, a war hero and a seductive heiress are brought together and married under the banner of convenience. Captain Drake Devilin fought with honor and survived only to return home to find his fortunes under dire circumstances. Enter his grandfather with a solution; marry and protect the old man's best friends daughter for one year and he will be able to restore his fortune.  

Sienna Caldwell wants to trust her father’s decision to marry her to the charming man, but realizes that the world may not be ready for them. Faced with secrets upon secrets, she can do nothing but put herself into Drake’s care. Together, they battle a magical world of myth and horror.


The Good:

This is a really dynamic read. The world, the characters, and the story are so much bigger than this book can hold. I felt like this was a really cool movie that was playing in my imagination and I was excited to see how the author would be able to wrangle these large than life characters into a cohesive ending, but she did.

I also give Ms. Carlton kudos for achieving a very different book in this genre of interracial romance. This is such a big  world to create, which is really difficult and I sometimes feel that the romance genre can have such small worlds with limited storytelling. 

I also like the fantasy of the storyline, it felt a tad steampunk or something along those lines, because of the characters, the forward thinking and the element of advanced science as well. (This is not a steampunk story, there are no dirigibles or cool gadgets). 

Favorite line: pg 144 "A swirl of familiar faces of his past whirled by him as his stomached lurched in protest. It reminded Drake vaguely of the merry go round at the state fair, but this ride was one of pain.'
(I am aware of the error of the scene, see my notes below)

The Bad:

I had a problem with some things about this novel, most of them were grammar, but they could be resolved with good editing or a Beta reader. I also had a few questions that gnawed on my mind.

1. I didn't feel that Sienna and Drake had any chemistry. Why did she love Drake? She spent most of the book running from him or trying to make him a better person by pushing his buttons and playing with his mind. And Drake. What was their to like about Sienna besides her beauty and money?  Her magic and actual personality were not "fleshed out" enough for me to get a real grasp on her as a heroine.

2. The book had problems with tense, plural, and wrong word usage. I would really be into the story, then all of the sudden I would be taken out of the world that was painstakingly created only to roll my eyes at the errors.

pg.49 "He seem to take her in for a moment before he...." The word should have been 'seemed'

pg. 61 "Murphy huge frame could barely fit in the tiny chair..." It should have been 'Murphy's'

Lightening. OMW (Oh my word!) The word "lighting" was used instead of "lightening" all of over this book and it got on my last nerve

3. Sienna and Drake consummating their marriage. I was offended, AGAIN! Why do women love to write romances that involve near rapes? Why is this sexy? I am a victim of violence, trust me nothing about this situation in real life is hot. 

4. Weird descriptions or metaphors. "Miles dabbed the sweat form his brow as crew followed the path: his dark skin didn't provide an ounce of shade from this heat."
     
    a. Where did this come from? And why would your skin color be cooler?

5. I felt like the characters knew more about what was going on than I did. If I'm reading from the narrators POV than I have the benefit of reading everyone's mind. In this case their were too many mysteries regarding the characters motivations and backgrounds and the magic surrounding them. And there were a few random characters as well. Spencer? Xavier Jacks? Who and What is the point of these characters?

6. I cannot confirm, but I believe that this author is an American writing English characters.                                             

Dear writers, if your are going to write a character that is not the same nationality as you than you have TO DO A LOT OF RESEARCH. A lot.
                                                                                           This is not the first time that I complained about this, I said the same thing when I read 50 shades. I knew that the author was not an American, because she missed a lot of common language that we use here (we say cabinet not cupboards).

In this case it was the reverse; while I have never been to England, I have watched a lot of British television on PBS and I have read an insane amount of British authors, so I know a little bit about England. For example:






On pg. 171 "adept at a medieval sword fight, he hurriedly..." This is called fencing. An upper crust half-englishman may have spent some time learning to fence, it is par for the course. Even if he didn't learn to fence, he would know the proper name for it because he is rich and had a good education.

Also, Jo see's Sienna as a slave, but this is set in 1933 and England abolished slavery on its shores in 1774, and then

The reason that I know this is Dido Elizabeth Belle

extended that ban to its colonies in 1833, so the character Jo would have no recollection or experience of slavery.  

7, the 'N' word, which was used five times too many times for my taste is an American term that we taught the rest of the world to use (yay us!), but its casual usage I thought was misplaced.

I'm jus sayin:

This book is $7.50, that is a lot of money for a novel so poorly edited and researched as this. I know that this is the authors blood sweat and tears, but so is my money and I don't feel that the price tag matches the quality of the work. I know that there is a VERY big debate over independent publishers and the way they price their books, but this is ridiculous! When tried and true authors like Pepper Pace, Dicey Grenor, and Theodora Taylor are charging less than five dollars, others should follow suit. And for the record; for their works I WILL pay more, because I know that I am guaranteed the quality of their work.

Thanks for reading this review, please subscribe! And buy the book @ Amazon, B&N, or check it out at goodreads.

To check out the up-coming movie about Dido Elizabeth Belle stating, click here.

While in Bed…….

Being Mrs. Blakemore by Olivia Gaines

        I found this book while wandering aimlessly through Amazon’s myriad of titles. I like the Cover candy and thought I would give it a go. I was immediately enthralled by the heroine, Odessa Trodat. She is one smart woman! I am OVER reading naïve females that need the hero to save them, I want more characters like Odessa that are smart, athletic, and have an interesting career that does not involve bling!

         On a cruise by herself, Why she is traveling alone is never mentioned, that has ported in Puerto Vallarta. Our Shero is nearly kidnapped until Saxton Blakemore, our hero steps up and offers a drowning woman a branch to tow herself in.
         Can I just say thank you? Smart and streetwise my girl takes the branch and the novella gets good!

The Good:

The story starts off quickly and is easy to follow. The ending is good as well.

Fav character:

Odessa is an amazing Shero who could carry a series all on her own. She is book and street smart with a great sense of humor and positive attitude.

The bad:

Why is this smart sexy woman on a cruise on her own is never explained, because this is just a novella the author didn’t make time to do this. Everything else was explained in background with efficiency.

Least fav character:

Odessa’s father. I wish that the Mrs. Gaines would have given us another reason for Odessa’s familiarity with weapons. To all you authors out there, women serve in the military to! She could served a tour for an education, her mother may have been the soldier in the family. Or she hunted (I have met several women of color who love to hunt game). I just wish that this fail-safe character type would have been left at the computer and another plausible explanation was created

I’m jus sayin:

This book is good and I will read its sequel!

       

Shifters moon

 by Riva Blackstone

This is a sweet read that I finished in a day. It centered around the small town of Barrelgrove where Jake arrives in town. He meets the enigmatic Lia, a carmel skinned beauty full of hairy secrets. Soon his life and his heart are entangled in a web of shifters, werewolves and dangerous motorcycle thugs. How far will Jake go to keep Lia’s heart and his head?

The good:

This is a really good story that captured me from the beginning. There was a bit of mystery for me as the reader and I really enjoyed that. I also loved Irman and Lorelai.

The bad:

Not much. The read is short, but so sweet. There were some typos, but nothing worth getting my hair sweated out for.

I’m jus sayin:

I believe this is a new author. I look forward to hearing more from her.

If you would like to read this title for yourself click the link to visit Amazon or goodreads. If you enjoyed BD’s review than subscribe! Or Comment! I would appreciate either.

Thank you for reading- BD

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 got the Fever!

Wolf Fever by Milly Taiden

Raine Bowe volunteers for a sleep study for extra cash, but wakes up in a lab, the victim of a mad scientist. She escapes with one objective, find someone to help her fight the evil growing inside her.

Ryder Storm is a man with a bad boy reputation. He knows the desperate woman in his bar is his mate the moment he lays eyes on her. He'll give her anything she wants, except the one thing she's begging for. Death.


Mature reader warning: Adult content including but not limited to: Violence and raw sexual language and actions.

The good:

One to watch

This is my first read by Mrs. Taiden and I really loved the passion and excitement of this book. The H/H have so much chemistry from the very beginning and the writing is steamy like hot butter on the griddle.

The story is unique in the sea of paranormal romances. How many heroines are as strong as the alpha male in their stories? I can only think of a few, so the author gets extra stars from me for that.

And the sex. GOOD sex tastefully done

The bad:

There were a few errors overall, but nothing that I'm going to whine about.

I’m jus sayin:

I was a little upset that she didn’t get to personally exact revenge

Check this book out at Amazon or goodreads!

Readin Red...

There were too many things wrong with this book for me to like it. I tried, I enjoyed the concept of turning a story that we are familiar with into something sexy and new, but there were some flaws that nagged me.

Some of the characters were hard to follow, obviously Cin and her prince charming were very understandable, but this sister and her ex were hard to follow, particularly the love scenes. That was probably my biggest disappointment.

Also, I was a little confused by the character descriptions. Their third partner was described as Mediterranean at first, but then she calls him biracial. African-American's come in all tones, but olive toned is not my immediate thought.

Overall:

I will check out the authors next book. She has lots of good ideas and I appreciate her imagination, she just needs a good beta reader to help her out.


Check it out @ Amazon and Goodreads

Conquered by the author

Balian is a dragon shifter, An enemy of Princess Kisah's people, but once he glimpses her beauty he will risk his life to claim his destined bride.

Kisah sees the golden warrior’s swagger in battle, glorious and beautiful, but its determination to  woo her that captures her heart.

The novella's sample got me all hot and bothered and the book had much of the same affect. 

A sexy stranger, a brutal contest, a mocha skinned princess with long flowing hair Ahem, sounds like this was this based on me so you know I devoured it!

Kudos to Fox, loved this book so much that I bought another and another to read and enjoy!

Buy@Amazon, or check it out at B&N, or how about good reads!

Ravaged by Jaide fox

C-mac and I were huge fans of the Starz original series "Spartacus" in all its glory. Obviously we watched for different reasons;

Cmac: "What did he just say?"
Me: "there's dialog in this show?"
Cmac: "Be serious, What did he say"
Me: "Seriously, I'm only watching for the man meat, beefcake, to ogle these studs muffins. Stop sighing, you sound so exasperated"
Cmac: "So degrading. Do you ever think of anything else? 
Me: "shopping and shoes. Stop rolling your eyes! You asked"
Cmac: "I'll just rewind it"
Me: "ooh, goody! More muffins!

So with the last episode of the muffin show having been aired in march I was missing a little blood and sex in my life. Enter "Ravaged (pleasure masters(futuristic BDSM Alpha Shifters)" by Jaide fox.

The story of a gladiator winning the ultimate prize, a willing sex slave. Did I mention that he has a magical member? Uhm, yeah! Read and enjoyed!

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!

Charmed indeed!

Two times the charm by Christin Lovell

Have you ever fallen truly madly deeply in love with a book? Yeah me too, this book..... Is so amazing the sample had me chomping at the bit to devour the whole story of Ayden, Josh, and Max.

I literally have nine library books checked, three unfinished purchases, and a few twitter shoutout's to get to. But this book stopped me cold and demanded that I buy a bottle of red and settle in with this good read.

The story really moved me, voicing so many of my own insecurities and showing me that my imperfections can be sexy when viewed through the right pair of eyes.

Due to the nature of this characters back story I did occasionally grow a tad annoyed with Max, I'm a strong minded gal with a 'next one comes in another fifteen' attitude about men, so to read someone so defeated was at times difficult, but I reminded myself that the authors purpose was to truly capture the state of mind of the character; and, how could I feel the height of her happiness without exploring the depths of her sadness?

Max's character arc is wonderful to follow; learning her strengths and allowing herself to be vulnerable while showing her men how strong a woman is to allow herself to show that vulnerability and be rewarded with love, respect, and devotion from not one, but two sexy shifters. I was truly amazed and pleasured to read this book and you will be as well.

I'm just saying: 

there were some minor errors that I found, but they aren't worth mentioning

I want the hot chocolate recipe that Max served her two hunky mates.

Where was this town when I was single? 

Can I have a sequel to this novel that involves Cade, the hunky brother and a vivacious curvaceous mocha skinned beauty? Hey, I'm just saying!

To check out this read on Amazon click the pic or here. To check it out goodreads click here
And if you like what you read please hit the follow button. Thanks!

Suck what up more?

Suck it up by Emma Hillman

Love story between Dr. Nathan and his nurse Kellie, its part of a series about a particular pride. Kellie has a lot of problems and really bad luck. Her lion is gay, but she isn't. Nathan is perfect, other than the God problem he has when he mates Kellie without telling her or discussing it with the rest of his pride.

There were a lot of interesting twists and characters, SPOILER ALERT, the antagonist is a woman! Yay! Amnd Hillman buck tradition and creates a un-formulaic storyline and the sex in the book is good. But this is a novella and the price was kind of high for the amount of story you get, so I deducted a star based on that.

Overall,  an ok ready.

I only found one error:
Location 1089 "...they were always so full of themselves, so egomaniac" ---> should have been egotistical or egomaniacal.

Click on the title or image to visit this book on Amazon.com. And if you like what you read please hit the follow button. Thanks!

The Skin Trade.....

Oh, Oh, Oh so good.

Thank you George RR, this was an amazing read that blew my mind. Excuse me,  I need a few minutes to myself.

No heat in Juneau.........

Shiya is the computer nerd in a family of shifter hunters. She starts her first field assignment, go to Alaska and confirm that the man she met is a shifter so her family can take him and his pack down. As an African-American geek or nerd, both apply to me, I liked the idea of reading a story about a nerdy girl getting a chance to strut her stuff.

I tried to like this book, but after the first few scenes I was beginning to not like the character or the writer's idea of "intimate" moments. Put yourself in this situation; You just meet someone for dinner that you've been talking to on-line. Its your first meal together, his best friend shows up and after a brief introduction joins you. Odd, yes, however you roll with it and would you allow both men to feed you. With bare hands. Shiya does and I found that to be less intimate and more weird and out of character for a girl supposedly a little shy and inexperienced. As a girl who was once inexperienced and who has dated on-line, No. Not ever. 

Then, their was the fact that Shiya had no voice or personality of her own. She took the assignment to prove to her family and herself that she was strong enough to handle field work. Yet, she allowed the men to make all the decisions and her only response to having absolutely no control over her own body was, "fine." For example, (location 1196) Each man seemed to be beyond letting her decide how far he went." This is a reason that I don't love menage's, because often time author's let the men treat the heroine like a blow-up doll.

Then their was the fact that the author used the word "hole" to describe her anatomy and the term "broke in" was used to describe her first 'back door experience.' And speaking of that sort of play, the particular situation described in location 1519 of the book is just plain unhygienic. I cannot abide when an author uses such primitive language to describe the most important organ to human existence. No, not being dramatic; without that "hole" we would not exist, so hail to the "v!"

I did find some minor errors like:

Location 537 "she knew they would drew conclusions from that..."

Location 647 "she shoved a fist into her mouth and just stared." Seriously, is she Linnie and Squigy?

Location 1542 ".......her eyes shut and tears on her cheeks."

And a catch phrase: "You know you wrong?" Annoyingly, it appears in several locations.

Overall I found this book more irritating than enjoyable and would recommend that you skip this read and try"A gaurdians desire" by Mya and "Fierce Heat" by Lizzie Lynn. Both books treat their women with respect and they are scorching hot!

What I've been nibbling on......

I read a lot of books, in fact I read so many I don't always have time to blog. I also have high standards when it comes to reading; good story, character, and a logical plot. Here are some books that I just wasn't down with.

 Wolf's Haven by Ambrielle Kirk, 

I liked the synopsis of this book: a young woman caught up in an abusive relationship finds the courage to flee, but ends up in the arms of a good looking shifter. Not exactly a new theme, but I thought that I'd give it a go. 

First, the execution of this book is poor, I couldn't get more than five pages in before I saw at least three errors and awkward sentences. For example "get" instead of "give" and "pull up into a kneel," kneel is usually associated with a downward movement, so this was odd to me. 

Then their were the blatantly obvious questions left unanswered; we start with our heroine taking part in a theft at a museum, but we're never told what the antagonist wants to steal. What kind of criminals get drunk (not high) before a job for the mob? Alcohol slows one down, wouldn't they be getting high to speed themselves up?

And on top of everything else their were plot hole problems. Our heroin uses the heist as a diversion to escape her abusive relationship. The author reiterates over and over that Tamara has planned and timed her escape, even going so far as to ask her therapist for help; she plans to call the police and get her boyfriend arrested, yet, she has not timed the police's arrival and ends up literally out on a ledge. I can get over this, maybe her calculations were off or in a giant museum their was no place for her to hide. However I could not get over the random description; she's on a ledge and jumps, twisting her ankle in her fall. Further off she sees a woods in  and tries to drag herself their, getting caught or injured on a wired fence that she doesn't see. Where do I begin, her escape plan is awful, who doesn't know that there's a woods behind the place she was going to rob or a wired fence? Where is this museum that there's a woods behind it? Who's plan involves jumping from a ledge like Batman? 

I'm just sayin: I just couldn't get past so many errors. Maybe the book becomes great once you get past the sample, but I decided not to bet $3.99 on it. Click on the title above to check it out and form your ow opinion.

For Torons pride by Freddie Lockwood. 

Sienna is a newly changed and goes to spend a weekend with the pride and its leader Toron. Toron is a pride leader determined to bring his newest member into the fold; will their attraction bring them closer? Will Sienna give in to her natural animalistic urges? 

I have no idea, I couldn't get past Siennas bad attitude; her resentment of Davon for making her a shifter is understandable, but she is so mean to him that I actually winced. Her attraction to Toron is interesting, but gets spoiled by the usual "I've never been attracted to white men" bull hockey. Come on, seriously? No Mcsteamy or Mcdreamy? That is hard to believe and angry black woman has been done to death is this genre, so I didn't continue with this book.

I would love to hear your opinion whether you Agree or disagree, so please leave a comment!

Thanks - M2M