quinta-feira, 30 de maio de 2013

Review - The Blackstone Affair #3 "Eyes Wide Open"

Eyes Wide Open  (The Blackstone Affair, #3)Eyes Wide Open by Raine Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, as a recent Raine Miller fan, discovering the fabulous Ethan, I did what every reader did on the day this book got out, I got it, I read it, and I loved it.
There's something compelling in this books that leave you in a cliffhanger and that because they are appealing to a romance reader, keep you coming back for more. You get drowned in a story that you run to know more and are always compelled to read and read ...

This is the final clash between Ethan and Brynne and the most important one in their lives.
After having walked so far together, can they make it and stay together ?

Interesting question when all that is hazardous and bad happens to them.
Can we readers see a light at the end of the tunnel or will we be in the dark, "crying" over a so fabulous story that went sour ?
No, my friends, this author does not let us down. There's a roller-coaster of emotions that flow through words of underlined reassurances that above all, Brynne and Ethan do work out their differences and learn to open up their feelings to each other, even in the eye of madness and chaos surrounding them.

I find it interesting that I began the first book seeing Ethan as a controlling and alpha man and now I get that he is only a passionate, protecting and human man that the only thing he wants is Brynne.
He as evolved and matured as a character, from someone that has a kink and only wants the superficial connection to his one night stands to someone that likes to control in bed but learns to respect and recognize the other half's space and needs.

Brynne, on the other hand, started out being an american girl in love with the "big bad wolf" to a brave, grown up woman, accepting responsibility for the feelings that her heart speak and moving forward from grief and pain to love and trust. I think her biggest issue was trust and Ethan did a magnificent job at breaking her barriers.

This is also the proof that a romance novel can be action packed, it keeps you focused always waiting for another twist in the story.
The main threat continues until it is annihilated and ended and the author made a great job continuing the story line through the third book.

Now I'm hungry for more, more character's story from this book, and I would love to read more about Ethan and Brynne's friends and universe, what do you say Ms. Miller, can you give us more ?

If you haven't picked up this trilogy, please do, if you didn't read the third book in the Blackstone Affair, what are you waiting for ?  


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quarta-feira, 29 de maio de 2013

Review - "Reno's Chance: A Navy Seals Story" by Lora Leigh Tempting SEALs, #1

Reno's Chance: A Navy Seals Story (Tempting SEALs, #1)Reno's Chance: A Navy Seals Story by Lora Leigh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a big fan of Lora Leigh and I've read time and time some of her books.
She always manages to capture my attention and hook me in with a romance or a plot that twists up my imagination.
Her male characters are always alpha and big, brooding, delicious, and I could be here all night writing adjectives and not get tired of it.
On the other hand, her female characters are sexy, strong, and always driving the male species out of their mind.
What I most like about her romance is the intense feelings that they nurture for each other, the sex is hot, hot, and so sexy.
Sometimes I do find gaps and little things in her writing that doesn't add up but everybody has to agree, her books are delicious and I'm always waiting for more.

In "Reno's Chance" we have a short story, a way to kick off this great series that book by book grew into a best seller and sometimes I go back to read.

Here we meet Reno and Raven, long time sweet hearts but never venturing more than a few kisses.
Reno knows that the woman of his life is Raven and that she runs because fear of loosing him is big when you are a Navy Seal.
But he will stop at nothing to make her see that it's all worth it in the name of love because one thing is certain, she belongs to him.

I loved this two and their game of cat and mouse. No matter how much Raven ran, Reno was right behind her every step of the way.
Raven is unsure, with a bad example in her past, she doesn't want to hurt and be like her mother, and especially loose the man she loves.
Reno does convince her nicely, with pleasure and sex, cherishing her and loving her.

I tend to return to this series time and time again to read it, I love it.
If you like a hot navy seal and a big, big love between long time sweethearts, this is the book for you.  


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"Leather Bound" by Shanna Germain

Leather BoundLeather Bound by Shanna Germain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I believe that a smart and especially nowadays 21st. century woman can distance herself from love, guarding her soul from heartbreak, and recognize lust as a way of feeling in the gaps of loveless love life.
One can interact with lust, choosing the freedom of enjoying our pleasures without having to risk your heart in the process.

Janine has the perfect life.
Her bookstore, "Leather Bound", is coming along, she enjoys her days with her best friend, Lilly, working together, and her nights with Kyle, enjoying lust without the compromise of a relationship.
But when Kyle takes a step forward and asks her to marry him she panics. Off balance, Janine meets Davian and lust kick's inn fullforce, dragging her into pleasures, dark pleasures, that she never knew could move her so deeply.
Will she accomplish a loveless life giving in to lust or will she risk everything to become bound to her heart ...

This book has given me the chance to discover an author that can really write well erotica and sink us in a warm place inside our heads.
The story narrated to us by Janine is overwhelming and pulled my mind to endless questions that I often ask myself. It's dark and sensuous, the characters are fabulously invented, adult and sexy, they are nothing as shallow and empty, they are rich and demand an interested and intelligent reader.

I have to point this out because considering the book as whole we have to praise ...
The Cover is beautiful, sexy, simple and it's half way to want to read the story.
Leather Bound, the fact that it's a bookstore and the elaborated description of it's appearance and feel of old, leather books, the smell of paper, ink and again leather, feels like an element that only enriches the story and just a fix won't do, you'll want to read more about it.
Dark Pleasures, the fact that from trying to find a book that doesn't exist, would come an extreme attraction and a physical relationship that starts out from the head of our characters, turning the sex element as something beautiful, rich and devastating.

Janine was a character that gave us so much of herself, her fears, her victories, her sensuality and all of this was able because of M. Shanna Germain.
The boys were consistent and really just a point to achieve what this book to me was, lust or love, a hard question to answer.

If you think that this is all about sex, you're wrong.
The author will keep you running, turning, and on your toes as the story unfolds. Janine will lead you, page by page, towards discoveries, questions, and uncertainties, the revelation of the body, mind and soul as well as a book that tells you the story of a very intelligent lady, at a time, she can be called Nancy Drew ...

I really liked this book and planning to read more on this author, I do recommend this book, a keeper.


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ARC acquired through NetGalley

sábado, 25 de maio de 2013

NetGalley - "Talking Dirty with the CEO" by Jackie Ashender


ARC acquired through NetGalley

Publisher: Entangled Publishing LLC
                Indulgence
Author: Jackie Ashenden
http://jackieashenden.com/

Published May, 13 2013

(from Goodreads):

Gadget journalist Christie St. John is more geek than chic. But when research for an article she has to write on online dating leads to the bed of the hottest guy she’s ever met, she knows that if the geek is to keep the hottie CEO, she’s going to have to come out of her digital shell. Tech mogul Joseph Ashton never expected an Internet blind date to end in the best sex of his life. Yet as the chemistry between him and Christie burns out of control, he can't help but think this woman is out for his money like all the rest. She claims she wants his heart instead – but that’s the one thing he can never give.

Such a refreshing story this was, funny, geeky, passionate and rewarding.
I really didn't know what to expect, I've read the story line and liked the sound of it, but never in my wildest dreams I would have thought that it was with an online chat room that this romance would start.

This book grabbed me from the start and the more I read it, the more I wanted to read. It was full of up's and down's, the more Christie ran the more I wanted her to stop and as close as Joseph got to the true attraction in his heart, the true feeling that he never admitted till a point he had to step down and surrender, the more I cheered for both of them.

Christie was a character that I understood well. Her loneliness, her fear of loving and not being loved, the rejection of those close to her and her indecision in seeing herself in hole new light, were all symptoms of someone that really needed help to rise above her lonely life and move forward with confidence.
She was a great partner to Joseph and I loved every moment that she kept me company while I was reading the book.

Now Joseph was a present that I unwrapped page by page, a billionaire with a lack of personal life, a lifestyle based on a no commitment basis, it should be hard to live alone your whole life and never really connecting with anybody.
His health condition turned me moody and the fact that his past was tragic broke my heart.
But when he meets Christie another man comes out of the box, and boy what a man that is.

Christie's and Joseph's love is hot, a passion burning in the night and the sex was so delicious, hot hot, their connection had a lightning effect, a light that made me smile all the way to the end.
Even when the road had a down turn between them I never took it against Joseph and knew that he couldn't make it without her.

So, for wraps, in a few words read this book.
It's a wonderful romance and a great author, you won't regret it.


What's coming up in June ...



Good Morning everyone, today is a beautiful hot and sunny day here in Lisbon and Summer is coming closer and closer.

Summer in my country is the same as talking about hot weather, beach picnics and just laying in the sun getting toasted. It's about kids playing in the park, water games and endless sunny days.

For those of you that never visited Portugal, if want a good and restful vacation, this is the place to come.

Now, after the kids vacation starts and the days grow longer, I find the time for more reading, for enjoying my imagination, fall in love with my most wanted characters and in the process, find new writing that appeal to my mind's eye.

So, I'm making, finally, a TBR list for June, on the assumption that I'll read two full novels during a 5 week day, leaving the weekends for finishing up late reads that haven't been finished during the week.
In between I'll be probably reading other small novellas that catch my eye and other books that I'll probably put ahead of others, or because I can't help myself or because the author asked me to review it, ARC by author.

As towards NetGalley, I will be in full sail, they have such great opportunities for the reader's that I can't help myself to check it everyday. If you haven't check it out yet do it.
https://www.netgalley.com/

To find out what my books will be for June roam over to my account in Goodreads, (http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3807597-patricia?shelf=currently-reading) or Booklikes, (http://patmelo.booklikes.com/), and friend me, follow me, or just read me. You can come in to Lost in a moment, there's always something to read, a review, and I hope that now I'll be having more time to spend here ...

So, musings apart, have a good weekend and remember ...



quinta-feira, 23 de maio de 2013

Now is the time for Dallas - Beyond #2 "Beyond Control" by Kit Rocha



(From Goodreads):

She refuses to be owned.

Alexa Parrino escaped a life of servitude and survived danger on the streets to become one of the most trusted, influential people in Sector Four, where the O’Kanes rule with a hedonistic but iron fist. Lex has been at the top for years, and there’s almost nothing she wouldn’t do for the gang…and for its leader. Lie, steal, kill—but she bows to no one, not even Dallas O’Kane.

He’ll settle for nothing less.

Dallas fought long and hard to carve a slice of order out of the chaos of the sectors. Dangers both large and small threaten his people, but it’s nothing he can’t handle. His liquor business is flourishing, and new opportunities fuel his ambition. Lex could help him expand his empire, something he wants almost as much as he wants her. And no one says no to the king of Sector Four.

Falling into bed is easy, but their sexual games are anything but casual. Attraction quickly turns to obsession, and their careful dance of heady dominance and sweet submission uncovers a need so deep, so strong, it could crush them both.

I've read "Beyond Control" for a while now but to write a review and resume all that entails Sector 4, Dallas and Lex, is a task, which I found out every time I tried to write the review and gave up, very hard.
This book is a magnificent book, I loved "Beyond Shame" but now the stakes are higher and to write Dallas and Lex's story and all the changes around such a dark apocalyptic world, I imagine it shouldn't be easy. They are two complicated characters, with an infinite depth and past, always trying to outrun each others will, trying to find a way to love each other, such a rocky road full of cliffs, and showing strength as an united front.

As a whole, the book is fluid, with a proper speech from each character, and even when we should be shocked, the author finds a way to make us want more and out shock us from the harsh sexual words that fill the pages. There is no gap, no faults, nothing, everything is perfect and between the dark surroundings, the air charged with violence, the O'Kane sex feasts, and the larger than life passion that Dallas and Lex share, a rare jewel I'll tell you.

Dallas is an alpha of the future, dark, dangerous, and irresistible. A leader that never back's down, fights for his people and showing signs kindness hidden in the depths of his soul.
The love that he feels for Lex is enormous, the possessive links that they share are tightly weaved within the story, the fact that he will take it to the limit only with Lex shows the reader what kind of man he is.

Lex, such a brave woman, a lonely soul that achieved to re-invent herself out of the ashes and turned herself into a leader to fly up to higher grounds. She is brave enough to face Dallas and fight for his love and his possession, his heart and all the troubles that come with it.
Will she be able to be a partner and a leader in the remaining sectors and will she tame an untenable spirit ?
 
Overall, this is a book to not be missed, a passion larger than life, a dark world to walk upon your imagination and a great author that only get's better and better. 

NetGalley - Review - "Come and Get It" by Keira Cole


ARC acquired through NetGalley


Author: Keira Cole
http://keiracole.blogspot.pt/

Publisher: Beyond the Page Publishing
Pub Date: May 22 2013


Sexy Dixie Rose Bonifay has sunk her roots deep in the Texas hill country she calls home. Having dedicated her life to the one thing she loves most—cooking—she’s built her own successful mobile food business catering to the construction workers in the area, and she’s stirring up the appetite of every man around, in more ways than one.

When smug California architect Quin Halladay comes to town, he sets his sights on Dixie’s ranchland—and on Dixie herself. Confident and charming, he can’t wait to bed the alluring Dixie and add yet another notch to his bedpost. What Quin doesn’t realize is that Dixie can match wits with him every step of the way, and before Quin knows it the Texas beauty has turned the tables on him and he can’t get her out of his head.

As the two get down to business in a romantic Texas two-step, it’s a battle of wills and wits between small-town smarts and big-city arrogance. And with all the local men circling their wagons to protect the woman they’ve come to love and respect, Quin will have to prove himself and choose between the city life he knows and the Texas rose he’s come to love.

I love a good small town romance and when the location is the sweet south everything is sweeter. I haven't read a small town romance in a while and this novella hit my soft spot.
If you're looking for a romance where opposites attract, a meddling family in your personal life and good friends that only want what's best for you than this is your book.

Keira Cole brings us Dixie Rose Bonifay, a beautiful, heart warming lady, courageous and bold, very free spirit and unafraid of taking risks to get what she desires.
This character is the example that we all should face our problems and struggles in real life head on, yes I know, in the fictional world is easier than in the real world, but we should get some ideas when they are presented to us in our favorite past times and adapt ourselves to change.

Now, Quin was the city boy, charming and really smug, he knew what he wanted and he got what he needed, or should I say, more then he could shew.
I liked this city boy soon to be a real man of the South. I think he was mature enough to follow up on his mistakes, take bravely the consequences of his actions and fight for our girl.
The one quality that I most liked in him was that he could separate shallow people and an empty life from a full loving and purpose full existence, the ability to adapt to a new reality and to risk his heart at a true love.

By now you're thinking that I'm in love with this two, I am, and that's the sign that the author made a good job writing down this story.
As a hole, the book is consistent with a novella but in the end we are not rushed or deceived by it's ending. We want more and it will come, but the words flow naturally to the last page, there are no gaps and our desire is to read more of the Bonifay family, knowing it will probably be better and fun.

I can't go away without mentioning the relationship between Rose and Quin.
I loved that sleeping with someone that you barely knew wasn't awkward, it was the will of two people that were attracted to each other to be together, in the end it turned out to be love, but even if they had gone their own way, the story would have pleased me. I prefer a happy ending though ...
The bedroom was on fire and when this two got together a volcano erupted, so be warned outside or inside, the rule is to burn.

I love it when I end a review where everything that I value in a romance book is there and I, again, recommend to all romance lovers this short but sweet story.

quarta-feira, 22 de maio de 2013

Review - The Fire of the Soul Series #1 "The Fire Within" by Racquel Kechagias



(from Goodreads):

Anna has always known that she is different, whether it was the way that her parents treated her, or the way she simply didn't seem to blend in with the people around her, she simply knew!

However on the night of her seventeenth birthday, two men enter into her world, and completely change her life. Unbeknownst to Anna, a countdown has started on her life, and the lives of her friends. Will she have enough time to save them all, or will they all fall into chaos?

In 'The Fire Within' Anna will be challenged, and she will have to face her demons. With the threat of war hovering above her head, and a curse that burns through her veins, will she live to be able to tell the tale?

I always enjoyed the imagination of the Paranormal/Fantasy writer in building worlds beyond the reader's imagination. When the stories come with characters that are weaved in time and space and slowly crawl under our skin, even better.
In "The Fire Within" I found a set of characters that did just that.
Some in the good sense, some I surely wouldn't want to have nothing with, but all served a purpose ... the purpose to make this book a walk on the wild side.

This book sends you into a turmoil, an enchanted world where mystical creatures live hand in hand by a dark, broken war between the vampires and the skin walkers.
I liked the world building aspect since the first page, the story recounted the surroundings of each character, from where they've been to where they were going.
By the middle of the book I got a little lost, my focus dispersed a little. I found myself thinking that perhaps there was so much going on that maybe it was a little too much. I'll explain, I think that the author might have deepen the reader's connection into some worlds in particular and some thread lines between character's instead of populating the book with major events in each of the character's POV.
It made me feel that I only slightly touched some facts that I would have liked to read more about.

Anna and Victor :

They were the two main characters of this story and the starting point for the other characters to grow.
I loved Anna, she was a determined heroine, a sensuous girl raised from deceit and ignorance, her parents were abhorrent, a true loving soul and a brave warrior. I enjoyed her to the max.

Now Victor is another story ...
I'm a girl that simply can't resist a vampire, my love for them is enormous and I never pass down a good fictional vamp but here I found a vampire that was a little soft, too much in my opinion.
I would have liked to see a battle warrior, an alpha king, a true lover, but he didn't make it to that point. Even though he was a warrior worth of his people, defending peace, he felt too much pain from the past and never seemed, in my reader's eye, to move forward and break from his shell. I sympathized with his pain but there was something missing there.

The bad guy, Christian:

Yes, this one I loved, not in a good way, but when the character makes you feel hate, pain and you wish someone would come and put him in his place, than right there you know the author aced it and got what she wanted. He never fails to show more hatred and diabolical plans to get what he wants, victory over the vampires and Anna, he's true love, because in the end he only wants to be loved by her, have a family, and truly feel the emotions that a happy human feels so he's life could have meaning.

Christian, my favorite:

Christian was to me my favorite character out of all of them. He was a friend, a lover, and here I'm certain that the author achieved to show us who he really was. She did a terrific job with this character and I would love to read more about him in another book, I believe he deserves one.

Now here we don't get to see a love scene from Victor and Anna, only sensuous glimpses that leaves us wanting more. So I'm entitled to ask, will there be more ? I hope so.

Overall, the story-line is great and this is a book to be read. I loved it and hope I get a chance to follow up on this series. I'm asking already for the second one, I wonder where this will go ...

terça-feira, 21 de maio de 2013

From my Kindle comes "Marked for Submission" by Sheri Savill




Marked for SubmissionMarked for Submission by Sheri Savill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

(From Goodreads):

Janna Sommers is a brave woman who knows just what she wants: a tattoo -- a full sleeve black and grey tattoo, to be specific. It’s an ambitious goal for anyone's first ink, but when she meets handsome and gifted tattoo artist Mark Temple, she finds herself yearning for something more than one of his original designs.

As she willingly places herself in Mark’s experienced -- if sometimes cruel -- hands, she finds herself submitting to a strong and uniquely creative dominant, one who arouses intense physical sensations in her -- both pleasure and pain.

Bound to his tattoo table, will she also allow herself to be used as a living canvas for Mark's ... darker desires? Will she allow herself to be marked, indelibly and forever, as his?

So my thoughts on this novella are a bit divided. I think that a tattoo is a very personal decision and when it comes together with an attraction for the tattoo artist, even better.

Janna Sommers was a brave girl, first for the fact of having a full sleeve tattoo and then for not running away from Mark Temple.
Her choice was applauded by me, she's braver from the most girls I know, all talk no action.
I think this character was consensual to the meaning of true submissive behavior and from what I got from the idea of the author's writting, a true fictional submissive.
Janna goes all the way when she trusts Mark to do whatever he wants with her body in return of pleasure and a little more time with him.
I liked Janna, she was after all a strong character, a brave one and it payed off in the end to be a good girl and doing what she was told.

Now Mark Temple is our boy ... a very delicious character wouldn't you say ? Would you pass the chance to belong to this man, I wouldn't.
He is also a very well balanced character, true to his nature and also brave enough to try again in the love department, I liked him ...

Now, one thing I won't forget: the cover.
What a beautiful cover, simple and straight to the point of this story.
I don't know who the artist was but congratulations.

This book is hot and in one word, different. Different from the other BDSM books that I've read, the idea of a plot line from a tattoo parlor, the tattoo artist and the client engaging in a relationship, the sexual tension overcoming the story and engaging the reader into the book, marvelous.

The one thing that I regret is that it ends too suddenly, I wanted more, I wanted to know what happens at home, I would like to know more and if this story continued I would shurely reed it.





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Cindy McDonald Unbridled Series #3 "Dangerous Deception"


Dangerous Deception (Unbridled Series #3)Dangerous Deception by Cindy McDonald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Vic Deveaux’s glory days as a winning jockey have ended, but he refuses to accept that pile of horse hockey!
When the West family asks Vic to take an easier position at their Thoroughbred farm, Westwood, he becomes enraged and teams up with two greedy stable hands in a scheme to kidnap the youngest son, Shane.
Things turn ugly when Vic discovers that his new-found friends have murder on their minds. Suddenly Vic finds himself between a rock and a hard place. He has betrayed his good friend, Eric West, but will he participate in his son’s murder as well?
Not content to sit at home and wait for her men to bring her brother home, Kate West convinces homicide detective, Carl Lugowski, to check out a hunch at an old abandoned mansion. Soon they’re trapped in a hornet’s nest of a notorious biker gang.
Oh yeah, Vic’s deception has placed the West family in more danger than they know what to do with!

This is the first book that I read from Cindy McDonald and a change of genre from what I usually read, but as I started out reading in my younger years mysteries and thrillers and moved on to suspense and romance, it's good to be reacquainted with something that was always with me, the love for a good story and a good fictional ride.

"Dangerous Deception" is a very good story with elements that are bought together to fulfill a plot line that doesn't fail the reader.
We have family, friendship and betrayal, a little romance in the mix, a dangerous criminal and a biker gang. What's not to like ?

With it's engaging character's, the West family, and the town character's, the Sheriff, Vic Deveaux, Luzertta Valentine, Jack Haliday and so on, you get sucked into a town where trouble comes along in some days and all together get to the end of the day with the feeling that what really counts is family, love and friendship.

I would have liked to see a little more romance, especially in Kate West's case with the sheriff but I guess that I'll have to wait till the next books.

I haven't read the first two books but I'll be coming around to them between June and July and I'll be expecting the next Unbriedled Series book with anticipation.

If you love a good action packed, explosive story, a small town country intrigue and a loving town we would all love to live in, this is the book for you.

ARC ACQUIRED THOUGH NETGALLEY.
PUBLISHER: ACORN BOOK SERVICES
AUTHOR: CINDY MCDONALD



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domingo, 19 de maio de 2013

NetGalley - Beyond Human Nouvella's #1 "A Vampire's Salvation" by Virna DePaul





Summary:
Jacob La Costa Rios is the head of the California governor’s security team; he’s also a vampire who wants the governor, a presidential hopeful, to support the peaceful integration of vampires into human society. Unfortunately, there are others who oppose Jake’s plan. Plus, Jake’s a little distracted by discovering his one true mate, the human female who can give him everything he’s always wanted: love, children, and continuing immortality. Francesca Marie Stewart is the governor’s “go-green” political consultant.

Although she’s been attracted to Jake from day one, her priority is her career and protecting her heart. But then Jake blatantly propositions her and Frankie, who hasn’t experienced sexual intimacy since she was seventeen-years-old, decides it’s time to take what she wants—within reason. No matter—once Jake makes love to Frankie, he knows reason will be the farthest thing from her mind. Then he just has to eliminate the person threatening her, reveal the fact he’s a vampire, and convince her that trusting him will bring both of them eternal happiness.

Lately I've read some short Novella's that have fed my love for hot and steamy encounters and things that go bump in the night.
This stories are a refreshing new introduction to new author's that I've not read yet or to sound names of the industry that are in my TBR pile.
Today I'm bringing you a story that I liked very much and a new series that could be a lot of fun for us to read.

The author had the ability to write a story that entails politics, a hidden race, some freaking hot vampires, a wounded soul learning to love again and one hot alpha vampire to take care of her.
Even though this is short, there are no flaws and no confusions in this action paced narrative.
The only thing that I would like to have continued to see played out was Frankie's and Jake's relationship after the end of the book.

Now facts on our heroine, Frankie ...
She has a trust issue with men, her last boyfriend let her down on the worst way possible so after being attracted by Jake and weaving an impossible relationship in her mind, she decides to put an end to it.
When Jake, after all the months that has almost ignored her, turns his attention to her she is surprised but she does jump to the opportunity of having her desires met.
In my point of view, Frankie was a little stuck up in the moment kind of thing, but overall understandable because of her past experience.
She never ran from Jake, even if he was a vampire, and learned to face a whole new life and some added responsibility in the end.

Vampire Jake is our alpha hero.
How I love vampires and their alpha attitudes with those deep souls and the speech "you are mine" given in the young hours of dawn to their mates. Jake was no different.
He knows that he can't resist any longer to Frankie and even though he tries to go slow, he simply can't. How sweet ....
If there could be guys out there like Jake, save me one!

If you love Paranormal Romance with suspense and action, this is the perfect series for you, give it a try.

sexta-feira, 17 de maio de 2013

Review - "The Wicked House of Rohan" - Prequel by Anne Stuart


For some time now I've been wanting to read Anne Stuart but as usual my TBR goes on and on and sometimes the best is left for last.
Even though I only read it now, I know that I'm in for a ride with this lady's and the so called gentleman that marvelously live between this pages.




Venice, 1740.

Desperate, starving, Kathleen Strong makes her way to a job interview that promises a chance at proper employment...and maybe a bite to eat. Accused of "gross immorality," she's adrift after being dismissed from her governess position, despite being entirely innocent.

That innocence is precisely what a mysterious group of debauched aristocrats finds so alluring about Miss Strong. When they propose a scandalous offer that she can't refuse...she can't refuse. But if the darkly gallant Alistair Rohan, a gentleman involved in all manner of wicked deeds himself, has anything to say about it, Kathleen can escape her disrepute in another way.

Of course, the escape route looks very similar to the group's illicit proposition itself...

So, today our world is so messed up, we fight for our rights, we fight for a job, we keep on fighting for the right to be equal in society...
But, may I ask, what if we lived in the past, when women had no rights but only a birth status, dictated by the laws of a ruthless society that was based in social position ?
Have you imagined if you've fallen in disgrace, wronged by everyone around you and nobody believed or came in your defense ...

That is exactly what happen to Kathleen Strong. A girl alone in the beautiful city of Venice looking for a job, starving and penny less, without an option but to bend to the will of dubious gentleman that see women as their hunting ground and object of pleasure.
This character was so well written, invented in perfection and so heart-brokenly truthful to her position in the story, how I felt for her ...

Now the boys ....
A bunch of pigs, all of them, secure in their social position, well enthralled in society and plainly heartless and sadistic towards our gender. But in every story there has to be a hero, so to the romance ....

Alistair Rohan is a wicked and an alluring gentleman, probably stubborn, but way down inside in a little corner of his heart he still has some character and kindness, yes, love still resides in his heart.
I find this gentleman very appealing, a snob and a teaser, a man who challenges a woman and arouses feelings long forgotten in Kathleen.
In my eyes he is a brave man for going against all of society's cruelness and ideas, he's not afraid and he faces life right on, good for him!

This is a short novella but it's marvelously weaved, truthfully told by the voice of an author that I'm shure will not let me down once I get into this series.
I know my mind and I'll be wanting more every time I finish a book.
If you've never read this series or this author, start at the beginning and move forward,  no fears ...

Hurry ! Still free in Amazon ....




Jilted by her fiancé, Marissa is done with men until fate steps in and she finds that Craig Langston may be more man than she can resist.

Marissa is a high energy independent career woman of the 21st century who finds herself on a collision course with destiny when she is thrown 144 years into the past. Confederate Officer Dr. Craig Langston is an enticing man that any woman would long to fall in love with, and now Marissa is torn between rampant desire, for the man ignites her very soul, and a longing to return home.

Can she find it within herself to embrace a new life in the arms of her Confederate officer or will more sinister forces intervene before she can discover what may be the greatest love of all time?

http://www.amazon.com/product/dp/B008HYUETS



When young Detective Cass Elliot responds to a report of domestic violence at the home of a prominent businessman, she finds him violently murdered in the barnyard with his battered wife unconscious near the tool that killed him. Still raw from her own unsolved attack six years ago, Cass is stunned when confronted with graphic photographs scattered across their kitchen floor, and she wonders if the wife might've had cause to kill her husband.
Cass and her partner Mitch Stone delve into a cunning world of blackmail and violence - and find a cult concealed for nearly a century beneath the genteel, small town façade of Arcadia in East Texas. Their investigation triggers a brutal response from powerful men who will protect their identities at any cost.  They unleash a ruthless killer whose actions create a media frenzy and destroy the fabric of trust within the police department.
Cass and Mitch circle closer to the cult's few members, following a slim lead into a night lit by fire. A night that begins with a blood ritual and ends with Cass holding a man's life - or death - in her hands and struggling to walk the fine line between vengeance and justice.

http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Light-Elliot-Crime-ebook/dp/B0057XNRB4




Stuck in Pelican Pointe, California, Jordan Phillips is still trying to recover from the loss of her husband, Scott, who died in Iraq. She’s left with a baby daughter to support and Scott’s dream of turning the old Victorian family home into The Cove Bed and Breakfast, something he’d wanted to do before leaving for Iraq. But Jordan faces formidable odds at every turn. Facing foreclosure is the least of her problems. Pelican Pointe, Scott’s hometown, has never really accepted her. The hostile town treats her like an outsider. Feeling isolated and lonely, the odds of success are heavily stacked against her until a stranger arrives.

Nick Harris is battling survivor’s guilt, leftover from the war. Haunted by an unwitting promise he made during the heat of battle, Nick has come to Pelican Pointe in hopes of simply unburdening his guilt to Scott’s widow and moving on. But that all changes when he realizes Jordan is in way over her head. Facing an uphill battle, the two of them try to overcome every obstacle the townspeople throw at them.

As Nick and Jordan struggle to come to terms with the loss of Scott, each in their own way, they discover a promise kept, sometimes changes lives.

http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Pelican-Pointe-Novel-ebook/dp/B006IGCAGC




The island of Maui is turquoise ocean, stunning vistas, and whale song—but organized crime has a hidden hold, and Detective Lei Texeira tracks evil that hides behind a beautiful face.

Lei and Stevens find a haven on Maui—until their new life as a couple is interrupted by murder. When a nameless teenage girl dies in an apparent vehicular suicide, Lei can’t rest until she finds out what really happened. She blazes through all the wealth and poverty of island society in her quest for justice, rousing a deadly foe—even as she faces the personal demons of commitment and revenge that threaten the only real love she’s ever known.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Jasmine-Crime-Series-ebook/dp/B009LEFUKG






Free Today on Amazon ....


Book One in the PROJECT Series

WHITE JADE spins a web of deceit and murder across the globe, against the backdrop of a deadly international power game. Nick Carter is a man with a dark history of emotional and physical scars. He works for the PROJECT, a covert intelligence unit reporting to the President.
Selena Connor is an expert in ancient languages. When her wealthy uncle is murdered by someone looking for a 2000 year old book about the elixir of immortality, she's thrown into Nick's dangerous world. Nick is assigned to protect Selena and help her recover the missing text. It's the beginning of a life and death adventure reaching from San Francisco to Beijing, from Washington to the high mountains of Tibet. Someone is determined to take over China and attack America--and Nick and Selena are right in the line of fire.

International intrigue, terrorist acts and the threat of nuclear war form the core of this fast-paced thriller, the first volume in a series featuring Nick, Selena and the PROJECT.

http://www.amazon.com/White-Jade-The-PROJECT-ebook/dp/B007FIR01M


Sky of Red Poppies begins with a casual friendship between two schoolgirls coming of age in a politically divided 1960's Iran under rule of the Shah. Roya, the daughter of a prominent family, is envious of the fierce independence of her religious classmate Shireen. But Shireen has secrets of her own. Together, Roya and Shireen contend with becoming the women they want to be, and in doing so, make decisions that will cause their tragic undoing. In the unraveling of family secrets, Roya begins to question how she was raised and how to become the person she wishes to be. Set against the backdrop of a nation forced to mute its profound identity, Sky of Red Poppies is a novel about culture, politics and the redeeming power of friendships.

http://www.amazon.com/Sky-of-Red-Poppies-ebook/dp/B0055DYNVO



A Laurel Heights Novel, Book 4

Gwendolyn Pierce has a secret. A big secret.

No one knows that the gourd artist is really the missing Grape Princess--the wine heiress who ran away fourteen years before. And that's the way Gwen likes it. No paparazzi recording her every mistake, no stern family disapproving of her life. She has her gourd shop in Laurel Heights and lives in peaceful bliss.

Until she meets Rick Clancy.

The last person she should get involved with is a private investigator who finds her as suspicious as he does sexy. Only she can't help herself, and she can't help wondering if she can trust him with her secrets--and her heart.

The rest of Kate Perry's fun, sexy Laurel Heights series is available now:
Book 1: PERFECT FOR YOU
Book 2: CLOSE TO YOU
Book 3: RETURN TO YOU
Book 4: LOOKING FOR YOU
Book 5: DREAM OF YOU
Book 6: SWEET ON YOU

Fans of Bella Andre, Rachel Gibson, and Kristan Higgins will love this quirky romance series with strong, independent woman and sexy alpha heroes.

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Laurel-Heights-Novel-ebook/dp/B0091M9KDQ



Three teenagers become blood brothers, after witnessing the unexpected...

Byron, Margaret River High School's heartthrob, has a secret that will shatter his world if found out - and Chuck knows it all too well.

Raff, outcast and loner, is desperate to make new friends. Does he have what it takes to steal his dream girl's heart? Or will his attempts crush his only chance to fit in?

Duke, resident bad boy surfer, is caught between loyal Nicole, and Summer, the mysterious foreign beauty who sets his heart on fire. Someone is bound to get burnt

A chill in the salty ocean breeze carries the scent of buried memories. There's a secret hiding in Margaret River, behind prying eyes, behind the lust, love and thirst for freedom that haunts this quaint surfing town. Where no one can find it - until now...

http://www.amazon.com/Brave-Bloody-Brothers-ebook/dp/B009YHVQLM



Award-winning author Andrea Boeshaar takes readers into the world of a woman who comes face to face with broken relationships of the past.

Returning to her hometown, Chicago, Allie Littenberg learns her actions had worse repercussions than she realized - especially for Jack Callahan, the handsome Chicago cop she loved, but left. She finds Jack is now a bitter shell of a man, his tenderness erased by years of anguish.

Can God use Allie to not only mend the hurts in her own family, but also bring peace to Jack, his son, and estranged wife? Allie is compelled to find out.

http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Things-Women-Pasts-ebook/dp/B00B3KKOXO




Flo has always had problems. Her stammer prevents her speech and her dad’s abuse makes her life a living hell. Not to mention she sees colours other people don’t.

When her dad decides to ship her off to live with her grandma in the sleepy town of Chesterport, Flo thinks that this is her chance for a better life. But on her very first day at her new school she is ridiculed and laughed at for having a stammer. One student sticks up for her and his name is Frank.

Frank’s body is surrounded by an aura of fire, but Flo is the only one who can see it. He lives in a foster home for troubled teenagers. Flo is drawn to him because he’s different and so is she.

Things are about to get scary, because Chesterport is not your ordinary suburban town. It’s infested by a coven of dark witches who prey on the young and the elderly. Soon Flo discovers that she’s next on their list of victims, and finds herself fighting a battle she never would have imagined possible.

http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Fire-Florence-Vaine-ebook/dp/B007K81D6U



The Virus spread. Billions died. The Ending began. We may have survived the apocalypse, but the Virus changed us.

When people started getting sick, “they” thought it was just the flu. My roommate, my boyfriend, my family…they’re all gone now. I got sick too. I should have died with them—with the rest of the world—but I didn’t. I thought witnessing the human population almost disappear off the face of the earth was the craziest thing I’d ever experience. I was so wrong. My name is Dani O’Connor, I’m twenty-six-years-old, and I survived The Ending.

The Virus changed everything. The world I knew is gone, and life is backwards. We’ve all had to start over. I’ve been stripped of my home, my dreams…all that is me. I’m someone else now—broken and changed. Other survivors’ memories and emotions haunt me. They invade my mind until I can no longer separate them from my own. I won’t let them consume me. I can’t. My name is Zoe Cartwright, I’m twenty-six-years-old, and I survived The Ending.

We’ve been inseparable for most of our lives, and now our friendship is all we have left. The aftermath of the Virus has stranded us on opposite sides of the United States. Trusting strangers, making sacrifices, killing—we’ll do anything to reach one another. Fear and pain may be unavoidable, but we’re strong…we’re survivors. But to continue surviving in this unfamiliar world plagued by Crazies and strange new abilities, we have to adapt. We have to evolve. 
And more than anything, we have to find each other.





The ebook version of Chocolate Beach is the special Recipe Edition.

Bri Stone has the man of her dreams, a surf-ridin' son, a chocolate-loving best friend, and a job as a SoCal tour bus host. Throw in an intrusive mother-in-law, a flirty new boss, a vocal nemesis, and suspicions that her husband might be bored--and Bri's rose-colored sunglasses suddenly crack.

Can Bri reinvent herself--and recapture his heart?


http://www.amazon.com/Chocoebook/dp/B004ISLQJO%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAIAA4MWUJXHBYFRNQ%26tag%3Dsquid1272093-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB004ISLQJO






quarta-feira, 15 de maio de 2013

Review - NetGalley "Hunger Awakened" by Dee Carney

Author: Dee Carney

Series: Vampire Hunger



There’s something inside of him, some dormant part that’s been awakened. And now it wants to be set free...
Something’s wrong with Sebastian Kent. Already considered an outsider in the vampire community as a half-vampire, half-something else, he’ll do everything in his power to hide his weakness. But when sickness strikes, he has no choice but to turn to a human for help—a woman whose touch provides his only relief.

Alice Bowman is hiding her own illness, one that has left her homeless. When she comes to Bast’s aid, she doesn't expect to be thrust into the world of vampires. But he offers her refuge and a job researching his family history in the hope of finding a clue to his mysterious affliction. She can’t resist his offer of protection - and the chance to spend more time with the man who arouses her every desire.

But as Bast and Alice’s hunger for each other grows, so does the power of Bast’s unexplained half. And soon his unknown past and her uncertain future threaten to keep them apart forever....

I don't know what I was thinking when I started to read this book but I came out in the end with a much different and better opinion of it.

This book ... where should I start ...
I could just say that I loved it and that was it but there's so much in it to evaluate and to point out that "the end" is just "the beginning".
"Hunger Awakened" is the second book in the Vampire Hunger series but it can be read as a stand alone, nothing lost there.
It stands out to me for two reasons, first it touches the high's and low's that life brings in our lives, the fact that being an outcast among your peers hurts more deeply than the eye can see and secondly the world building, the creatures that live in it and the original idea of a vampire that is crossed with a dragon can only bring good things into the book.

This time I'm going to mix our two main character's as one because while Alice is homeless, with a junky brother, and has to resort to stealing and trash hunting for food, Bast is rich and a leader in his community but as an outcast, not fully a vampire, the other half he doesn't know, he has to prove that he can get the job done, he is a worthy male among the other vampires, and above all trying to find respect.
When this two come together they are the perfect match, a coin broken in half that becomes hole, they are the perfect mates.
Alice didn't loose herself on the streets, her kindness, her heart, the passion and the courage to pursue Bast's goal in finding more about his origins, the will of protecting the monster living in him takes her to a higher level, making her the loyal and perfect partner, a woman in the true sense of the word.
Bast is the perfect supernatural male, alpha, hot, insatiable, with a never ending energy to find out who he is and where he came from, courageous when danger lurks in the shadows and a never ending love for someone that's been out of love for so long.
Together they kick ass, give us the best action and make us believe that we're in a new and exciting world.

The plot is truly masterful. We reader's can't get enough of it, specially those like me that love a Paranormal world where we can walk through for a few hours and get to enjoy all it gives us, excitement, danger and finally love.

I was drawn to this story like a moth to a flame and I'd wish in the end that there was more out there that could touch my mind as this make believe tale.
People this book is great, the author made a great job out of this story and you will not regret it when spending your time reading it.

Publisher: Carina Press
Published: March 4th., 2013

ARC acquired through NetGalley

Review - Wildifire Series #1 "Midnight Secrets" by Ella Grace



Author: Ella Grace

Series: Wildfire #1

Published by Ballantine Books

Released in April, 30th., 2013

ARC acquired through NetGalley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(from Goodreads):

AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT, THE HEAT BEGINS

On a hot southern night, with a storm on the horizon, a family is shattered. Three beautiful daughters—Savannah, Samantha, and Sabrina Wilde—go on with their lives, each significantly changed, as they bear the memory of the murder-suicide that killed their parents. For years, they have stayed away from Midnight, Alabama. Until Midnight calls them home.

Savannah is the first one back, when a grueling case in Nashville leads the young prosecutor to seek shelter in the quiet of the once grand Wilde mansion. But when she finds letters casting doubt on her family’s dark, shameful past, she realizes that peace in Midnight is a shallow façade and sinister secrets lurk beneath the surface. Zach Tanner, once the town’s bad boy, is now the new police chief and still has a wild hold over her. Zach can feel it, too, but he hurt Savannah once. As teenagers, they broke every rule together. Now it’s his job to keep her safe, even though he isn’t sure who her enemies are—or which ones might be his own.

From Ella Grace, pen name for the NYT best selling author Christy Reece, comes a new series filled with murder, mystery and love.
This time we are invited to meet the southern town of Midnight, Alabama, with it's warm and gossipy minded life, and particularly the three beautiful Wilde sister's.
On this first book we get the story of Zack Tanner, the former bad boy and today's sheriff of Midnight and Savannah Wilde.

I'm a big fan of the small town romance, with all it's gossip and mysteries, and the connection of strong characters that spice up the plot and the romance in the book.
The bad guys are always mad and ready to take down the values we cherish, the romance is always hot and steamy, with an alpha male in the middle, and in the end the good stick together and get through all the heartache.
It's a successful recipe that various authors have the ability to write and grant us with fine, relaxing and dreamy hours of rest.

This book starts out with a heartbreaking grief, a family destroyed, and a murder occurred 18 years ago when the parents of Savannah are murdered.

In the present time, Savannah is a well known prosecutor and she is as hard as it gets. Because of her life shattering experience at such a young age, her carrier move explains the kind of woman she is ... get the bad guys and above all justice.
But everyone always as a soft spot and Savannah's is Zack.
The eternal bad boy that only was good with her and was the love of her life, and to the present time, the only one.
This character is flawless, even in her youth. From then until now, as we read, we find that her evolution and maturing was quite balanced, even in the worst of times. She still can feel and love those who matter to her and is compassionate with Zack, giving him the chance to explain and trying to understand why he left her.
Savannah is also a heroine, fearless, and a companion to her man, never backing down and always taking danger face to face.

Zack Tanner, the goody town sheriff, is not such a bad boy but one whom life and family never gave the chance of being a good boy. He had a ruff time in his youth but he made it through and turned himself into an independent and worthy man. I admire him for that and I also admire Ella Grace's writing for making me understand a fictional character that really could be my prince charming.
I'm usually a romantic fool, but I like when a man knows that he has wronged his way with the woman he loves and never quits to make it work, making everything to take her back into his life. Thank you M. Grace for being an awesome character writer and making up all this beautiful people, really.

I found the plot solid and one thing I have to stand out is that I never guessed who was guilty and mad until the end, I kept on reading, page after page, and finished the book with an OH!, I would have never guessed.
There was not one bad thing that I would stand out and I fully recommend, go on buy the book, it's a keeper.

If you're interested in knowing more about the author or Midnight follow the links:
 http://www.ellagracebooks.com/ and http://ellagracemidnightbooks.blogspot.pt/

The next book is coming out in September 24, 2013 and is called "Midnight Lies", I can't wait for Samantha and Quinn. Well I'll give you something to water your mouth, if you liked the cover of the first book, tell me what you think of the second ...



quarta-feira, 8 de maio de 2013

NetGalley - "Claiming Lauren" by Emily Ryan-Davis


Claiming Lauren (eXclave, #1)Claiming Lauren by Emily Ryan-Davis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lauren Brant is a perfect lady in the eyes of society but inside her world she is an unhappy woman with a fake marriage. As a business arrangement she lives her life alone away from her husband, each having their own personal life.
With too much time on her hands, Lauren goes online and enters the world of BDSM, starting to chat to a man with the name "Master".
When she agrees to meet him he asks for her to tell her husband.
As she get's the nerve to confess that she is going to meet a man and that she's into the BDSM lifestyle, he runs from her and leaves.
Will her husband accept that his wife has a personal life or will he want to be her master?

Lauren is a brave girl, not at the start but as I turned the page I got to find a balanced, calm woman, running after her own dark desires and getting her personal satisfaction. I also found a sad woman, living away from the man she loved and resenting the little time that he gives her.
I loved how she blossomed into the woman she wanted to be and how her relationship worked out in the end.

Jacob was a cold, senseless man, such a heart breaker and so into his own world that he doesn't see what's around him. I really don't know if he was worth the chance that Lauren gave him ...

I loved this short story, it had everything to be a great fiction novel and it left me wanting more, wanting more of Lauren and Jacob, wanting to know what came next and not only the happily ever after.
The author gave us all the elements in a good love intrigue BDSM style love story, gave us some hot couple sex and more of it, and gave us the illusion of love conquers broken hearts and heals them.

I hope that in the future M. Ryan-Davis gives us more of this stories and I surely will be available to read them.


View all my reviews

ARC acquired through NetGalley

quinta-feira, 2 de maio de 2013

Review - "Cherished" by Maya Banks and Lauren Dane


Cherished (Includes: Delicious, #1)Cherished by Maya Banks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Exiled" by Maya Banks

Enticed to the island paradise where an enigmatic prince is living in exile, beautiful, virginal Talia is introduced to a world of forbidden pleasure where the prince's every whim is fulfilled and her fantasies are rendered in exquisite detail. But when the prince is summoned back to fulfill his duty to his struggling country, reality is thrust upon Talia all too soon. She returns home, heartbroken, convinced she was a passing fancy for an idle ruler and his most trusted men. Until the day they arrive on her doorstep, determined to have her back where she belongs.

When you have an island all to yourself, together with a perfect prince and three beautiful men, ready to pleasure you and give you all that you might possibly need, I think the name for it is Paradise.
Talia is a very fortunate woman to have the love of this men and is a woman ready to obey every whim that Xander has, without fear and with the bonus that she is made up of love to give with her heart, not to one but to all four men.
This characters have been very well developed and written. This is a short story but Maya Banks aced the goal to make us understand each and every one of this characters and their place in the story.

Well, one can not go away without talking about the hot scenes that the pages of this book has.
This author always has the ability to make me blush but I can't help myself for running after more.
Maya Banks can write erotica with the gift of having your mind and body aligned together with your heart.
After all one can roam the unknown and break boundaries, can we not ?
It's called living.

I loved this story and in the meantime I've gone back to the book a time or two, that's always a good sign.

"Sway" by Lauren Dane. Book 1 of the Delicious series

Levi Warner is an established, older man—wealthy, powerful, and above all, respectable. Then Levi meets Daisy, an uninhibited 24-year-old dance instructor and artist, not exactly the kind of woman Levi is accustomed to. But the young, free spirit, brings out something in him he only experienced in fantasies. When their scorching affair turns into something unexpectedly deeper, Levi finds himself torn between preserving his reputation, and exploring a wilder and much more satisfying kind of life.

I picture Levi Warner like a hot shot, very handsome lawyer. I picture him like a handsome devil, smiling at me and melting me into a puddle of sweetness. I picture Levi as a dominating sex partner that won't back away from what he wants, perfect most of the time and with time the few flaws of character and misunderstood stupidities being taken care of by "now I see the light" or should I say, Daisy.
Boy, I always fell in love with the male characters of Lauren Dane's books and here is no different. She can make up our perfect male fantasies all in one character.
Levi is such a big boy being sometimes a scared little boy, hiding out in his bedroom when he messes up life and this is so human that I could almost believe that there are some Levi's out loose in the world.

Now Daisy is another story.
Strong as ever, and with all that artistic nature that I so adore, she is sexy, groovy and brave, brave for herself and brave for the other's.
I would love to see women over the world to be independent and strong as this characters are.
She is the perfect match for Levi and the choice of having such an unusual couple coming from different worlds and backgrounds spices up this story and entwines us into the start of another series that as so much to live up for.

The story is well balanced between the main characters and the other people that live in their world and this story is short but it's perfect.

This coming together of two of the best authors around couldn't have been a better partnership and a gift to us reader's that follow their work closely.
Please ladies, keep on sending me more because I'm always in the mood for more.


View all my reviews

Can't wait for more of Ethan ... How I understand this need for Raine Miller



"I have no intentions of letting you go." I swallowed hard."If you come with me you're signing on for all of me, Brynne. I don't know any other way to be with you. It's all in for me. And I want it to be all in for you too."

Raine Miller, "All In" The Blackstone Affair, Book 2

NetGalley - "Amish Cooks Across America - Recipes and Traditions from Maine to Montana"


In my dreams I have a not big but a beautiful functional kitchen where I indulge in one of my most adored pleasures - cooking.
In my perfect kitchen I have a space for my most lovable cooking books and in my favorite shelve I have this perfect and beautiful book of a traditional culture that are called the Amish.
This is the feeling that this book brought out in my mind and after having made my first impression through the  hole book, I went back to the first page and the journey began.

This book is all about culture, it is about a journey through landscapes and fields that make you want to grab a backpack and just go.
It is a discovery after another, the photographs are simply stunning, it's structure is uncomplicated and the recipes are to die for.

The book is divided by chapters concerning the various settlements located in the East, Midwest, South and West. Also you have your guide of metric conversions, (it's always handy for me), and finally the Index.
It's photographs, and I can't say enough, are full-color and fits perfectly between the pages, either if it's about the landscape, the people, or the food.
There's also information about the many settlements around the amazing U.S.A. and many things to learn about the history and the tradition of the various recipes.

Now, really, about the food, you have Homemade Maple Cream, Blueberry Cake, Wheat Bread, and then from the Midwest you have Delicious Apple Cake, and I could go on and on but I'd prefer to leave that up to you readers.
This book is probably get a pound or two on my kids but they will go crazy with the sweets that I'll be making up for the afternoon lunch at weekends.

Dear reader's please order the book because you won't regret it, it's a family book for everyone that loves to cook and sit around the kitchen table savoring the sweet love that flows around you all.

Below follow the link to order on Amazon :
http://www.amazon.com/Amish-Cooks-Across-America-Traditions/dp/1449421091

quarta-feira, 1 de maio de 2013

Review - Purgatory Masters #1 "Tucker's Fall" by Eliza Gayle


Tucker's Fall   (Purgatory Masters, #1)Tucker's Fall by Eliza Gayle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Maggie Cisco and Tucker Lewis went to high school together and they shared one sole kiss that they never forgot.
Then, Maggie was on her way to being an expert in BDSM lifestyle, a professor and a respectable marriage. But above all that road led her to unhappiness and heartache.
Now, back in her hometown, the only thing she wishes is to forget the past and start a new life and be left alone. Easier said than done.

Tucker Lewis never forgot Maggie and now that she is in her most fragile state he decides that he's going in for the kill. He knows that she craves dominance and that she has submissive desires.
Being one of the owner's of Purgatory, he is the right man to show her that belonging to someone is a beautiful and passionate life.

How I loved this book, so brave and tortured Tucker, going after the one that got away.
With all the baggage on his family, the secrets that have to be protected at all costs, and the beginning of falling in love with someone as different as he is, he is full of things going on in his life.
I also appreciate the fact that he is an artist, someone that fills up his life with creativity, something rare and beautiful to see.
I couldn't pass out the sexy as hell Dom that he is and the hot ideas that he comes up for Maggie.

Maggie is the wounded little bird that comes crawling back in search of peace and determined to find out what her desires are in fact. Writing about a theme is one thing, experience it, living it, is another.
She get's the chance with Tucker and goes for it, with some bumps along the way but she get's there in the end.

This author was a first for me, a pleasurable one I might add and I can't wait for the next book.
She writes beautifully, in the relationship department and also building up a backside story to follow through, with suspense and interest.
I really loved the relationship between the two main characters, the physical, (hot), and the hearty one, trust comes with time and sometimes space has to be given so your head can clear up.

If you haven't read this book don't pass on it, read it, you'll love it.


View all my reviews

ARC acquired through NetGalley

Review - Bayou Heat #1 " Raphael/Parish " from Alexandra Ivy and Laura Wright


Raphael/Parish (Bayou Heat, #1-2)Raphael/Parish by Alexandra Ivy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This time around Alexandra Ivy takes us to meet the mystical race of the Pantera, the puma shifters, living down in Louisiana, and almost brought down to extinction.
In this new series written together with Laura Wright, we find that the infinite imagination and skill of this two authors never fail to bring us the best alpha's or the most exciting nights spent between the arms of this men. Danger is just around the corner and we are taken into another dimension that never fails to amuse my thirst for reading.

Raphael has devoted his life in serving the best he can his people as a diplomat for the Pantera. Extinction of his race is coming fast and he must find a solution.
But when he meets Ashe he knows that his single days are over and she is the one that he will take as his mate.
When danger comes and the bad guys start hunting down Ashe, Raphael must save the woman he loves and save his future child because a miracle has just happen and no harm must come to them.

I expected nothing else but perfection in this story, everything was in place, the characters were believable and well written and of course the bed burned up the room.
I truly liked the world that was created and the bad guys leave us hanging for more to come, I wonder what they want ...

Raphael was truly a hero, a good man giving in to the sole purpose of loving Ashe and taking care of them.
Ashe was in the end the tortured spit fire female, with a sorrowed background and above all a fighter, such a good pair for Raphael.

Now, about Parish ... I so love a wounded man, a dark soul, it's in my blood.

Parish is the leader of the Pantera, living in the Midlands and rarely living his magical home. He despises the humans and makes an effort not to have to cross his path with them.
But now, with the birth of Raphael's child he must travel to New Orleans and find a human doctor that can assist Ashe.
When he finds Julia Cabot he knows that she must come with him and be his woman, his mate.
Will he have the inner strength and patience to convince her to stay with him and will she make the decision to stay or walk away and start a new life away from the Midlands ?

Parish was so much more than Raphael, so different and had such an appeal to me. He is the truly tortured hero, the one that for some reason that I'm not telling, read the book, is dark and lonely, hard and unforgiving, until Julia arrives in his life and makes him want to love somebody and be part of something beautiful.

Julia is the perfect lady, hurt from a loveless relationship, and rapidly coming to a crossroad in her life, only to choose another road, one that is not so rocky from the previous one.
When she finds Parish she understands that before him nothing mattered and that she is unable to leave this man. Even though she is afraid and uncertain she struggles to understand and make the right choices for herself. I really loved Julia as a character and because she had character and love to spread around to those surrounding her.

The ending of Parish's story kind of leaves you hanging on the cliff and I so loved this option that the author's gave us. It makes us reader's to keep up our reading and wanting more.

My thoughts about this first book in the series are bring on the next one fast, I will enjoy it.


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