Brandy’s Blog

Blood of the Son (Book #1 in the Skye Morrison Vampire Series) by J.L. McCoy (@AuthorJLMcCoy)

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Excerpt from Amazon:

Skye Morrison has a lot in common with today’s college graduates; she’s neck-deep in student loan debt and desperate for a better paying job. For four years, the nightlife of Austin, Texas (home of Skye’s Alma Mater) has satiated her thirst for good music, a revamp in fashion and men – especially local musician, Jameson Doyle, but her spot as a waitress at Drop Kick Dan’s bar wasn’t going to cut the slack. A personal life troubled by a hounding ex only made matters worse. Skye was never the damsel in distress type, but when an unexpected public shouting match with her ex turned physical, a savior disguised as a heavenly gorgeous Irishman came to her rescue. Archer Rhys, a businessman with a lot to offer, doesn’t exactly sweep Skye off her feet but she couldn’t help but to be captivated by his ravenous good looks. When Archer makes Skye a lucrative job offer as his personal assistant for his new downtown Austin club, The Mausoleum, she quickly finds out that she may have gotten more than she bargained for.

In this breakout novel, J.L. McCoy takes the reader on an indulgent descent into a modern-day counterculture of nighttime extravagances. Close your eyes, succumb to intense passion, sip a Vampire’s Kiss and let the pounding of the club music overtake you. With animated detail, you’ll find yourself on an unimaginable journey deep into the lair and grasp of Archer Rhys and his mind games. Distracted by Jameson’s charm and blinded by Archer’s allure and generous paycheck, Skye’s new life invokes the reader’s empathy as she’s surrounded in a whirlwind of desire, deceit and even death. Blood of the Son; this isn’t your little sister’s vampire novel.

Okay, kiddos.  This is a new author for me and I must say that she has become a permanent addition to my gotta have list.  I was completely wrapped up in this book and when it ended, I immediately downloaded the next one.

Skye is your typical college grad.  She works, has loans, a stalker ex (who doesn’t, right?) and has to figure out what her next step in life is going to be.  She knows she needs to find something that will help her pay off some of her student loans so she starts looking.  When stalkerboy turns physical and she is “rescued” by Archer Rhys, she stumbles onto a whole new ballgame.  Archer is hot, successful and yummy abd just happens to have a position open that he wants Skye to interview for.

Skye gets the job and everything is starting to look up for her.  While on a date with the hotter then hell lead singer from a local band, Jameson, she discovers that these two sexy guys are brothers.  What’s a girl to do when you want your cake and to eat it too?

I am stoked to discover an new author that writes the way I love to read!

Rated 4 Bookworms

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Fated (The Vampire Destiny Series Book #1) By Alexandra Anthony

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Excerpt from Amazon:

Chasing the secrets of her past…

Josephine Anderson is a 28 year old psychic empath. Isolated and alone, she’d given up on finding love because of her “gift”. She’s haunted by her vivid dreams about a mysterious man that is her destiny…

Her world is turned upside down…

When she meets Stefan Lifsten, she’s surprised to discover that he’s the man from her dreams. He’s tall, blond and drop-dead gorgeous, but he has his own secrets to hide. He’s a millennia old vampire that’s been on a quest to find her after his own vision 200 years ago…

Their fates finally collide…

Will their fated love and desire be enough to keep them together as she becomes entrenched in the world of vampires and her past unravels?

What do you do when the man you have been dreaming about is a walking, talking real person who personifies sex?  Take him home, of course!!  Josie is shocked to realize that the man who plays the starring role in her erotic dreams is real and apparently is attracted to her.  When she discovers that he is a vampire that has been in love with her for over 200 years, flabbergasted doesn’t begin to cover it.

Josie’s has been searching for her birth parents since her adoptive parents died.  With no other family and few friends, she is used to not having anyone care about her.  Suddenly having a sexy vampire boyfriend that can’t get enough of her is a little challenging for her. 

I love the fact that Stefan understands Josie’s “gift” and has a similar one.  This story was good and I enjoyed it.  Can’t wait to see where Ms. Anthony decides to take these characters!

This book was purchased by the reviewer. 

Rated 3 Bookworms

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Born to Darkness Book #1 (Immortal Destiny Series) by Lorraine Kennedy

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Excerpt from Amazon:

Alec’s music is as dark as his vampire kiss is deadly, but Nicole will risk everything, including her life, to love him.

Born to Darkness is book 1 in the 4 Book Immortal Destiny Series.

Nicole Ashe is the average American girl, except that she happens to work for a vampire and doesn’t realize it. But all that changes when her boss sends her to convince a local rock musician – heartthrob, to help them retrieve an ancient relic that could be the answer to the vampire’s curse. Nicole soon discovers that Alec is a vampire … and completely irresistible.

There is something about Nicole that stirs Alec’s hunger nearly beyond control, but he would do anything to protect her … even from himself.

Nicole is destined for a world of darkness that she cannot even begin to imagine, and love that can transcend eternity.

I have a thing for vampire rock stars and I really thought this book was going to be a hit with me.  It was a decent read but not earth-shattering.  Alec is a vampire that tried to do the right thing and stay away from Nicole but the light in her eyes calls to him.

Nicole works as an assistant to a private investigator named Ethan.  Ethan is a vampire on a quest and he draws Nicole into his world.  When a powerful evil threatens the life of Nicole, Alec is determined to do everything in his power to save her, even if that means leaving her behind. 

Nicole wants to discover the place that Ethan is searching for in order to see her little brother again.  She has never forgiven herself for his death and she believes the answer lies in her discoveries.  Nicole is told that to discover the place of light and to destroy the evil that threatens them all, she must locate her missing sisters.  This is book 1 in a 4 part series and I would be interested in seeing where the story goes.

This book was purchased by the reviewer.

Rated 3 Bookworms

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Reflected in You: A Crossfire Novel by Sylvia Day (@SylDay)

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Excerpt from Amazon:

Gideon Cross. As beautiful and flawless on the outside as he was damaged and tormented on the inside. He was a bright, scorching flame that singed me with the darkest of pleasures. I couldn’t stay away. I didn’t want to. He was my addiction… my every desire… mine.

My past was as violent as his, and I was just as broken. We’d never work. It was too hard, too painful… except when it was perfect. Those moments when the driving hunger and desperate love were the most exquisite insanity.

We were bound by our need. And our passion would take us beyond our limits to the sweetest, sharpest edge of obsession…

I don’t even know how to begin with this review.  I have just finished this book and I am sitting here with tears in my eyes, brought to an ending that I never saw coming.  What would you be willing to do for your obsession?  At what point do you realize that your obsession is slowly destroying who and what you are?  Eva knows that the path that she and Gideon are traveling is a dangerous one and doesn’t know what to do about it.  She needs him like the air she breaths. 

The past never stays buried.  It has  a way of crawling out of the gutters and slithering across all that you have managed to achieve since burying it.  Gideon and Eva have such pasts and the way they both try to handle them is heartbreaking and shattering. 

Eva can’t trust what she doesn’t understand and feels the need to punish Gideon for the pain that she feels at times.  Gideon can’t seem to open up to Eva and that is devastating to her. 

At what point do you take matters into your own hands to save what has become the only thing in the world that means anything at all to you?  I can not wait to read the next in this poignant and painfully beautiful series. 

This book was purchased by the reviewer.

Rated 4.5 Bookworms

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Bared to You (A Crossfire Novel) by Sylvia Day (@SylDay)

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Excerpt from Amazon:

Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness… 

He was beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I’d never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily… 

Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other’s most private worlds…and desires.

The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn’t tear us apart…

 Scorching, red hot and surpasses all my expectations.  I have no problems reading what a lot of my readers call “mommy porn”.  Most of it is what I call romance with a little spice.  When I want harder and edgier, I read things like 10 Nights by Michelle Hughes and Karl Jones.  I honestly thought that was what I was getting when I delved into the world of Gideon Cross.  Boy, was I wrong…

 

Eva knew from the moment that she sprawled on her ass in front of Gideon Cross that there was something dangerous about him.  Passion and intensity were etched into him like part of his DNA.  It sang and called to her on an intimate level that was hotter then anything she had ever known. 

 

Self-preservation tells her to stay far away from him because she knows that she is asking for trouble.  Gideon knows what he wants and as a very successful billionaire, he has no trouble getting it.  As a very controlling man, he finds it nearly impossible to give up control but for her he is willing to try.

 

This is so different from the other stories about virgins jumping into domination games with rich men.  This story shows two very flawed souls struggling to come together against all odds.  Eva has been devestated and brutalized and needs the control that Gideon can give her but she is scared to let him close.  Gideon needs the soothing balm that Eva can provide but can’t release the iron grip he has on his emotions.  These two don’t have a smooth ride and I am glad to see a story that has some real edge to it and issues that people face on a normal day in relationships. 

 

Ms. Day has managed to create a story that reaches in and rips out all your predetermined ideas and piece them back together into a raw love story that will leave you craving more. 

 

This book was purchased by the reviewer.

 

Rated 4.5 Bookworms

 

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Worth the Challenge (Worth it, Book 3) By Karen Erickson @karenerickson

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Excerpt from Amazon:

Together, they’re magic. Now to capture it in a bottle…

Worth It, Book 3

For once in his errant life, Rhett Worth is ready to prove to his older brothers he’s more than good looks and a woman-melting smile. Except he’s screwed up. And it’s about to hit the fan as he prepares to tell them he’s failed to deliver the master perfumer, Michel Durand, to create Worth Luxury’s signature scent.

Then salvation walks through the boardroom door, all wrapped up in a petite, seductive package.

Gabriella Durand is prepared to beg the Worths to give her capricious father another chance. Instead, she finds the devastatingly handsome Rhett Worth offering it to her as if he’d planned it all along. And Gabriella, hungry to emerge from her father’s shadow, jumps at it.

Soon they’re in Maui to hunt for the perfect scent…and find it in the tropical breeze that washes across their entwined bodies. Now the pressure is on to capture that passion in a bottle—before they let love complicate the delicate mix. Before a whiff of betrayal threatens to destroy everything.

Warning: The last of the Worth brothers, he’s the wildest one of all. Expect lots of challenges, much yearning, plenty of vulnerabilities revealed—and lots of macho Alpha behavior on the hero’s part. Don’t worry, though. He’ll be begging for the heroine’s love before the end, we guarantee it.

I have a soft spot for bad boys and rebel children.  Rhett fits both those descriptions very well.  He is the rapscallion brother that seems to get away with just doing little to nothing.  Alex finally gives him a chance to have some responsibility in the form of developing a new perfume line.  Two months in to the development and he has nothing to show for it.  The man he had chosen as the designer for the perfume has failed to commit and he doesn’t know what to do.

Gabriella Durand is hoping that Rhett will allow her to have the contract in place of her flaky father.  This is her chance to make her own name in the perfume world.  Rhett sees her as a blessing when she walks in on the day that his brothers are demanding results.

These two come together because they both have something to prove.  I like that.  I know what it is like to feel like you always have to prove yourself and no one believes that you have actually changed.  I would love to be able to actually smell Ella’s fragrance, though!

I have to admit that the curve ball thrown at the end of the story actually left me wanting to read the next phase in this story.  Can’t wait to see where Ms. Erickson takes this trio of brothers.

Rated 3 Bookworms

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Worth the Risk: Worth It by Karen Erickson @karenerickson

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Excerpt from Amazon:

How to make a strong man fall hard? Refuse him.

Hunter Worth lives life to the absolute fullest. As vice president and head of brand marketing for Worth Luxury Goods, he’s brought his family’s business firmly into the twenty-first century. Ruthless yet charming, he’s now set his sights on the sexiest member of the marketing team. First thing on his agenda? Seduction.

Gracie Hayes needs her job at Worth—and she’s not about to let the gorgeous owner and her direct boss distract her—again. Orphaned, and with a rough childhood behind her, she’s worked too hard to compromise everything for a fling, no matter how tempting. Independent, strong and resourceful, she will fight off Hunter. She has to.

Flirting, stolen kisses, a few nights of scorching hot sex…Hunter has all that in mind and more with the delicious Gracie. He never figures he’d fall in love or that she’d deny him. How will Hunter convince Gracie he’s the one for her?

Warning: Contains yet another one of those sexy, bossy Worth brothers, though this one is too full of charm for his own good. Watch as he falls hard—and watch as she tries her hardest to dodge his every attempt at seduction.

I liked this book.  It was a better read for me then the first Worth book.  Hunter is an ass.  He doesn’t seem to see women as anything other then a distraction.  Gracie is attracted to Hunter but knows his game and has no intention of losing her job, or her heart to someone she believes will not stay around.  Having been abandoned all her life, she doesn’t allow anyone to get close to her.

I think that Gracie needs some serious counseling but I can understand her reluctance with Hunter.  She seemed willing to be co-workers with benefits but anytime Hunter tried to get serious she (literally) ran away.  Hunter was supposed to be smooth with the ladies but he couldn’t seem to make any sense with Gracie.  It was nice to see him screw up time and time again.

I would like to know why these girls keep getting pregnant.  It seems a little redundant that Gracie gets pregnant, especially since she is supposed to be a little more street smart.  All in all, a good book and I would recommend it to anyone that likes a good series read involving brothers.

Rated 3 Bookworms

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Release Me by J. Kenner (@juliekenner)

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This is was an ARC that I received for review.  This review was previously posted last year and has been updated.

Excerpt from Amazon:

He was the one man I couldn’t avoid. And the one man I couldn’t resist.
 
Damien Stark could have his way with any woman. He was sexy, confident, and commanding: Anything he wanted, he got. And what he wanted was me.
 
Our attraction was unmistakable, almost beyond control, but as much as I ached to be his, I feared the pressures of his demands. Submitting to Damien meant I had to bare the darkest truth about my past—and risk breaking us apart.
 
But Damien was haunted, too. And as our passion came to obsess us both, his secrets threatened to destroy him—and us—forever.

It is not often when a book is so amazingly well-written that I find it hard to even begin to accurately describe it. Nikki is a former beauty queen who never really enjoyed the scene. She has worked hard to put her self through school and has recently moved to California to escape the clutches of her controlling mother. With degrees in engineering and computer science she is interested in learning the tech business from the ground up. Taking a job with an up and rising tech guru she hopes to learn all that she can. She doesn’t count on her boss wanting to use her looks to attract the attention of an investor. Enter Damien Stark, former tennis star and now successful billionaire businessman. He had met Nikki years ago at a beauty pageant that he was judging and was intrigued by the young beauty.

When he sees her again he is ready to claim her for his own. Nikki has no desire to submit to someone has controlling as Damien Stark but the passion cannot be denied. Facing her own demons she embraces the passion that she sees in Damien and the man she sees behind the mask.

This is well-written story that shows the real life side to the characters that are being developed. It was nice to see characters that were flawed both emotionally and physically. Discovering that not all men are interested in perfection, Nikki discovers her strength and the man who can cultivate it. It may seem like the characters move into a relationship quickly but sometimes, even in real life, passion will not be denied.

I recommend this book to everyone who is interested in a passionate love story. Story does contain some mild BDSM scenes but they are tastefully well-written. Can not wait to read the next story!

Rated 4.5 Bookworms

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