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

Captivated by the author.........

I received a free copy of the audible version of this book as a gift, though I would have purchased this with my own money.

I am making my way through Ms. Burke's Anthology, reading all of her books one by one, because I love her writing so much! She has a way of making her characters seem real and definable, I can relate to them on some level though we do not live the same lives.

Ms. Burke also write one Hell of a good hero; always sexy and alpha, I can't wait for them to show their heroine all the passion they have to offer!

With that being said I enjoyed this book, particularly since it was in audio format; I read while crafting, cooking, rolling my hair at night, walking my dogs, and a little at work (that was hard since some of the scenes are naughty and I became distracted.)

I would recommend this book to a friend, try the audio format it really is well read (at first it was weird, the woman's proper accent reading someone that felt similar to me, but eventually I got over it and just enjoyed the story; like when Angela Basset played Tina Turner and everyone was mad about how muscular her arms were. Eventually I didn't even see Angela, only Tina.)

The Good: Reading while getting stuff done.

The bad: The story is a little short.

Buy this book at Amazon (get the audio version!), Or B&N.

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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

Friday feature with author Shyla Colt............

Shyla Colt is a Sound and Lighting Engineer turned Stay-At-Home Mom with two main passions, music and the written word. Her stories are a blend of the paranormal laced with humor, passion, and a “je ne se qua” that she’d like to call all her own. Married to her marine, she currently resides in sunny California where she allows her characters to tell her their stories while feeding her music addiction and raising her wild child. She credits John Hughes, Marvel comics, punk music and the first paranormal romance novel she picked up at thirteen for creating the unique muse that drives her.

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This is my favorite Shyla Colt read, I love that this is not the typical shifter romance and  the hero and heroine have such a great love story. A shape shifter who can’t shift sounds like a punch line to a joke. But for Luz Dryden it’s a complicated reality. The one bright light in her life has been her long-time love Kalyx Hunter.

Kalyx shares her strange malady and worships Luz with a passion that overshadows everything else. When Kalyx shifts unexpectedly, Luz flees Blackburn Falls and vows to never look back.

Five years later she’s forced back to her home town for her sister’s wedding, and Kalyx is determined to convince her they belong together. Luz fights him at every turn, but her body’s needs overrides her will. Kalyx is prepared to take on anyone who tries to keep them apart. But neither anticipated the twisted web of deceit and betrayal they would find themselves tangled in. 

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Just look at this cover, it is such a beautifully haunting image of a couple that I need to know more about. Oliver Young has been a mess since his wife died. But a chance encounter at a coffee shop on the anniversary of her death changes that. Juniper "Juni” Bloom is like a beacon of light in the darkness. His heart recognizes her as a kindred spirit, and he clutches onto her youth and vitality like a lifeline as he rediscovers what it means to truly live and love again. Will he lose her when she learns the truth about his wife's death?

Juni is a woman with a hidden past. A near death experience has given her a new lease on life and a parting souvenir. From the moment she meets Oliver, she knows he’s the man she’s been waiting for. Now she just needs to convince him. Unbeknownst to either, a malevolent force is at work, ready to tear them apart.

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This novella packs a big punch. Maxim and his band are on their way to stardom, but he’s a mess. The cocaine he deems necessary to achieve musical genius has ripped his relationship with his long time love, Oceane Dubois, to shreds warping his thinking. Precariously balanced on a razor sharp edge, he’s one stumble away from the world he’s built crashing down around him. Oceane believes true love endures all things, but Maxim’s spiral out of control forces her to contemplate life without the man she knows is her soul mate.
Determined to win Oceane back Maxim begins the grueling task of getting his head on straight and cuts himself off from Oceane to do it. Frantic over his disappearing act Oceane turns to her sister, and begins to rediscover the woman she’s forgotten. Her life’s a lot less complicated without Maxim around, but the real question she needs to answer is, if its better?

To see these and other titles by Shyla Colt visit her author page at Amazon or Goodreads. Or visit her blog.

Fast Friday 5 with...........

Cheryl is an author, a blogger and an adult educator. She writes fiction under the penname of a private hero, her mother, Olivia Gaines Aaron. Cheryl holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a Master's in Organizational Management. Her non-fiction works are focused on helping writers perfect their craft. Cheryl co-authored Musings: A Book of Poetry by Aaron Flanders; and authored My Next Best Seller: A Novel Writer's Journal and My Writing Journal.

Under the penname Olivia Gaines, Cheryl has authored the short story series The Bounty (2009), Vengeance (2012) and The Bounty Hunter (2013). The Slice of Life Series is new in the Olivia Gaines portfolio which includes, Two Nights In Vegas, The Perfect Man, The Basement of Mr. McGee and Letter to My Mother.

BD:Who did you use as your muse for  Saxton? Odessa?

OG: There is no muse for my main characters.  Each character is uniquely written, but I have met women like Odessa.  We travel a great deal and have seen and met accomplished women of color who often travel alone.  These women, sans girlfriends, choose to go alone because their friends never have any money, can’t get a sitter, or “If my man can’t go with me, he said I can’t go.”  ( I have experienced that one first hand!)

Odessa is actually traveling with a tour group and she chooses to step out on her own to buy some pottery for her back porch.  She dreams of a man who resembles Saxton the night before, which makes her gravitate to him when she sees him at the cantina.

Saxton, Saxton, Saxton.  This character was named by my husband. Saxton is written as the typical anti-hero who is damaged and seeking redemption.  He is a good guy, in a bad situation that feels as if he is fading into the seedy world he was contracted to infiltrate. If he saves the girl, he just may save himself.

BD:  How much research and what kind did you for the characters and cartels? Brothels?

OG: A great deal of research was done on the cartels.  The Nuevo Generacíon is real. Renteria is real. There were 20,000 people who went missing last year in Mexico and human trafficking is also very real. There is a market for every appetite, and there is always a buyer. This story deals with a very real problem in a humorous way. 

As a woman of color, or any woman, when traveling, stateside or otherwise, you have to be very aware of your surroundings. The US is one of the few countries where a woman of color has a voice and is not property or a commodity.

BD:    Where did you learn about firearms?

OG: I am a former soldier, which is why Odessa was not written as one.  Big Sarge is based on a Sergeant Major I had in ROTC in college. He taught and groomed me as a young Army officer to stand my ground among men and not show fear.  Being taught and trained by those types of men really changes your perspective on who is a strong man and which men are playing tough.

Odessa is written as she is because her father is a strong man; those guys, although unscrupulous, are not really bad. They are men with guns, whom, when confronted with women with hand held weapons, dropped theirs and took off. Her father, who is not a foil, will play a much larger role in the upcoming series, which is why he was introduced in the first installment.

BD"  Are you planning to make this a series? How many books? body count? sex?

OG: As a writer, there is always a critic.  My first installment in the Slice of Life Series, was nothing but sex.  The second installment, the sex was pulled back and replaced with a really good story. However, my readers were

obsessed with Marc and Nadine, and I wanted to introduce two new characters for them to connect with, enter Saxton and Odessa.  This was a bonus read for my online community of bibliophiles. I omitted the sex and wrote a truly good story, but then the readers were mad that there was no sex. There will be some in the next book, but the story is about the story, not about sex.

I am uncertain of how many books will be in the Blakemore Files series. I have an idea, but it is too soon to state.

I am wary about body count.  Taking a life is never easy and there are ramifications which follow, so I have a surprise for readers in the next installment of “Shopping with Mrs. Blakemore,” as they head into Panama.

There were several symbols in the story, and two of my favorites are the priest and the children with the basket of rings.

BD:  Who was your favorite character? Renteria

OG: The Priest symbolizes that even though these men are doing illegal activities, they still take the time out to worship.  The Priest is their connection to the good inside of us all.  I left the window open for reader to imagine the Priest was at the villa to hear Renteria’s confession, but when alerted by Mateo, he was asked to stay to perform the ceremony.  In the same section, you have the children with the basket of rings. Renteria has held on to these trinkets from people whom they have abducted. If there is a basket of rings, then there is a basket of watches, purses, credit cards and so forth. Each ring, represents a lost life.

Renteria is my favorite character because he is the one who will grow the most and the one character who will and can change. You will see him again. He is written as someone who has inherited the family business and is stuck with having to employ his screwed up cousin and a man he does not trust. In the business, he has tried to create a sense of family by building a cantina, and having women on site for the men, but his family is dysfunctional, and he knows it.  He sees Odessa as an opportunity to grow his business, which is why he makes her the job offer, even after she leaves.

He wants to be a legitimate business man.

To read more from this author click here to visit her Amazon page! Or, here to visit her on Goodreads