Book Binge

As engrossed as Danika generally is in her work, even she notices the underlying hostility with which the locals in the small northwestern town regard her and her research. She notices the biker gang that arrives shortly behind her even more. With their long hair, tattoos, and piercings, the rough group of bikers aren't the sort of men she's ever had contact with-and shouldn't want to have contact with-but they don't seem to grasp that they're not her type and she isn't theirs. Rating: Carnal, multiple partners, adult situations and language.

When it comes to erotica, I can handle almost anything that is thrown at me. I suspend my disbelief at page 1 and just enjoy the book. That didn't happen in this book.

I only got about halfway (if that) through the book before I just couldn't read anymore.

Five bikers (shapeshifters) come into town to look into the rumors that one of their kind is turning the whole town into werewolves. The five bikers are each alphas of their packs. The Council decided to send one from each pack b/c they figure it will be worked out faster.

Enter Dannika, the studier of wolves. She has no idea that paranormal even exists. She doesn't know that the five bikers in the cabin next to hers are werewolves. She has no idea that the wolf she's been tracking for weeks is a rogue alpha. What she does know is that each of the five men turn her on.

I could totally handle the multiple sex partners. It's erotica, fcol. What I couldn't accept was how all five heroes stayed heroes. Instead, these five alphas decided to share her. Yeah, very unlikely and something I couldn't get past. The plot was a good one, but I just couldn't get past that part enough to read more.

DNF

This book is available from New Concepts Publishing. You can buy it here in e-format.

Hero: Jed Skimmerhorn
Heroine: Dora Conroy
Grade: 4.5 out of 5

When Dora Conroy, a Philadelphia antiques dealer, purchases a curious selection of auction items - objects she judges to be humorous novelties, she unknowingly becomes the deadly focus of an international smuggler. When robberies and death surround her merchandise, Dora seeks help from her intriguing upstairs tenant, former cop Jed Skimmerhorn. They discover a shadowy path leading across the continent to the smuggler, a man who will stop at nothing to recover his hidden riches. Like the treasures he craves, Dora and Jed find they are susceptible to his crushing grasp.

I read Hidden Riches a long time ago and I remember really liking the book so I decided to read this book for this month's Re-read Challenge hosted by Nath.

It's been so long since I've read this book that it was almost like I was reading it for the first time because so many things happened in this book that I had totally forgotten about.

This book is about Dora Conroy and Jed Skimmerhorn. Dora owns an antique shop and lives in one of the two apartments upstairs. Jed Skimmerhorn just moved into the other apartment. Dora thinks that her parents had ulterior motives for moving Jed into that vacant apartment but what can she do? Nothing much so she just goes on about her own business, driving from one antique show to another, purchasing antiques for her shop and unknowingly purchases some antiques that bad people are looking for. She becomes trapped in this dark world where she's scared to be alone and she's definitely glad to have an ex cop, a very sexy cop living across the hall from her.

As Dora gets sucked deeper and deeper into this smuggler's world, Jed is there to stand guard and keep her safe. They both find themselves fighting to stay alive as they battle the attraction that keeps simmering just below the surface between them.

I enjoyed watching these two romp their way toward their happy ending. A lot of people aren't big Nora Roberts fans but I certainly am. I don't think she's written a story that I haven't liked in one way or another and I admire the work she does. She writes complex storylines that are easy to read and fall into. Her characters are always so real and that was the case with Dora and Jed. They seemed to jump right off the pages and I could totally picture myself being friends with the both of them. They're not these uber rich characters but they're normal everyday people that I could see myself interacting with.

I liked all of the mystery and steamy romance and just everything about this book. NR took characters that are in fields (well Dora's) of work that I know nothing about and am really not all that interested in and she made me interested. Antiques is not my thing and if I hadn't read any NR books before, I wouldn't have tried this book out at all. I would have skimmed right over it but I'm so glad that I picked this one up and gave it a shot because I liked it.

While Dora is buying these hot antiques, Jed Skimmerhorn has his own set of issues that he's dealing with and man oh man is he sexy. He's that quiet, mysterious neighbor that you can hear lifting weights in his living room and picture yourself licking whipped cream off his abs. He's that kind of smexy and the way that he got all protective of Dora is just flat out yummy. He made this story all the more enjoyable for me. Loved him.

Dora was a great heroine as well, she was one of those heroines that is smart but knows that she can't save the world and is totally fine with stepping back and letting her man take care of the bad guys but she's not totally dependent on her man so that was a plus with me. She was a great mixture of all of the good things you want a heroine to be and she made reading this story a lot of fun.

Dora's parents were a riot and such an enjoyable part of the story and I really just enjoyed this whole story. This is one of those NR books that I always want to reread every chance that I get and I'm so glad that I picked this book up for this month's re-read challenge. You can never go wrong with this story and I certainly didn't. If you haven't checked this book out yet, you should. It's an oldie but goodie in my opinion. So seriously, get this book read it and love it with me.

This book is available from Penguin. You can buy it here.

The winner for NIGHT AFTER NIGHT by Kathryn Smith is:

Congratulations to Lisa F. for winning a free copy of NIGHT AFTER NIGHT by Kathryn Smith. Please send us your snail mail addy address at contests[at]thebookbinge.com and we'll get your book sent out as soon as we can.

Thanks to everyone who entered their name in the giveaway and stay tuned for more chances to win free books. =)

Cheers,
The Book Bingers

Hero: Ty Savage
Heroine: Faith Duffy
Grade: 4.5 out of 5

Disaster Number One: Men

Hard knocks and hunger taught Faith Duffy not to believe in love. Still, when she married her very wealthy—and very old—husband, she became the perfect wife. And then he went to that big bank in the sky, leaving Faith with lonely nights, a pile of money, and a total mess of a pro hockey team. Heck, Faith doesn't even watch hockey!

Disaster Number Two: Passion

But most of America and half of Canada is watching Ty Savage. His lethal sex appeal and deadly right hook make him the favorite of fans. For most of Ty's life, he's dreamed of winning the Stanley Cup. The last thing he needs is a bimbo messing up his plans.

Disaster Number Three: Love

Faith loathes Ty on sight, but she can't stop thinking about him all day . . . and night. Then a moment of temptation ends with Faith in Ty's bed, and she begins to see there's more to him than sex appeal. Ty discovers there's far more to Faith than beauty and billions. But a relationship with Faith is impossible, and falling in love—that would be a disaster.

One of the main reasons I read Rachel Gibson is she writes engaging stories with characters that fall right off the pages and keeps me entertained from the first page all the way to the last page. I don't have to plow my way through that first part of the book that can sometimes bore the ever living snot out of me. Her books take off right from the beginning and keeps me plugged in.

This book was no exception. I was on board with this story right from the first chapter. In the first chapter, we meet the hero and the heroine at the heroine's husband's funeral or wake. Right off the bat, this book reminded me of Susan Elizabeth Phillip's It Had To Be You and I was eagerly waiting to see how Rachel Gibson would tell her version of that storyline.

For me, she knocked it out of the park.

There is no doubt that Rachel Gibson is a gifted writer. She writes these quirky little romances that makes you smile and entertains the socks right off of you and she did just that in this book. This story is about Faith Duffy inheriting her late husband's hockey team, the Seattle Chinooks. You'll remember The Chinooks from See Jane Score, as that was the team that Luc Martineau and his sexy "I want to lick his tatoo" self played for. In this book, Lucky is retired and there's a new hunky captain on the prowl.

His name is Ty Savage.

Man, I could feast for days off of that man. I really like hockey men and I really love Rachel Gibson's hockey men. I didn't think I could love an RG hockey man as much as I loved Luc Martineau but I do now.

I love Ty, just wanted to tell you that..in case you missed it. =P It's funny how I don't watch hockey in real life but after reading this book, it's made me curious enough to check a hockey game out.

Faith was a great heroine. She was one of those heroines that is easy to relate to even if you don't have anything in common with her. Faith was such a likeable character that I found it very easy to sympathize with her. She was so likeable that I wasn't mad one bit at her after two weeks passes after her husband death and she starts wanting to sleep with another man. I had very big issues with this in Robyn Carr's book, Second Chance Pass but because Faith's relationship with her husband was so different from Vanessa's relationship with Matt, it didn't bother me one bit when Faith started sleeping with Ty.

I thought they were perfect together and I loved watching these two fall in love with each other. I loved seeing Ty's insecurities and I loved watching him bulldoze his way into Faith's heart. It was a delight to read about and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking to enjoy another RG hockey book, for me, this is definitely a keeper.

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Hero: Cole Hackett
Heroine: Harmony Swift
Grade: 3 out of 5

When a cool computer whiz-turned-convict is paired with a sexy FBI agent, love on the run turns into something much more than just fun.

I picked up this book from my TBR pile because I liked the cover. I thought it was fun and sexy and I was curious to see if I would like the story as much as I liked the cover.

This book follows FBI Agent Harmony Swift as she tries to manuever her way through the system to 1) break Cole Hackett out of prison and 2) free her good friend from kidnappers. She needs Cole's computer skills to move some money that the FBI won't move for the kidnappers so that she could free the only father figure she's had since her parents died. She's new to being a field agent and it's clear from the jump why her superiors won't put her in the field. She's much too emotional and that's so true. Harmony jumped into this little situation that she created for herself and at the beginning of the book, it felt like Harmony was in over her head and she was kind of just flailing about trying to make things work.

This book was definitely action packed, it was one action scene after another. They were running from the cops, running from the FBI and then they were jumping on trains and just..on the run. The action scenes definitely kept the story moving but it kind of took away from the characters. I mean, I saw the characters running for their lives and I was hoping that they'd make it out alive but I didn't really know the characters. I knew their names and I knew that Cole was in prison because the FBI dicked him over and then I knew that Harmony's parents died when she was a kid and that she was blonde but that's about it. As the story progressed, we learned a little bit more about them but when I put this book down, I can't say for certain that I would remember either the hero or the heroine a few months from now.

Cole Hackett has a big chip on his shoulder and he hates the FBI. They dicked him over and stole 8 years of his life and that big ass chip on his shoulder was understandable. He's a computer nerd who beefed up in prison because he didn't want to be anybody's bitch so he learned to fight and he got muscles and turned himself into a sexy man, I thought he was a pretty decent hero. When we first meet Cole, he just got out of prison, he's horny and he's stuck with a gorgeous blonde and when she gets drunk and throws herself at him, he turns her away because she's drunk? That made me laugh. Aside from the fact that even after I finished the book, I didn't feel as if I knew Cole. The only thing I knew for certain was that he was a hot little computer nerd. Very sexy, but that's it.

Same with Harmony. She was smart as a whip and witty to boot but after all was said and done, that's really all I knew about her. Well that and she was lusting after Cole like it was nobody's business. Harmony is an FBI Agent who is on a mission. One that's not really sanctioned by the FBI but she needs to do what she needs to do to save the life of the only man that has given a damn about her since her parents died. The FBI won't save him so she takes it upon herself to save him and to pull it off, she needs Cole's help.

This was a pretty decent first Penny McCall read. I enjoyed the action scenes, I enjoyed watching Cole and Harmony together and watching them run for their lives but because I didn't finish the book with a good sense of who the main characters were, it chipped away at my enjoyment of the book as a whole. I wanted more character development and I just didn't feel like I got that but it was still an okay read and I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read those fast paced, action packed romances.

This book is available from Berkley Sensation. You can buy it here.

Author Elizabeth Hoyt is with us today at Book Binge to celebrate the release of the third book in her Legend of the Four Soldiers Series, To Beguile a Beast. I was blown away by The Raven Prince and have been a fan of Elizabeth's books ever since. I also really enjoy her contemps, writing as Julia Harper.

Book Binge: Can you tell us a little bit about the first book you wrote?

Elizabeth Hoyt: The first book I wrote was THE RAVEN PRINCE, which was published in 2006. Here’s a short description of THE RAVEN PRINCE:

There comes a time in a woman’s life when she must do the unthinkable—and find employment. For widowed Anna Wren, that means taking a job as female secretary for the Earl of Swartingham. Secretaries are always male—never female—as Anna well knows, but the real downfall of her career is the realization that she is falling in love with Edward de Raaf—the earl. But when she realizes that he is going to visit a brothel in London to take care of his 'manly' desires, Anna sees red—and decides to take advantage of the opportunity to also take care of her 'womanly' desires—with the earl as her unknowing lover. But the earl has another reason for going to London. He is formalizing his betrothal and trying (with little success) to forget about a secretary who has no right being female. Unhandsome, he knows that no woman wants him. Except for the mysterious lady with whom he spent two unforgettable nights at Aphrodite’s Grotto, the most scandalous brothel in London. But when Anna’s plan is revealed, a bit of blackmail is thrown into the mix, a proposal is rejected and even the earl himself will be unprepared for the intrigues that ensnare them.

BB: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

EH: I didn’t even consider writing until I was thirty-five.

BB: What’s your writing schedule like?

EH: I generally try to do most of my writing in the morning before noon. I have a critique partner and we’ll often meet in coffee shops to write and talk. In the afternoon I do business stuff—like answering this interview ;-).

BB: Do you use an outline or do you fly by the seat of your pants when you write?

EH: I outline scene by scene and I also have pretty extensive character studies.

BB: Of all your books (EH and JH), which one do you think is the best?

EH: Well, that’s a hard question! ;-) I think THE SERPENT PRINCE is the most structurally sound.

BB: How difficult is it to go from writing historical romances as Elizabeth Hoyt to fun contemporary romances as Julia Harper?

EH: It’s actually pretty easy for me.

BB: Do you enjoy writing historical or contemporaries more?

EH: I enjoy writing them both, which is why I write them both. In my contemporaries I’m thinking about fast pacing, complicated plots, and clever dialogue. In my historicals I’m thinking about emotional depth, complex underlying themes and clever dialogue (that at least is the same between cub genres.) If I get tired of writing one sub genre I can go and write the other. That way everything stays fresh for me as I’m writing and I think it makes for better books.

BB: What advice would you give aspiring authors?

EH: Write a lot, preferably every day. Writing is a craft that you can only learn by doing it. And if you’re interested in writing romance, I do think that joining the Romance Writers of America is very useful.

BB: To readers that haven’t read any of your books, which book would you recommend and why?

EH: I think I’d recommend THE RAVEN PRINCE since it’s my first book—and it’s still very popular with readers. ;-)

BB: Can you tell us a little bit about The Ice Princess, the free e-book?

EH: THE ICE PRINCESS is a free novella that I’ll be writing all during 2009. Each month I’ll post a new chapter on my website. The novella features reader favorite Coral Smythe who was the Aphrodite of Aphrodite’s Grotto in THE RAVEN PRINCE. Here’s the blurb for THE ICE PRINCESS:

SEVEN NIGHTS OF SIN
As the madam of Aphrodite’s Grotto, the most infamous brothel in London, Coral Smythe knows everything possible about men’s needs and desires. Yet she’s never experienced the love of a single man—not even that of Captain Isaac Wargate whose hawk-like eyes stare at her with both condemnation…and lust.

SEVEN NIGHTS OF ECSTASY
Captain Wargate heartily disapproves of the sensuous madam who always wears a golden mask. She lures his officers from both his ship and their duty. But when Coral herself is offered up as the prize in a game of chance, Wargate impulsively enters…and wins.

SEVEN NIGHTS OF LOVE
Now the puritanical navy captain has just seven nights to learn everything he can about the mysterious madam and what she knows of a man’s desires. But when Coral is threatened by the new owner of Aphrodite’s Grotto, will Wargate take a chance on the woman beneath the mask…and on love?

The first three chapters are already up on my website.

BB: What’s next up on your writing schedule?

EH: Right now I’m starting a brand new series which I’m very excited about! The books will be about London and delve a bit more into the underworld of Georgian England. The book I’m working on now has a heroine who runs a foundling home in St. Giles. The hero is an aristocrat whose mistress was murdered. He’s now roaming the streets of St. Giles to find the murderer, but he needs the heroine’s guidance so they strike an uneasy bargain.

This isn’t writing related, but I do want to mention that we’re doing a complete make-over of my website. It goes live April 28th, so if readers haven’t visited in a while, they might want to stop by! www.elizabethhoyt.com.

BB: Who is your favorite romance author?

EH: I don’t have a single one! I read across romance subgenres so I have dozens. Here’s a few off the top of my head: Lisa Kleypas, Nalini Singh, Elizabeth Bevarly, and Karen Rose.

BB: What is your favorite romance to re-read? Are you a re-reader?

EH: I do re-read! I find myself re-reading almost all of Linda Howard’s books. I’ve been thinking it’s been a while since I last read DUNCAN’S BRIDE. ;-)

BB: What/who is your inspiration?

EH: I’m inspired by really good writing. I’ve had my breath taken away by Stephanie Lauren’s movement within a scene, Suzanne Brockmann’s dialogue, and Nalini Singh’s passion.

Lightning round:

Coffee or soda? Coffee

Hawaii or Mexico? Mexico—for the archaeological sites!

Fly or drive? fly

Chocolate or vanilla? chocolate

Purses or shoes? both!

Rain or snow? snow

Cook or take-out? take out

Elizabeth is going to give an autographed copy of To Beguile a Beast away and we're going to throw in two more copies. All you have to do is tell us what your favorite Elizabeth Hoyt or Julia Harper book is. If you haven't read either EH or JH, tell us which one appeals to you the most.

Thanks to Elizabeth for visiting with us today!

CAN A WOUNDED BEAST . . .

Reclusive Sir Alistair Munroe has hidden in his castle ever since returning from the Colonies, scarred inside and out. But when a mysterious beauty arrives at his door, the passions he's kept suppressed for years begin to awaken.

TRUST A BEAUTY WITH A PAST . . .

Running from past mistakes has taken legendary beauty Helen Fitzwilliam from the luxury of the ton to a crumbling Scottish castle . . . and a job as a housekeeper. Yet Helen is determined to start a new life and she won't let dust-or a beast of a man-scare her away.

TO TAME HIS MOST SECRET DESIRES?

Beneath Helen's beautiful façade, Alistair finds a courageous and sensual woman. A woman who doesn't back away from his surliness-or his scars. But just as he begins to believe in true love, Helen's secret past threatens to tear them apart. Now both Beast and Beauty must fight for the one thing neither believed they could ever find-a happy ever after.

This is the third book in Hoyt’s Legend of the Four Soliders series. Helen Fitzwilliam had been the Duke of Lister’s mistress for years. As her children start getting older, Helen finally fully grasps how being the bastard son and daughter of a duke will affect her children. The only problem is that she knows the Duke of Lister; he doesn’t let things go that he considers his possessions. Though he hadn’t come to her in over three years, Helen knows that he would never willingly let them go. With the help of her new friend, Lady Vale, Helen and her children head to Scotland where she will present herself as Sir Alistair Munroe’s housekeeper.

Alastair wants nothing more than to be left alone to his work. When a beautiful woman and two young children show up on his doorstep, he wants nothing more to turn them away. He finds that he it’s not so easy, especially with someone as determined as Helen. Before long, Alastair begins to enjoy the sounds of life within the castle that he thought would be forever dark.

Both Alastair and Helen are wary of trusting the other. Helen has been judged by her looks her entire life. Every time Alastair calls her “beautiful”, she cringes a little. Alastair can’t believe someone as beautiful as Helen could be happy with someone that looks as horrible as he does. The massacre at Spinners Falls is never far from his mind; he is reminded of it every single day.

I really liked this book. Helen was definitely an unconventional heroine, which I always appreciate. The whole plot of “the evil duke won’t rest until he punishes the woman that dared to leave him” is a little old, but because it wasn’t the focal point of the story, I was okay with it.

The best part of the book was reading how Helen went from a pampered woman to a servant. She is a mother that would do anything for her children, including doing something that she has no idea how to do. Her growth in this book was the best part of the book, imo. She wasn’t too arrogant to do what needed to be done. I can really appreciate that.

4 out of 5.

This book is available from Forever Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Other books in the series:

Elizabeth Hoyt is going to be visiting tomorrow, so be sure to stop by for a chance to win a copy of To Beguile a Beast!

Last week, Katiebabs wrote a post entitled Reviewer Beware! No More Books For You! This particular topic centers around a reviewer who received the following email from someone at the blog where she reviews at.

It reads:

"As I mentioned to you sometime ago, a number of authors have written me requesting that I do not send you their books to review since they didn't appreciate your style of reviewing. Recently the publishers have gotten in on the action and several of them have written within the past couple of weeks requesting that I give their books to other reviewers. Basically what they have said is that they will not give their books to a reviewer who trashes them. Their main objection is the tone of your reviews and I'm paraphrasing here - your reviews come across as extremely snarky, not just in the reviews themselves but in the comments following the reviews .... they don't have any issue with reviewers posting negative reviews of their books but they feel that your reviews are unprofessional. The bottom line is they are not prepared to offer their books to a reviewer who calls stories she doesn't like "craptastic" "suckage" and makes reference to gouging her eyes out, is disrespectful and cruel, especially following up on reviews she has posted of stories she doesn't like. Some of us have problems writing reviews on books that we don't like for whatever reason. As you know, I hate writing negative reviews but I do them more frequently now and I always have to find the right words to use and try to be helpful.

So we have a problem with few options. Since I'm rapidly running out of books for you to review I could do what I did originally when you agreed to post your reviews here - I could cherry pick your reviews from your Live Journal and suggest the ones to be posted here. Obviously I can't select those from some publishers, which makes it difficult. Honestly, I'm at a loss here. I like you on a personal level, I enjoy our discussions, I think you're funny and we have fun together and I don't want this to affect our relationship. I don't know if you have any other suggestions of how we can work around this.You'll probably be angry when you receive this email but I have no option since basically I have been given ultimatums by several publishers who supply the books to be reviewed."

I've read numerous posts on this topic and I've read countless comments on each of those posts. So far everything that I've read leaves me stumped on how exactly the publishers and authors are trying to blackmail this reviewer into changing her reviews?

First of all, this email was not sent to the reviewer from the publisher or any of the authors she's reviewed, but by the folks at the blog that this reviewer reviews for.

So the way that I'm seeing this is:

Publisher sends free review copies to book blog. Admins of the book blog send review copies to different reviewers. Reviewer reads book, trashes author/book and now Publisher and Authors have requested that their books be sent to other reviewers. Book Blog emails reviewer and alerts her to the situation and then suggests other form of choosing reviews to post on their book blog.

Did I leave anything out?

Trish over at Hey Lady, Whatcha Reading wrote up a post about this whole fiasco. I thought it was a great post and completely agreed with a whole lot of what she had to say. You can read her post on this, here.

We're fortunate to receive review copies from several different publishing houses. We've never felt compelled to give the books we've received glowing reviews nor were we asked by anyone at any publishing house to do so. Sometimes a book just doesn't work for us and we don't shy away from telling people that. Hello, when has anyone known Holly to shy away from anything (Casee: We all know that Holly has a problem speaking her mind at times)? What I'm failing to comprehend in this situation is where is the blackmail?

I don't see where the publishers or the authors are telling this reviewer that if she doesn't change her reviews, she won't be getting any more free books review copies. What I see is the publishers and authors not wanting this reviewer to review their books because of reviews this reviewer has posted. Plain and simple.

Isn't that how things work when you review books for publishing houses? I mean, Trish brings up a valid point in her post when she said that when reviewers accept free books for review, they're entering into a business sort of relationship with that publishing house. When one part of the business deal is not happy, it makes sense that they'll want to jump ship, right? That's how I saw this whole thing pan out. It sucks but that's the name of the game. The publishing houses and the authors don't want to send free books to a reviewer that bashes their books, that's their prerogative.

Comments came pouring in about how publishers should have done their research on this reviewer before sending her books to review so they would have known what they were getting into, but I don't understand this comment since the publishing houses and authors weren't dealing with this reviewer directly, at least that's the way that I perceived it to be from the email she posted. They were working through the book blog. So if the authors and publishing houses were only having problems with one reviewer, odds are they did their research and were only dealing with one problem child instead of an entire blog.

So what do you think? Do you think the reviewer can say whatever she wants, in whatever way she wants to say it and screw the publisher? Or do you think the publisher is valid in saying they prefer she not review their books if she can't do so in a professional manner?

Ellis Greene remembers very little about the night of her cousin Laura's murder, but she does recall the face of the murderer. Ellis was the key witness to the crime, and her testimony helped put Hollis Alexander in jail for a long time. With Hollis behind bars, Ellis should feel safe, but the memory of that awful night still haunts her. Determined to free herself from the fear of being attacked like her cousin, Ellis has become an expert in self defense. However, when Ellis hears that Hollis has been paroled, she feels like a helpless teenager again--and she isn't the only one who notices that he's free.

Laura's boyfriend Nate was one of the prime suspects for her murder. After the court case, many still believed that Nate was guilty and he left town to reinvent himself. Now, fifteen years later, he has returned to protect Ellis from suffering the same fate as her cousin. As soon as Ellis and Nate see one another, sparks fly. But Ellis hasn't let herself fall for a man in a long time, and she isn't sure whether she can trust Nate. As Laura's murderer zeroes in on Ellis as his next target, she must fight to stay alive while she finally discovers her true feelings about Nate.

Susan Crandall writes such good suspense, that I didn't even care that the sex scenes were glossed over. I'm sure this will surprise Holly many of you, but I was completely blown away by who the villain ended up being. It's only when I'm reading that I'm naive. I don't think I would have ever made a good police officer.

Ellis Greene has basically lived her life in fear since the age of fourteen. Before I continue, I have to admit that I had a problem with the name Ellis for a woman. It took a good hundred pages for me to imagine Ellis as the heroine b/c I kept picturing a man anytime I read the name Ellis. Moving along...Ellis testified at the trial of the man that beat and raped her cousin Laura. She vividly remembers him mouthing the words "You'll pay" to her when the verdict was read. She has tried to move on w/ her life as best as she can, but her road hasn't been an easy one.

Nate Vance has always been protective of Ellis. Unbeknownst to her, he has kept tabs on her in the fifteen years since he left Belle Island. He never intended to return, or to be a part of Ellis' life. When he gets the news that Hollis Alexander has been paroled, Nate heads back to Belle Island determined to protect Ellis like was unable to protect Laura. He never intents for Ellis to know he's there, but fate obviously conspires against him and they meet face-to-face for the first time in fifteen years.

Ellis has always been halfway in love with Nate. Fifteen years before it was a young girl's love. Now it's a woman's love. Ellis has always somewhat believed something in her was broken. When she broke up with her boyfriend after he proposed, she was sure of it. Then Nate comes back to town and she feels things that she never thought she'd feel.

I read Pitch Black and enjoyed it for the most part. I never really connected with the characters, but the plot was a good one. I connected much more with Ellis and Nate. After a life-altering experience, the course of Ellis' life changed. I really admired Ellis as a woman. She felt like she cowered away from the world, but I saw it differently. She's a survivor. She called herself a coward, but I would call her cautious.

The romance was there in this book, but the suspense was better. I have to say that it surprises me that I liked it that much, b/c I like the romance as much as the suspense in a romantic suspense. Crandall did a fantastic job of drawing me into this story. The only regret I have is that I didn't pick it up before now.

4 out of 5.

This book is available from Forever Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Want to win $100 in free books?

To help promote her upcoming release, CHAINS, author Shiloh Walker is doing a dash through some of the blogs in romanceland, leaving behind excerpts. If you’d like to get entered to win a gift certificate for $100 (your choice from the online booksellers), all you have to do is visit the blogs, read the excerpts and leave a comment. The excerpts are in order, just visit the first blog, Karen Knows Best and go on from there!

Chains

An all new novel of erotic suspense

They weren’t friends. They weren’t enemies. The only thing the three girls had in common was the high school they went to in Madison, Ohio—until one tragic night. Now, fifteen years later, they’re returning home where passion—and danger—await…
Renee Lincoln was the homecoming queen—with the perfect boyfriend and the perfect life. After that horrible night, she rebelled the only way she knew how: by submitting to her wildest fantasies…

Tall, blonde, and athletic, Lacey Talbot was a golden girl with a bright future. She’s found success as a photographer, but no man has ever been able to satisfy her. No man but the bad boy she left behind…

Sherra Salinger has always looked like a princess out of some fairy tale. The books she writes, though, stem from the nightmare of that one night. And she shrinks from any man’s attention—especially the one stalking her…

They’re coming back to Madison—and it won’t be happy reunion. There are three men, all dangerous in a different way. And when each of them surrender their bodies to the heat, when they succumb to desire, they’ll find the safety they desperately need…

Excerpt (part three)

Instead, she settled back in that hard, uncomfortable, miserable excuse of a chair and drew a knee to her chest. Resting her chin on her knee, she asked, “Any luck finding the driver?”

Seth gave a disgusted snort. “Hell, no. Even in a place as small as Madison, there are a ton of dark sedan type cars.” He slid her another look. “You sure you didn’t get the make? A Ford emblem on the back? Anything?”

Lacey shook her head. “Sorry. I’m not exactly car-minded under the best of circumstances.” Her mouth suddenly dry, she licked her lips and reluctantly thought about just why it hadn’t been the best circumstances.

A minute ago, she’d been trying to focus on anything other than Seth, but now she would have been very happy to think of him. Or that one night she tried damn hard to forget.

Anything but what she’d seen earlier.

It was a terrible thing, seeing somebody on the ground, helpless while a couple of tons of metal plowed straight towards her. Even worse when it was a friend.
Seth nodded, taking the chair across from hers. She was glad—at first—that he hadn’t sat down next to her. But then she realized that sitting across from him made it damn hard not to look at him. He’d always been too damn easy on the eyes and the past fifteen years had only improved that fact of life.

It was a fact she didn’t want to enjoy, either. She didn’t want to notice that he’d started cutting that midnight black hair, but not all the way. It was still long enough for a woman to run her hands through, framing that narrow face, just long enough to brush the collar of his shirt. His eyes were the color of dark chocolate and his eye lashes were almost ridiculously long and curly. What kind of guy needed eyelashes like that?

Unlike his twin Sherra who had to slather down with SPF 50 whenever she went out in the sun or end up looking like a lobster, Seth was tanned. Very nicely tanned—and she knew it was because he spent a lot time outside.

At places like the lake outside of town…where she liked to go to shoot pictures, where he liked to go to fish—or at least pretend to fish, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and beat-up tennis shoes.

Her brain went back on its little stroll down memory lane and she remembered that day. A hot, muggy summer day when she had come home for a short visit five years ago. Her trip had been a last-minute one and she hadn’t realized until she got home that her parents had taken a quick trip of their own and she was alone in the house. Instead of heading back to her empty apartment in [area near New York] , she’d decided to stay in Madison and just relax a little. After sleeping in late and helping herself to some of her mom’s homegrown tomatoes for breakfast, Lacey had gathered up her gear, climbed on her sadly neglected mountain bike and headed for the lake.

Hot days like that one usually had a bunch of people gathered at the southern end for swimming. The northern end wasn’t as easily accessible and that’s where a lot of guys headed for fishing. That had been her destination, too, but she was more interested in the area around the lake than any fish in it.

Seeing Seth there had come as a surprise. In high school, Seth had been the typical bad boy, practically straight out of a good girl’s fantasy, dark eyes, a wicked smile, a way of watching you that turned the insides to molten lava. The years since graduating had only increased his appeal.

She’d seen his bike first, a big, mean looking bike that he had built with his own hands. Even though she’d recognized the bike, it had been a surprise to see him there, a fishing pole in hand.

All that nice, golden skin probably came from days spent out on the water.
Like he’d been that day…

Stop it, Lacey! She jerked her attention back to the present, but it didn’t help her focus much. Well, it didn’t help her focus on anything besides Seth.

Visit Stacy's Place on Earth for the next excerpt. You can also visit Shiloh’s blog for details.

Disclaimer: Only one entry per household. Open to everybody, as long as the author is able to purchase/email you a gift certificate for one of the major online booksellers-Amazon, BN.com, Borders, Powell’s, etc. Winner’s name to be posted on Shiloh’s blog-author will ATTEMPT to notify the winner via email, but cannot be held accountable if her email bounces back- please make sure you enter the correct email and that you add Shiloh to your addy book to prevent problems. Void where prohibited. Please do not post to sweepstakes sites-the author reserves the right to end the contest at anytime, and likely will end it early if the contest ends up posted to sweepstakes sites.

Though DarkRiver sentinel Mercy is feeling the pressure to mate, she savagely resists when Riley Kincaid, a lieutenant from the SnowDancer pack, tries to possess her. The problem is not simply that he pushes her buttons; the problem is that he’s a wolf, she’s a cat, and they’re both used to being on top.

But when a brilliant changeling researcher is kidnapped from DarkRiver territory, Mercy and Riley must work together to track the young man—before his shadowy captors decide he’s no longer useful. Along the way, the two dominants may find that submitting to one another uncovers not just a deadly conspiracy, but a passion so raw that it’ll leave them both branded by fire…

Holly and I have been lucky enough to get review copies of this book. I wasn't really a fan of Riley in Caressed by Ice. He turned out to be totally different than I expected.

If there's a downside to getting review copies, is that now we are already done w/ it and have to wait until Blaze of Memory is out. Even knowing that, I'm really excited about the upcoming release of Branded by Fire. I can't wait to do my re-read. Whenever a new book in this series comes out, I read that book and then go back and re-read the whole series.

Are you looking forward to this book? What's your favorite book in the series so far?

Pre-order Branded by Fire here.

Caleb Hawkins has watched his brothers fall in love, all the while knowing that for him, it can never be. Caleb has terrible secrets locked in his soul, events in his past for which he can never atone or be forgiven. Someone discovering that he is a demon is the least of what leaves Caleb trembling with nightmares.

Jake Chase lost his wife six years ago and has never recovered. He doesn't want to fall in love again and has shunned even a simple date, let alone something more with a woman.

Caleb needs a foreman, and Jake needs a job that will get him off the rodeo circuit. Caleb hires Jake. Problem solved. Only Caleb starts noticing little things about Jake he never has in a man before...things like hard lips and a honed, muscular body. For Jake, six years of celibacy have pushed him to a place of sexual need and he finds his gaze straying Caleb's way…and watching, hungrily.

Can two straight men overcome their pasts to find love with each other? Even if they can, Caleb will be risking his soul for a chance at their forever.

I've read and enjoyed m/m romance in the past, but this blurb really caught my eye. I mean, two straight guys falling for each other? Sounds epic.

I have this bad when I'm bored at work. I hop on Fictionwise and start browsing the erotica section. I read blurbs until I find one or more that I'm interested in. This blurb caught my eye b/c it's two previously straight guys falling for each other.

Two things I didn't realize when I started the book. First, it's paranormal. I dealt w/ it b/c the paranormal aspect is pretty small and it didn't overtake the plot of the book. Second, it's like the 3rd in a series. So I missed a few books. I figured the case as I was reading it, but I didn't want to go back and find the previous books.

Caleb Hawkins likes helping people that are in trouble. When he sees Jake Chase in a bar about to get in a fight w/ a bouncer, he intercedes. When Chase gets Jake in a motel room for the night, he finds that he can't leave such a morose, even suicidal person alone. Jake can't stop talking about his dead wife, nor can he stop saying that he has no reason to live. For that reason, Caleb can't leave him alone.

Caleb doesn't consciously realize he's attracted to Jake until after he convinces Jake to return to his ranch as the foreman. It's only when he realizes that he looks forward to seeing Jake every day, that he's actually attracted to another man. He has no idea how he can be attracted to a man, physically or otherwise. And it's not like Jake is the best man to fall for. The guy carries a major torch for his wife and Caleb knows Jake will not let anyone in (figuratively speaking, of course).

Even after Caleb and Jake admit that they have feelings for each other, they don't consider themselves gay. They're not attracted to men, only to each other. I kind of got that, but I kind of didn't. I guess it was supposed to be that their souls were drawn to each other and it didn't matter what kind of body that soul was in.

If I had a problem with anything in this book, it was Jake. His guilt over his "betrayal" just annoyed me. I understand that his wife died unexpectedly and he loved her deeply, but the fact that he really thought she would deny his happiness after her death really didn't jive for me. Other than that, I thought the book was great.

4 out of 5.

This book is available from Loose Id, LLC. You can buy it here in e-format.

Slippery when naked…

When Bobby Blackhawk and Cale Yancey see a car slide off the highway and into an icy creek, they’ve got only minutes to get the beautiful driver out alive. And only one way to save her from hypothermia: take her to their isolated cabin, get naked…and hope like hell that when she wakes up, she doesn’t scream the place down.

Katherine Duvall opens her eyes in a strange bed, and the tingles flooding her body aren’t entirely due to restored circulation. She’s snuggled between two handsome men, one a gruff, gentle giant, the other a sexy, playful Native American. Having just left her fiancé romping with another woman, she’s not quite as shocked as she might have been.

In fact, these two lonesome cowboys could be the perfect bookends to satisfy her hunger for revenge and bolster her dented self esteem. It’s not long before their raging hormones are melting the snow on the cabin roof.

To their surprise, they find something else is melting, too. Their hearts…

I have to admit, I bought this book b/c the blurb was similar to White Out by Linda Howard. Plus, she wakes up w/ two hot guys...even better.

When Katherine finds her fiance doing the maid in the hotel they're staying at, she runs out the door in the stormy night. She has no idea how to drive in the conditions she finds herself in and soon runs off the road.

Bobby and Cale are heading back to their ranch when they see Katherine slide off the road and into a creek. With no time to even think, they both go in after her. She obviously has the onsight of hypothermia, as does Bobby. Cale somehow gets the three of them home where he strips both Katherine, Bobby, and himself down and climbs into bed to preserve their body heat.

Two things about this book were eyebrow raising.

#1) Cale and Bobby own their ranch together. They live far off the beaten path, so they aren't able to leave very often during the brutal winters. How do they satisfy their sexual needs? Why, the turn to each other of course. At the very least, that makes these two bi-sexual. That would have been perfectly fine w/ me, but that whole part was glossed over.

#2) I've read many ménage books. There hasn't been one where both men decide to put their happy sticks in the same place. Srsly, is that even physically possible? Even if one of them is smaller than average, the logistics just seem rather odd defying. Thinking about how that could be possible just took me away from the book.

Another intersting thing about the book was Cale's sudden jealousy. They are used to sharing women, so it was something that neither Cale nor Bobby was prepared for. I wasn't that much of a fan of Katherine, so the ending would have been better if she rode off into the suset alone, leaving Cale and Bobby to each other. Heh.

I recommend this if you're looking for a good, non-thinking erotica. It was exactly what I was looking for.

3.5 out of 5.

This book is available from Samhain. You can buy it here in e-format.

Hero: Cal Bartlett
Heroine: Kayla Grey
Grade: 4 out of 5

When Kayla Grey travels from Boston to Montana, the last place she expects to end up is huddled beneath a blanket of dirt in the middle of a fierce snowstorm. And the last person she expects to rescue her is the very man she’d come to find. Cal Bartlett was a true-blue cowboy, complete with a horse, and the most amazing eyes Kayla had ever seen. He was also the brother of the man who’d wanted to marry her. But she didn’t discover that until it was too late–after they’d kissed by a roaring fire and Kayla felt a desire she’d never known. Cal could handle Mother Nature, but could he handle the news Kayla brought with her? That his dead brother might not be dead after all? Cal couldn’t imagine why he was being tested in this way–irresistibly drawn to the woman his brother had loved. Now she was insisting he might be alive, asking Cal to join her on a dangerous search based on a rumor from a stranger…. And torn between guilt and longing, Cal would do just that, hoping against hope that wanting this woman wouldn’t mean losing his brother once again.

It's been a while since I've read a Suz Brockmann book so I figured I would rectify that by reading one of her category books for this month's Year of the Category Challenge being hosted by K Mont.

It's never a hardship falling into a Suz Brockmann novel. She is one of my very favoritest novelists and this book was no different. This book is about two people who have a sort of forbidden love because the heroine used to be engaged to the hero's brother. I don't know what it is about me reading these kinds of books where the hero and heroine are linked together by family but I'm happy to say that in this story, it didn't bother me as much because true to Suz form, she wrote their story with the main focus on them and not so much the other stuff that it was easy for me to be okay with the way these two were linked. Does that make sense? I hope so because that's the only way that I can explain it.

So anyway, we meet Kayla (the heroine) when she's on her way to meet her ex fiance's (although they weren't really engaged) brother to tell him about the kooky way Liam died. It's been two years since Liam's death and well, she just wants to clear the air, introduce herself and hopefully get Cal's help in trying to sort out what really happened when Liam died. Once she gets there, she doesn't expect to get caught up in a snow storm and then have to huddle in the mud to stay alive. She gets saved by this handsome stranger and he takes her to get warmed up and they share a pretty intense kiss BEFORE she finds out his name. Once they do find out who the other is they decide to put the breaks on their little budding romance because well, duh.

They embark on this journey that is filled with shady military peeps and a motorcycle ride that had goosebumps raising on my arms and the book is just one exciting adventure after the other and while they're running all over trying to stay alive and find some answers, the chemistry between them is threatening to overpower the both of them and it made for an enjoyable read. Suz Brockmann certainly delivers the same kind of magic she usually delivers with this story. It was a short but satisfying read and I'm glad that I picked it up.

Cal was smexy and Kayla wasn't too bad of a heroine. As much as I enjoyed this story, it wasn't my favorite Suz but it was still a good one. I don't think she can write a story that I won't like and this is evidence of that. Pretty decent read so pick it up, you'll enjoy it.

This book is available from Bantam. You can buy it here.

Amazon.com Announces First Quarter Financial Results

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 23, 2009-- Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2009.

Operating cash flow was $1.76 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.04 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2008. Free cash flow increased 82% to $1.43 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $0.79 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2008.

Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards outstanding totaled 447 million on March 31, 2009, compared with 435 million a year ago.

Net sales increased 18% to $4.89 billion in the first quarter, compared with $4.13 billion in first quarter 2008. Excluding the $268 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales would have grown 25% compared with first quarter 2008.

Read the rest of the announcement here.

In the economy today, most companies are reporting losses. Somehow it doesn't surprise me that it's Amazon.com that is reporting not only net income, but that net income has increased. With today's fad of "going green", ebooks are becoming more popular. I think Amazon.com's ability to adapt to consumer needs is one of the reasons that the company is so successful today.

Does anyone use the Kindle app for the iPhone? I'm just curious about how popular it is.

Kris' review of The First Sin by Cheyenne McCray.

AN ELITE PARTNERSHIP

Alexi Steele is determined, relentless, and driven to protect the innocent. She’s a top agent of the NSA’s clandestine Recovery Enforcement Division, specializing in human trafficking and sex crimes. Her current mission: To infiltrate the inner circle of Boston’s exclusive S&M clubs in order to save thirteen young women who are about to be auctioned off to the highest bidders. But Lexi’s only way in is under the “control” of her new partner in crime, Nicholas Donovan.

AN EROTIC END GAME

Nick will do whatever it takes to bring down the billionaire sex-ring mastermind who’s kidnapped his sister. But the games he must play as Lexi’s “dominant” are burning away his icy control, and blurring the lines between partners. Meanwhile, their enemies are closing in as they enter a devastating race against time…bringing them dangerously close to THE FIRST SIN.

Very intense book. There were some very graphic scenes so this book was not for the faint of heart. Good storyline, great suspense, lots of action. Characters were both very strong, and complimented each other well. Lexi was a strong personality and Nick matched her well. She was a good agent, willing to do what needed to be done even when it was degrading. She did things that I would have definitely walked out on, but she did them to save the other girls who were being sold. The sex scenes are very erotic and there were some sexual scenes that were not so nice because it was by very bad men. I loved Nick, he was a great hero. He is trying to save his sister who has been gone for 4 weeks now and he will do whatever it takes to find her. Though he hates what Lexi has to go through.

I am very interested in reading the next in this series. This series revolves around Lexi and Nick so she is always the heroine (as far as I can tell). The next full book is called The Second Betrayal and comes out in August. But there is a novella that comes out in June in the Real Men Last All Night anthology.

I give it a 4.25 out of 5.

This book is available from St. Martin's Press. You can buy it here.

Read more from Kris at The Reading Spot.

According to GalleyCat, Angelina Jolie is going to star as Dr. Kay Scarpetta, of Patricia Cornwell popular mystery series.

There have been a dozen (maybe more) or so books, but I stopped reading after the fourth or fifth book. I really enjoyed the series and can't exactly remember why I stopped reading it, but I remember it starting to fall flat for me. The first few books I read were action packed w/ characters that I wanted to get to know. It ended up getting monotonous.

Angelina Jolie, Fox 2000 and author Patricia Cornwell are teaming up for a killer deal.

The studio is acquiring screen rights to Cornwell's bestselling book series on medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta, to develop as a vehicle for Jolie.

Mark Gordon will produce with Media Talent Group's Geyer Kosinski. The studio, producers and Jolie are meeting with writers and will set one shortly. Bryan Zuriff will serve as exec producer.

Read the rest of the article here.

I don't know what readers of the series think, but I can totally see Jolie as Kay Scarpetta. But that may be b/c it's been so long since I've read the series.

Grade: 4 out of 5

Their husbands were gone, their families were grown, and the future stretched out before them like an unfulfilled promise . . . Tired of always dreaming and never doing, Cici, Lindsay, and Bridget make a life-altering decision. Uprooting themselves from their comfortable lives in the suburbs, the three friends buy a run-down mansion, nestled in the picturesque Shenandoah Valley. They christen their new home "Ladybug Farm," hoping that the name will bring them luck. As the friends take on a home improvement challenge of epic proportions, they encounter disaster after disaster, from renegade sheep and garden thieves to a seemingly ghostly inhabitant. Over the course of a year, overwhelming obstacles make the three women question their decision, but they ultimately learn that sometimes the best things can happen when everything goes wrong . . .

At my reading core, I'm a romance reader but every now and again I like to read chick lit books. This isn't a chick lit but a women's fiction that surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. This book is so different from anything that I would have thought I'd like and there really isn't much to this story but I really did enjoy the story.

This story is about three women who have carved their lives in the suburbs and are now trying to make a go of it in the country. They bought a big sprawling estate that is falling down on its ear and they're trying to restore it to its former glory. Along with rebuilding this estate, they're each dealing with their own set of issues and trying to adjust to moving from suburbs to this the nearest town is an hour away country and it's hard. It's hard to move from the suburbs where everything you've ever wanted or needed is minutes from your house to a country estate where there is nothing but space for miles and miles.

I enjoyed reading the struggles that each of these women went through to try to adapt to being in a new place at their age. They had all these plans and it was funny to see that what they thought they were getting into wasn't at all what they got. It was like the house had a mind of its own and was trying to tell the girls something and then someone was stealing their vegetables and then the sheep, lots of things were going down and yet this book had a lazy feel to it. It's funny that I enjoyed this book because there was not one romantic storyline in this entire book. It was straight up about these three women.

Of the three women, I connected the most with Bridget. She was the cook of the bunch and she was always making something in that kitchen and of the three women, I had the most in common with her. I liked her character and it was a joy getting to know her. Cici reminded me of my friend Mulu, she's the go getter, the one that is always fixing things and then there's the artist Lindsay and that was totally my friend Theresa. Watching these three women go through their new life made me realize that I want to be like these guys when I grow up. When I'm older and have lived my life, I would definitely want to do something like this. Move in with my best friends and spend my days rebuilding a garden and house like them.

This book made me want to take a road trip with my best friends and find our own adventure. This book made me want a lot of things, to still be friends with my best friends when I'm their age and still be going strong. I enjoyed this story and I enjoyed the way that this writer wove their story. It was a delight to read and it did spark some tears toward the end but I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is willing to read a great story. Be warned though, this is women's fiction not romance.

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

Pure. Unplanned. Perfect. Those were Nick’s summer plans before Sasha stepped into the picture. With the collateral damage from his parents’ divorce still settling and Dani (his girl of the moment) up for nearly anything, complications are the last thing he needs. All that changes, though, when Nick runs into Sasha at the beach in July. Suddenly he’s neck-deep in a relationship and surprised to find he doesn’t mind in the least. But Nick’s world shifts again when Sasha breaks up with him. Then weeks later, while Nick’s still reeling from the breakup, she turns up at his doorstep and tells him she’s pregnant, and Nick finds himself struggling once more to understand the girl he can’t stop caring for, the girl who insists that it’s still over.

This is my April read for the 2009 YA Reading Challenge over at J.Kaye's Book Blog. I've read a lot of good things about this book so I thought it would be a good thing to check out and I'm glad that I did because I ended up really enjoying this story.

This story is about teenager named Nick and the shifts his life takes when he finds out that he got his ex-girlfriend Sasha pregnant. We're hearing this story from Nick's POV and as are most of the YA books that I read, this story was told in first person. It's a very emotional kind of book but I couldn't stop turning the pages. It's a very engaging story that makes you feel for the characters. Nick is your regular run of the mill teenager who is smacked in the face with a pregnant ex girlfriend.

I really enjoyed this book.

C.K. Kelly Martin tells the story of a young man who has a lot of decisions to make and who is trying to make the best out of a hard situation. This book was a lot more emotional than I thought it would be but that only added to the greatness that is this book. This book is definitely a book that I would recommend to anyone to read because it was really good. As a mother, it hit home for me as I'm going to be dealing with this kind of scary stuff in a few years when Brenna becomes a teenager and I just really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this story and not just Nick and Sasha. I enjoyed getting to know Nathan and read about his issues. This story tackles a lot of the issues that teens are facing these days and it really makes you sit up and think. For me, it hit home a little bit and I understood what both Sasha and Nick were going through and it was just really good.

Read this book if you're into Young Adult books, it was definitely a page turner.

This book is available from Random House. You can buy it here.

Kris' review of White Star by Elizabeth Vaughn.

In Palins, a land in the throes of upheaval, Lady High Priestess Evelyn leads a rebellion against an unjust usurper. But when she is taken prisoner by Orrin Blackhart, their clashing souls will be forged in desire, redemption, and glory...

Not much of a blurb so I will summarize a little better in a minute. This is the second book in the star series, the first is Dagger Star. That book was decent but a lot of world building so it got a little tedious at times. With this book, the world building was already done for you so you could jump right in. Reading the first book is necessary for the storyline because it continues where the first one left off but from a different perspective. Red Gloves and Josiah were the main characters in the last book. This book revolves around Evelyn and Orrin. Orrin was a great hero. He worked for the "bad guys" in the first book and I love when that happens and you can see another perspective and the motives behind them.

Well, the blurb covers the first 10 pages of the book. Here is a little more: In the previous book Evelyn is taken prisoner by Orrin Blackhart who works for the evil Baroness Elanore. When messengers return with news that Elanore is dead, Orrin thinks quick on how to best save his people. So he surrenders. Evelyn is returned to The Chosen and is granted a boon. She requests the life of Orrin Blackhart as her boon. He is released under that condition that he cleanse the land of the Black Hills from the odium that have overrun it. He has a year to do it or he forfeits his life.

It took me a few pages to get into because I had to remember what happened in the last book but once I got into it I had a hard time putting it down. The storyline moved well, there were any big down times. The characters were engaging. Orrin was a very good flawed hero. He knew he had done bad things and was trying to atone for them. Evelyn was nice and stubborn but also had a good head on her shoulders. I liked her. The story wrapped up all loose ends pertaining to this segment of the story but also gave a good segue to the next story.

If you read the first book and thought it was just okay then try this one because it was much better.

I give this a 4 out of 5.

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Read more from Kris at The Reading Spot.

The future of Charlotte Harris's finishing school is in jeopardy when a charming Spaniard — world-famous magician Diego Montalvo — arrives to turn the bordering estate into a scandalous pleasure garden. Valiantly ignoring his wicked flirtations, outspoken Lucinda Seton vows to derail his plans and save the school, unaware that Diego's true mission is to spirit the long-lost heiress away to Spain for a handsome reward! But before long Diego's heart is playing tricks on him, and Lucy is falling under the illusionist's spell. How can the Master of Mystery go through with his devilish scheme when all he wants is to make the lovely heiress his own?

Here's a heads up to all of you Sabrina Jeffries fans out there. SJ has a new book coming out on May 26th with Simon and Schuster called DON'T BARGAIN WITH THE DEVIL. It sounds like a pretty awesome book so I'm pretty stoked to read it. A Spanish hero? Yum. Count me in! Not being familiar with any of SJ's work, can anyone offer other titles by SJ that they have enjoyed?

This book is available from Simon & Schuster. You can pre-order it here.

Forbidden Temptations…

Serena Kelley is an archaeologist and treasure hunter—and a woman with a secret. Since she was seven, she’s been the keeper of a powerful charm that grants her health and immortality . . . as long as she stays a virgin. But Serena isn’t all that innocent. And when a dangerously handsome stranger brings her to the brink of ecstasy, she wonders if she’s finally met the one man she cannot resist.

Fatal Desires…

Wraith is a Seminus demon with a death wish. But when an old enemy poisons him, he must find Serena and persuade her to give him the only known antidote in the universe—her charm. Yet, as she begins to surrender to his seductions, and Wraith senses the cure is within his grasp, he realizes a horrible truth: he’s falling for the woman whose life he must take in order to save his own.

I've been intrigued by the Demonica series since I read Pleasure Unbound. Each book has gotten better and given the reader a deeper look into Underground General and the demons that run it. I think that Passion Unleashed is the best book in the series. Partly b/c of Wraith, but also b/c of the progression of the overall story-arc.

Wraith is part human/vampire/demon. He doesn't care if he lives or dies. He doesn't care about anything, but his two brothers. And even that bond is tested when it comes to Wraith. After he was injected with a poison in which there is no antidote, Eidolon and Shade tell Wraith that he has to live or the hospital that they built with their blood (literally) will collapse around their ears. Already, Wraith's sickness is wreaking havoc in UG. His only chance is to go after Serena Kelley, a charmed human. If he can take her virginity, he gets her charm which would cause him to stop dying.

Wraith has a big problem with that from the beginning; starting with the fact that Serena is human. Wraith never has sex with humans, but it seems like he has no choice. What he thinks will be easy, he soon finds is anything but. For the first time in his life, he is feeling something that he hasn't felt before. Protectiveness, possession, and even love. He can't take Serena's charm b/c to do so would bring back the disease that was killing her before she was given the charm. For the first time in his life, Wraith is putting another person's needs above his own.

Serena has no idea that the man she knows as Josh is a vampire/demon. Thinking that he was sent by the Aegis to recover an artifact, Serena has a hard time concentrating on what needs to be done. In the past it has been relatively easy for Serena to remain celibate. Now, for the first time in her life, she actually wishes she was someone else, someone that wasn't "charmed".

The more time they spend together, the more Wraith is certain that he can't condemn Serena to death. That's before he learns information from his brothers that rocks his world. Plus, he also has to stop Armageddon.

The fact that Wraith's mate was a human woman made this book all the better b/c of his aversion to them. I loved how protective he was of her. The irony was that Serena made Wraith's human side come out.

So Larissa, when is the next book?

4.25 out of 5.

This book is available from Grand Central. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Other books in the series:

Holly's review of Giving Chase (Chase Brothers, Book 1) by Lauren Dane

Together they find a special love-can it survive the threat stalking her? Some small towns grow really good looking men! This is the case with the four Chase brothers. The home grown hotties are on the wishlist of every single woman in town and Maggie Wright is no exception.

Maggie has finally had it with the men she's been dating but a spilled plate of chili cheese fries drops Shane Chase right into her lap. The sheriff is hot stuff but was burned by a former fiancée and is quite happy to play the field.

After Shane's skittishness sends him out the door, Maggie realizes that Kyle Chase has had his eye on her from the start. Now that Shane has messed up, Kyle has no intention of letting anything stop him from wooing her right into his bed.

Despite Maggie's happiness and growing love with Kyle, a dark shadow threatens everything-she's got a stalker and he's not happy at all. In the end, Maggie will need her wits, strength and the love of her man to get her out alive.

Warning: This book contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, and some violent situations.

Giving Chase is book 1 in Lauren Dane's Chase Brothers series. I haven't read the fourth (and final) book yet, but so far this is my favorite of the series.

Maggie is a teacher who hasn't ever really let her hair down. She loves what she does, but isn't very confident in herself. After yet another relationship ended badly her best friend talks her into a makeover and Maggie is amazed at the way some new clothes and a hair style make her feel. Especially after she attracts the attention of super sexy sheriff Shane Chase. Unfortunately Shane isn't looking for anything more than a good time..and Maggie is definitely in the market for something much different.

Kyle had his eye on Maggie the moment he saw her, but since Shane asked her out first he backed off. When things end between Shane and Maggie, Kyle knows he wants a chance with her. Unlike his older brother, Kyle is looking for something long term and he thinks Maggie might be the one. But after what happened with Shane Maggie is feeling pretty gun-shy about men in general and Chase men in particular.

I really loved Kyle. I love that he was upfront and honest about what he wanted with Maggie. He didn't shy away from making a commitment I was a bit leery of the storyline after reading the blurb because I'm mildly uncomfortable with the idea of brothers dating the same woman. I think Dane really handled that aspect well, though. Kyle was very respectful of the situation and was upfront with both Shane and Maggie about it. It wasn't just glossed over or brushed aside. It was dealt with in a believable way.

Maggie was a strong character. She suffered from some self-esteem issues in the beginning, but as the novel progressed she really came into her own. I like that she was willing to stand up for herself and refused to compromise herself for a man - not for Shane or Kyle.

Overall this was a great, character driven contemporary novel. I highly recommend it.

4.25 out of 5



This book is available from Samhain Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.