Author: romancebookworm

I love to read and it is my true obsession. I would quit my job tomorrow, if I could make a living doing reviews and writing books! LOL!

REVIEW BY SHAE!! BAYON/JEAN-BAPTISTE (BAYOU HEAT) BY LAURA WRIGHT AND ALEXANDRA IVY (@alexandraIvy)

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Blurb:

The fight continues in the Wildlands. Facing extinction, the Pantera have been given a miracle. A child. The first one in over fifty years. But even as they prepare to celebrate, the enemy strikes, putting at risk the fragile female who carries the hope of their people.

BAYON
Charming, drop-dead gorgeous Hunter Bayon is thirsting for revenge on the enemies who slipped into the Wildlands and attacked Ashe and her vulnerable child. Pledging to track down the cowards, Bayon goes on the hunt, pursuing the humans to a nearby town. But searching their shabby hideaway, he makes a discovery that shocks him to his very soul and might very well destroy the heart of the Pantera.

JEAN-BAPTISTE
Tattooed and pierced, sexy Nurturer Jean-Baptiste has been living in utter isolation. His cat is out of control, and the only thing that soothes the beast is a rare mineral he keeps inking into his skin. Until he meets her: Genevieve Burel. The beautiful and buttoned-up female puma is unlike anyone he’s ever met. She makes his cat purr, and he knows he must possess her, mate with her. But the secret she’s keeping might threaten not only their unbridled passion for one another, but the very future of the Pantera race.

Review by Shae:

Mercy Sakes Alive!!! I need a fan!! Bayon and Jean-Baptiste are super-hot Pantera. This is book 3 and 4 of the Bayou Heat series. I wouldn’t move after downloading this book. I was locked into the Bayou! Each book introduces us to a new sexy hunk of a Puma Shifter.  I so enjoyed catching up with the Raphael and Parish while getting to know the new characters better. What happened to Ashe is still a mystery that Bayon and Jean-Baptiste must help to solve. Will the cub survive? Will the Pantera survive? What is happening with the wildlands? There are so many unanswered questions.  The mysteries are great and intriguing. The Pantera males are sensual and seductive. They are all pure Alpha males! Wow!! The sex will leave you panting like you were the cats!

Alexandra Ivy and Laura Wright are an awesome team.  We are honored to have the collaboration of two great authors transporting us into an awesome world. I can’t wait until the next books in this series comes out. This is a must read!!

Rated 5 Stars

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REVIEW BY SHAE! THE WRECK BY MARIE FORCE (@marieforce)

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Blurb:

The Wreck is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller!

Carly Holbrook and Brian Westbury are weeks away from their high school graduation. The young couple plans to marry before they head to college, and their future seems bright with promise. Everything changes one spring night when their six closest friends, including Brian’s younger brother, are killed in a fiery car accident that Carly and Brian witness. The trauma leaves Carly unable to speak, and Brian is forced to make unimaginable decisions about a future that once seemed so certain. With Carly incapable of going forward with their plans, Brian leaves home–and Carly–for good. Fifteen years later, disturbing new clues indicate the accident that wrecked so many lives wasn’t an accident at all, bringing Brian home to face a past–and a love–he’s never forgotten.

Review:

Amazing! Just simply amazing! Marie Force is simply phenomenal!  I became a fan after reading her Fatal Series, then McCarthy series. I learned she had stand-alone books. “The Wreck” is a stand-alone. Force knows how to bring on the emotional rollercoaster. She allows her readers to experience all the joys, struggles, sadness, anger, etc. that her characters do. Her books are a must add to your libraries.

The wreck in the beginning of this book is heart wrenching and tragic for all who are affected. It alters lives in a way that are unbelievably common.  Force takes us along the road of the strength found in “first love.”  My heart was ripped out of my chest twice during the reading of the “The Wreck.” I was quite thankful that my kindle pages couldn’t get soaked from my tears.  Brian and Carly try to pick up what is left of their lives after the wreck. With the loss of Brian’s brother and their best friends, Brian succeeds much better than Carly or so we think.  There is mystery in the air after 15 years passes. Was it an accident or was the wreck the cause of a deliberate action of another?  Will Brian and Carly’s love survive?

Rated 5 Stars

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COVER REVEAL! BLUFFING THE DEVIL BY CL FOSTER (@GHBTours, @CLFoster1)

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Tours Cover Reveal GraphicBluffing the Devil by CL Foster MINI

  Blurb:

After losing her fiancé to a freak accident, Alexia Riley decides to swear off relationships and focus her energy on conquering the male-dominated sport of professional poker.

When Alexia finds herself being visited in her dreams by a mysterious new man, she begins to wonder if her world is slowly starting to unravel around her.

Tested by a double-dealing nemesis on the tables and tempted by a mysterious “dream man”, Alexia soon contemplates making a deal with the Devil to rid herself of these torments. What bargain will she strike with the Dark Prince to get what she wants? As temptation for a mysterious dream man weakens her resolve, a desire to defeat her greatest rival beckons her. Will she sacrifice her soul for victory? Love? Or does she want something else entirely?

The stakes have never been higher for Alexia than they are when she is bluffing the Devil!

Excerpt:

He slithered his way across the casino floor and instantly his predacious gaze locked onto me. In a spontaneous act of avoidance, I burrowed into the crowd a bit deeper and tunneled my way through the unsuspecting human-shields and headed toward the mock-safety of the elevators. Not that I am afraid of him, far from it, I just cannot stand cocky bastards that think they are God’s gift to the game. Especially when it’s obvious that the only reason he chats me up so often is he is trying to learn my strategy and make a place for himself as poker royalty. Not on my watch, chump. But wait, I am not prey in this situation! I am never going to be someone’s doormat or stepping stone ever again! Resolve hit me suddenly and I pivoted on my heel quickly, nearly slamming into his eye-level chest. Man, he was fast! And tall, geez. When did he get so tall? How had I never noticed that before? Ahh yes, always sitting at a poker table and only having to deal with his consuming gazes. This was a new level of freak-out.

“Is there something I can help you with, Rey?” I said as I craned my neck to see the tower of man before me, “Or were you on a mad dash to bilk someone of their life savings or rob some unsuspecting college girl of her panties and possible virtue tonight?”

“You wound me, truffle.” He drawled with his gorgeous Latin accented “r”.

Seriously? What is up with everyone and their nicknames for me lately?

“I decided at the last moment to switch to this hotel so I could be away from the action over at Caesar’s and as I was registering I couldn’t miss your glorious essence calling to me from the crowd.”

As if I was “calling” to him? Pssh. As if!

“And I just had to come speak to you and make sure you are doing well. Are you busy? You seemed in a hurry.”

Rey could fool most people into thinking he was innocent or sweet or whatever façade he wanted to wear today but I know poker players and I know men and he was not fooling me one bit. He always stayed at Caesar’s, which was one of the most important reasons I never did. Had he followed me? There would be no point in that. I have to stop being so paranoid.

“I was in a hurry yes, I.. uh.. have a date.” It was sort of the truth. I was planning on going to my room for a nap before the tournament and was also praying that I would have a few moments with my Dream Guy, that always settled my nerves and gave me a little something extra to smile about.

A flash of something crossed Rey’s face. Amazingly, I couldn’t decipher if it was anger, confusion, or some other emotion. Even though I have been training to read people’s faces, actions, words, and other characteristics for years now, he somehow managed to show an emotion I hadn’t seen before. Weird. Well-played, sir. Game on.

Bluffing the Devil Trailer ~http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4UWMHklfcg

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CL Foster

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Cover by the amazingly talented Regina Wamba of Mae I Designs https://www.facebook.com/MaeIDesignandPhotography

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BLOG TOUR STOP! REVIEW BY BRANDY! INAPPROPRIATE THOUGHTS BY IAN DALTON (@TastyBookTours, @iandaltonbooks)

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Blurb:

The first in a new erotic contemporary romance series, Inappropriate Thoughts is a scorching mix of desire, sex, love and slightly inappropriate comedy.

Jillian Grayson is a disillusioned divorcée and best-selling romance novelist who can’t write a chapter without her hunky male heartthrob suffering ED, an STD, or even worse. Brian Nash is a tennis-obsessed, college senior who’s unlucky in love and the roommate and best friend of Jillian’s son, Rob. When Rob brings Brian home for spring break and he meets the surprisingly young and also tennis passionate Jillian, their shared interest quickly develops into an intense mutual attraction. After nearly giving in to their feelings, they hatch a plan, while under the influence (of something more than just the perfect Miami night), to be friends with “partial” benefits complete with rules to define the boundaries. Will the lonely pair continue with this distinctive relationship, actually explore their desires or will they discover all of it is a really bad idea?

READER ADVISORY:
This story contains content some readers may find objectionable, including explicit sex and language.

Inappropriate Thoughts is a more explicit version of Friends with Partial Benefits.

Series Description:

Best friends Jillian Grayson and Victoria Wilde could not be more different. Victoria, a widow who has really gotten on with her life, is wild, carefree, and living life to the fullest while Jillian, recently divorced, is a bestselling romance novelist who is straight-laced, proper, and reserved. That is until Jillian meets Brian Nash, the young, hunky best friend of her college-aged son. These two women provide the vantage point on the hilarious and steamy world of the Friends With…Benefits and the Victoria Wilde series. Filled with strong, sexy women and fun-loving, real men, the books are at once playful and very sexy; light but large-hearted. If you love sexy contemporary romance with a healthy dose of fun then this series is for you. Uniquely available in two heat levels, one version or the other is sure to be for you. Ian Dalton’s Victoria Wilde versions contain approximately 7,000 more words with expanded scenes and more explicit prose while Luke Young’s Friends series is written with a little left to the imagination. Rest assured that both versions contain the same level of laugh out loud fun.

Excerpt:

Jillian Grayson sat up in bed, typing away on the keyboard of her laptop computer. She wore a nightshirt that wasn’t all that sexy, but what she was typing was… or at least it started out that way…

Dallas lay in bed, unable to sleep and wondering if Katrina was suffering the same fate—and for the very same reason. Did she want him as much as he wanted her? Katrina was but a few steps away, yet he dare not go to her, for he was a guest, and then there was Katrina’s mother, who was just across the hall. For Dallas, sleep came minutes later, but it would be short- lived, for soon Katrina stood over him, completely nude and pondering how to proceed…

Dallas must have been in a deep sleep, since he didn’t feel it when Katrina peeled the sheet carefully off him, exposing his muscular body, six-pack abs, and sizeable manhood. She quivered when his impressiveness sprang into view. For a long time, she kneeled next to the bed, just studying his body and savoring his scent. Taking his sex into her hand, Katrina worked it until it was rigid while she watched him sleep. When Dallas woke, he looked into her eyes, swallowed hard, and whispered, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Just as fast as his sex expanded, it lost its firmness and flopped against his leg. Katrina looked down at it in disappointment and then moaned in frustration. “What’s wrong?”

Dallas said sheepishly, “Sometimes that happens to me. Sorry. Ever since I cheated on my wife with that whore in the pool, I haven’t been able to—”

Jillian stopped typing and thought she might be heading in the wrong direction with this. How did her ex-husband get into the story? But then again, most men are assholes, she thought.

Picking up the glass of wine from her nightstand, she took a long sip and then replaced it. She highlighted the last paragraph about Dallas’s problem, hit one key, and it was gone. Just like his boner. She laughed out loud.

Jillian wasn’t exactly in the correct frame of mind to write at the moment, especially on this particular subject. She stared straight ahead and wondered about the likelihood of Dallas slipping in the shower, striking his head, and dying instantly. Or maybe an earthquake could strike, and Dallas’s amazingly perfect body would be trapped under a giant beam.

What the hell kind of name was Dallas anyway? She thought she might want to give her character a real name like Stewart but figured no one would believe that a guy named Stewart could give you six consecutive orgasms in one night.

What was she doing, anyway, writing novels about people having amazing sex when she’d never had any? Okay, maybe once or twice twenty years ago, but none since then. She had no right. If people knew that she was the one writing these books, they wouldn’t buy them. She was a fraud.

Jillian picked up her wineglass and took another long drink. She grinned, wiped those unhelpful thoughts from her mind, and started typing again…

Katrina took his sex in her hand and worked it until it was rigid. As she studied it closely, Katrina noticed two red bumps on the underside of his pathetic excuse for a penis. She recoiled in horror—

Jillian hit the backspace key to erase everything after Dallas’s “sex” started expanding. Romance novels about erectile dysfunction and STDs weren’t exactly big sellers. She closed the lid on the laptop and tossed it gently onto a pillow at the foot of the bed. She emptied her wineglass with one last sip and turned on the television.

Jillian Grayson wrote under the pen name of Jaclyn West. She’d written fourteen bestsellers so far and had more money than she needed flowing in, so her next novel could wait. The book royalties had paid for her large, beautiful house in Miami. She still had plenty of money, even after the divorce, which forced her to part with nearly half of her earnings to her bastard ex-husband.

She’d never forget the day she came home early from a book tour and found George performing oral sex on that slut in the pool, the pool she had paid for and an act he rarely, if ever, did for her. Jillian always thought he hated oral sex or, more specifically, he hated the giving part. But there he was, naked, standing in the shallow end of the pool, and going to work on some other woman as she floated in the pool on a ring, which Jillian had also paid for. The pool oral sex thing actually looked like it might be kind of fun, and Jillian often wondered why George had never once tried that on her.

That day, when Jillian spotted them from the second floor balcony off their bedroom, she had watched for a little longer than she’d care to admit. Maybe that was because all her erotic romance writing had left her desensitized to sex, at least a little. At first, it didn’t seem real; it was as if she was visualizing a scene for a book, not watching her husband cheat on her.

When she finally came back to earth, Jillian left the house and went to the side of the pool. She snuck up on the adulterous couple and stood there until the woman being serviced noticed they had an audience. The woman tapped George on the shoulder to get his attention. When George turned around, he had a guilty look on his face that Jillian would never forget. Jillian wouldn’t let the naked woman back in the house to get her clothes. She simply threw the clothes out the door. The woman was forced to get dressed outside and shamefully leave through the back gate. George went into the house, got dressed, and left through the front door. It was the last time he ever set foot inside.

Jillian didn’t cry that day; instead, she put on a pair of kitchen gloves and retrieved the ring float from the pool. When her attempts to drain the float of air through the valve seemed to be taking too long, she stabbed it ten times with scissors. That could possibly have been overkill, but it did the trick and gave her a much-needed outlet for her rage. Jillian called a company to have the pool drained, scrubbed, and refilled at the cost of fifteen hundred dollars. It was worth it, she thought, because she would never have been able to dip a toe in the pool until every last drop of that contaminated water was replaced.

Review:

HOT!  There is no other way to describe an Ian Dalton book!  The story is about a sexually frustrated romance writer.  Most of us have been there I’m sure!  It involves a middle aged woman and her son’s best friend.  I thought that would be a tad weird for me but nope, I am thinking a boy toy would be fun!  The relationship is spicy and full of stimulating conversation.  NOT!  The sex scenes explode off the page and make you wanna grab a cold shower.  It was nice to see the backside of a successful writer and see the block that happen to all of us.

This series is riveting and I can’t wait for more.  Jillian and Brian are a fun and refreshing change from the usual couples.

Author Bio:

Ian DaltonSDPICY AUTHOR

Authors of contemporary and erotic romance, Luke Young is Ian Dalton – well, sort of… Ian Dalton is Luke Young’s erotic alter ego. Don’t read this to say that Luke’s stories are anything less than steamy, but there’s still some of the erotic play-by-play that is left to the imagination. With the Ian Dalton editions, nothing is left to the imagination. Well, almost nothing, anyway. In essence, Each book on the Luke side has an expanded version available on the Ian side.

 His Friends With… Benefits and Victoria Wilde series are based on the same laugh out loud stories with the Ian versions containing about 7000 words (around thirty pages) of more explicit and expanded sex scenes. So whether you like your contemporary romance regular or extra spicy, he thinks he has something for you. To get a feel for how the versions compare, please check out the “Who Is Ian Dalton” page on his website: http://lukeyoungbooks.com/who-is-ian-dalton/

 Author Contact Links

Ian:

Amazon US Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Ian-Dalton/e/B0061WDLUM/
Amazon UK Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ian-Dalton/e/B0061WDLUM/
Email: ianwdalton@gmail.com
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/InappropriateThoughts
Twitter: @iandaltonbooks

Buy Links:

Amazon –  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005ZWRMM2/

BN – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/inappropriate-thoughts-ian-dalton/1107033717?ean=2940032855095

Follow the rest of the tour HERE and make sure you click HERE for your chance to win a 20.00 Amazon or B&N giftcard!

REVIEW BY BRANDY! LOVE’S SECRET FIRE BY RENA KOONTZ

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Blurb:

The biggest story of reporter Valerie Daniels’s career could be the one that kills her. A part-time news reporter, Valerie is determined to prove her twin brother is not responsible for the rash of suspicious fires in Benton Falls, despite all the evidence that leads undercover investigator Adam Michaels to believe he’s caught his arsonist – Valerie’s brother.

Adam Michaels relies on the facts when he is working a case but on this one, his instincts, and his heart, tell him there is more behind this story. And there’s a lot more he wants to know about Valerie Daniels, a woman who makes no bones about the fact she doesn’t like him – or what he’s doing to her brother.

Arson turns to murder and sparks fly between Adam and Valerie. But the real arsonist has his own ideas about the heat between these two. To defeat the killer and his deadly trap, they must learn to trust each other.

Review:

I really loved this story!  Adam was a character that I have a huge crush on.  He has good instincts and he just knows that Valerie is someone he is interested in even if it looks like her brother is an arsonist. 

This book is full of twists and turns and there was a part that I seriously bawled my eyes out during.  I have never thought of myself as a “fireman girl” but this book as made me take a whole new look at these delicious men!

Sometimes life throws more at us than we think we can handle.  I am amazed at how far Adam is willing to go for Valerie.  This is one of those books that I have no desire to share spoilers with you, kittens.  It is a first class, kickass book that deserves to be read by all of you!

Rated 5 Kisses

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Rene is offering a giveaway!  Enter HERE for your chance to win a PRINT copy of Love’s Secret Fire!

REVIEW BY BRANDY! SHATTERED INTO BEAUTIFUL BY MEL BALLEW @MelBallew

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Blurb:

Her Magick is destined but true love forbidden.

After beautiful Sylver Kyllienne Brady meets death at the hands of her boyfriend, Roland Parks, she transcends into Summerland. There, she reunites with her mother and finds her soul mate, Zander. Pulled back to the earthly plane, she must embark on a journey of discovery. She uncovers a truth. She is the descendent of a long lineage of powerful Witches. She must learn to control her power, protect the family’s Amulet and Book of Shadows. Sylver has no idea what awaits her. And, this is only part of her discovery.

Lives unravel as secrets are discovered and mysteries unfold.

Everything changes when she meets Zander Emmett –a vampire. Zander is gorgeous, exotic, sexy and unbelievably wealthy. He is also the one person a witch, such as Sylver, must avoid. Their love is forbidden but their souls draw them together like a magnet. Their bodies ignite, passion soars and their souls are left discovering, not only each other, but their destiny. His life holds secrets and enticing mysteries of his own that propel the parallels of their worlds to climaxing heights.

Will their colliding worlds separate them? Will Sylver embrace her destiny? Will realizing what is expected of her and falling soul-fully in love with Zander – the vampire she is forbidden to love just leave her breathless?

Or, will she forever be Shattered Into Beautiful?

Review:

I am going to start off with telling you that I was given a copy of this for review.  That being said, I don’t know where to begin.  I am Sylver.  For all intents and purposes, I am her.  I understand her pain and I understand what drives her.  The brutality she suffered was mine as well.  I am Sylver. 

I understood Sylver’s link to Zander.  The power that draws you into eyes that mesmerize you into forgetting your pain and accepting the destiny stretching out in front of you.  The depth of their connection spans time and space.  It is a bond that cannot be broken or be denied.  Forbidden is not relevant.

Betrayal is a guarantee when happiness and family is involved.  It seems to be the thing that keeps the balance for all of us.  I actually had to stop reading to email Mel.  I had to let her know how deep this book moved me.  I know everyone sees each book differently and I respect that but this book touched me in a way I wasn’t expecting. 

I have faced death in ways that can’t be measured.  I have fought my own demons and still had them come back for more.  I am Sylver.  Thank you, Mel.  You are showing us that just because evil comes into your life and takes your final breath, doesn’t mean it is the end.  You can be reborn.

Rated 5 Kisses

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REVIEW BY BRANDY! BONDED BY HK SAVAGE

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Blurb:

The bad guys are licking their wounds leaving Claire and James to enjoy what promises to be a merry Christmas. Until a traitor among them delivers Stephen and Claire into enemy hands.

Past lovers, obligations and rivalries compete, all the while the bond between Claire and James grows and Claire is pulled further toward the vampire side. James is growing dependent upon her to feed his humanity, and the boundary that separates them is no longer clear.

A potential husband and a job working for the Court threaten to take Claire’s newfound control over her life from her and stick her firmly under someone else’s thumb. She must try to keep her wits about herself enough to figure out what she wants before the ability to decide is gone forever, and try not to get any of her loved ones killed in the process.

Review:

This is a series that keeps it coming!  Claire and James are bonded and the relationship is developing quicker than either had planned.  Claire moves in with James and struggles to maintain her humanity with the development of their connection.  Being “marked” is usually done through bites but it seems like these two have developed a “psychic mark” that allows them to blend together.

Betrayal is the name of this game and I have to tell you that I was lead to believe one thing and it turned in a completely different direction!  Love when that happens.  Stephen’s character is growing by leaps and bounds and I am anxious to see if he finds the love he is looking for.

Stoked to discover what happens to this dynamic family in the third book, Secrets!!

Rated 4 Kisses

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SUNSHINE AWARD…ME?!?

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laure-sunshineaward

I read ALL of the comments on here. Good, bad and amazing. Imagine my surprise when the lovely Jhobell Kristyl at Book Maven’s Picks nominated me for the Sunshine Award!!!

The rules (according to her site) are:

  • Include the award’s logo in a post or on your blog. (Did that) 🙂

  • Answer 10 questions about yourself. (Not a fan of talking about me, but I will do it!)

  • Must nominate 10 other bloggers.  (How do I pick just 10?!?)

  • Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs.  Let them know that they are awesome and being nominated!

  • Share the love and link the person who nominated you.

My questions:

  • Favorite food:  Pizza.  I would have it ten times a week if my husband and boys didn’t complain so much!

  • Favorite season:  Winter.  I love how crisp and clean everything is.

  • Favorite song:  I love music.  I am an ecclectic and listen to just about everything but right now I am sitting here listening to Cowboys and Angels by Dustin Lynch.  I saw him in concert a few weeks ago and this song was about his grandparents.  I was writing a story in my head to go with the lyrics and it struck a chord.

  • Favorite drink:  I love hurricanes.  They are fabulous when you are out with the girls but I like the captain and diet coke any other time.

  • Favorite color:  Mine is actually three.  I like black, pink and red.  Any variation or combination works for me.

  • Favorite Hobby:  Reading.  It is truly an obsession with me.  I read two to four books a day on average and never leave home without my kindle or a print book somewhere on me.

  • Favorite date activity:  I love to go to the movies and then to starbucks to talk about what happened.

  • Favorite Snack:  Chocolate.  Doesn’t matter what as long as its chocolate.

  • Favorite Movie:  The Princess Bride.  To me it is the perfect romance. 🙂 

  • Favorite Temptation:  My husband, William.  He is my perfect romance hero.  After 13 years together, I can’t imagine my personal romance getting any better but he surprises me daily. 

My nominees in no particular ranking:

Congratulations to these amazing bloggers for all their amazing reviews, kind thoughts and inspiration in the blogging world!  I am excited I can share the Sunshine Award with them!  A special thank you to Jhobell Kristyl for sharing this award with me.  It is beyond humbling and I am grateful!

Brandy

 

REVIEW BY SARAH! MANATAKA BY ELLA J PHOENIX (@transcendsdreams)

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Blurb:

Since she was a child, Chloe has endured horrible nightmares about a Native American prince living in a time long forgotten. She never understood why, until she finds a stone that matches the one in her dreams. It has unimaginable powers, powers Chloe doesn’t understand. Fueled by memories of someone else’s past, she sets off on a wild quest for the stone’s birth place, hoping to also find answers to her foreboding dreams.

On the outside, Mason Green looks like a hard working, self-made millionaire, with too busy a life for romance. Very few people know the real reason for his self-imposed seclusion. It’s safer that way. But when a sexy historian shows him a supernatural stone from a forgotten tribe, Mason is intrigued – maybe the relic is the salvation he’s been waiting for. Ignoring the irrational attraction that threatens to crack the cask around his heart, Mason agrees to help Chloe.

As their wild quest becomes a dangerous mission, they must find the relic’s birthplace before Mason’s past catches up to them.

Review:

Chloe has just aquired her dream job: working at the Smithsonian Instutite in Washington, D.C. When she stumbles across a stone with Native American markings as she’s archiving items, she’s amazed to see it light up at her touch. Deciding she needs to find the mystical land of Manataka, she travels to Arkansas and hires a guide – Mason Green.

Mason is Native American with a huge chip on his shoulder. He takes the job with one purpose: to take the Tula stone and end his curse of immortality. The guilt and shame he bears from his life 200 years ago is too much and life has become meaningless over so much time. Then Chloe marches into his life and becomes his “little tornado” as they search for Manataka.

This is a great read. There were a few plot holes but nothing that ruined the story. It was full of steamy sex scenes and, I have to say, Phoenix is one of my favorite fighting-scene writers. I had figured out who the villian was, but was still surprised by his second (“real”) identity.

The characters were my favorite part of the story. Mason is a character you hate to love, and Chloe is just so damn sweet you can’t help but empathize with her. Watching them fall in love was too much fun.

This is the second book by Phoenix I’ve read and I am so impressed by the lore and worlds she creates. I envy her imagination. I hope she turns Manataka into a series!

Rated 4.5 Zs

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REVIEW BY BRANDY! EMPATH BY HK SAVAGE

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Blurb:

All she wanted was to disappear…

Claire Martin is an empath. She’s lived her entire life as a slave to a constant barrage of emotions that weren’t hers. Off to college, she hopes simply to blend with the crowd where she can best hide her curse. Within her first few weeks at school Claire meets Stephen Andrews, a small, fragile looking boy who changes her life forever. 



Stephen, a boy with a secret of his own, instantly recognizes Claire for what she is. It is through Stephen’s aid that Claire meets James, a vampire with a talent of his own. As soon as they touch, their abilities connect in a way that has not occurred in over three hundred years forming a bond that cannot be broken.

Review:

Very nice to read a story of vampires and humans that is not a Twilight repeat!  Claire has the power of an empath and I can tell you that  I would not want it.  Feeling every emotion that comes from a person has got to be difficult. 

This is the first in a trilogy and I can’t wait to get started on the next one.  Stephen has developed into a character that I would love to see have his own spinoff.  I want spoil the excitement of discovering his secret but I was not expecting it. 

James on the other hand, yummy!  I was a little shocked at the instant connection between the two main characters but as you dig into the story, you can feel the love that resonates from the pages. 

Rated 4 Kisses