Monthly Archives: May 2013

May 31, 2013 · 5:50 pm

This is Who I Am (Masters of the Shadowland, #7) by Cherise Sinclair

When trying to save a woman from slavers, Sam screwed up. Royally. Now Linda wants nothing to do with him. Or with BDSM. She won’t even admit she’s a masochist. As a dominant and sadist, he can give her what she needs, and when an opportunity arises, he slips into her life, intending to make amends. She’s everything he knew she would be…except for her bullheaded determination to be ‘normal’.

Now the horrible time is past, Linda just wants to return to her small conservative town, pick up her quiet life, and be normal. But how can someone who likes pain be ‘normal’? To her dismay, when someone spray-paints her home with obscenities, Sam shows up to rescue her. Again. Doesn’t he understand that the last thing she needs in her life is a sadist? He’s amused by her objections. But his dry sense of humor can’t disguise that he’s tough as nails and dominant and stubborn. He’s not going to let her drive him off this time. Soon she realizes she wants him to stay.

When he takes her to the Shadowlands, she feels as if she’s found a home…until she hears a voice from out of her nightmares.

I have only one thing to say. This author does not write fast enough. I love everything she has written.

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Filed under Contemporary, Erotica, Realistic, Romance

May 30, 2013 · 4:25 am

Any Duchess Will Do (Spindle Cove, #4) by Tessa Dare

Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What’s a duke to do, when the girl who’s perfectly wrong becomes the woman he can’t live without?

Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, has no desire to wed this season—or any season—but his diabolical mother abducts him to “Spinster Cove” and insists he select a bride from the ladies in residence. Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.

Overworked and struggling, Pauline Simms doesn’t dream about dukes. All she wants is to hang up her barmaid apron and open a bookshop. That dream becomes a possibility when an arrogant, sinfully attractive duke offers her a small fortune for a week’s employment. Her duties are simple: submit to his mother’s “duchess training”… and fail miserably.

But in London, Pauline isn’t a miserable failure. She’s a brave, quick-witted, beguiling failure—a woman who ignites Griff’s desire and soothes the darkness in his soul. Keeping Pauline by his side won’t be easy. Even if Society could accept a serving girl duchess—can a roguish duke convince a serving girl to trust him with her heart?

Like the last book in this series, Any Duchess Will Do involves a couple from two different social classes. The book is a lot of fun and there is a subplot that really tears at your emotions, but I just can’t accept the relative easy way they get past the social barriers.

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Filed under Historical, Realistic, Regency, Romance

May 29, 2013 · 4:31 pm

Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy, #2) by Deborah Harkness

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Historian Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, and long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont have broken the laws dividing creatures. When Diana discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library,she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to Matthew. Now the fragile coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened.

Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realise that the past may not provide a haven. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night. Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot.

Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers…

I did not think anything could top Discovery of Witches, but this one does. I loved the Elizabethan period. It is not a time in which I am very familiar, but it was fun to “meet” famous people from history.

Of course, not my opinion of them will be forever influenced by this book.

I cannot wait for book three which doesn’t even have a name yet.

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May 29, 2013 · 7:16 am

Beauty and the Blacksmith (Spindle Cove, #3.5) by Tessa Dare

Beauty and the Blacksmith by Tessa Dare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At last, Diana gets a romance of her own! But with the last man anyone in Spindle Cove expects…

Beautiful and elegant, Miss Diana Highwood is destined to marry a wealthy, well-placed nobleman. At least, that’s what her mother has loudly declared to everyone in Spindle Cove.

But Diana’s not excited by dukes and lords. The only man who makes her heart pound is the village blacksmith, Aaron Dawes. By birth and fortune, they couldn’t be more wrong for each other…but during stolen, steamy moments in his forge, his strong hands feel so right.

Is their love forged strong enough to last, or are they just playing with fire?

I love this series. I need to read them straight through. I like that everyone is not from the same social station, although I doubt how realistic that is for the time period.

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May 27, 2013 · 7:49 pm

Heart Fortune (Celta’s Heartmates, #12) by Robin D. Owens

Heart Fortune by Robin D. Owens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jace Bayrum has always been a loner. Concerned more with getting an adrenaline fix and making money to live on his own, Jace cares little for family ties or matters of the heart. On the other hand Glyssa Licorice, Jace’s former fling and true mate, is both loving and loyal. She is determined to track down her HeartMate and have him claim her. After hearing that Jace has been involved in an accident, Glyssa sets out to find him, departing for the excavation site of the lost starship Lugh’s Spear. Though her goal is to help Jace and finesse him into recognizing her as his mate, the excavation itself draws her in… Thrust by fate into working side-by-side, Jace and Glyssa’s electric connection from years before sparks once more. She intrigues him, and Jace begins to realize that a HeartMate can make a difference. And one as magnetic as Glyssa could be exactly what he has been searching for…

There were several things I liked about this book. Glyssa is a librarian and that is the first time I remember her family appearing in any of the books. I love the Fams. Glyssa’s is a young fox and Jace’s is a type of hawk. Several characters from previous books appear, either in minor or major roles. All of these positives are overshadowed by Jace not wanting to HeartMate with Glyssa. He doesn’t believe in love and he doesn’t want to lose his freedom. Although I cannot imagine ever giving up on this series, I much prefer the earlier books. The couples were both more likable then. View all my reviews

This book was given to me by NetGalley for an honest review.

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Filed under Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction

May 25, 2013 · 8:38 pm

Winter of the Wolf (Wild Hunt Legacy, #2) by Cherise Sinclair

Winter of the Wolf by Cherise Sinclair
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I didn’t want to finish this book. I kept putting it down for entire minutes at a time. -grin-

I didn’t want to finish because I loved it so much. Unfortunately, the next book in the series is not due out until who knows when. The author has only just started on it.

Bree, Shay, and Zeb have all had terrible lives. When they join together, you think that finally things are going to work out for them. It’s never that easy though. One thing after another keeps destroying their happiness.

Of course, since it’s a romance, things do work out in the end.

You really need to read Hour of the Lion first. It is the first book in the series and really sets the scene for this one. Actually, you need to read it because it is just that good a book.

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May 22, 2013 · 2:54 am

Hour of the Lion (Wild Hunt Legacy, #1) by Cherise Sinclair

Hour of the Lion by Cherise Sinclair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Sinclair’s Shadowland series and she is equally as good at writing a shifter series. My only problem is she doesn’t write fast enough to suit me.

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May 19, 2013 · 2:46 pm

Justin (Tales of the Shareem, #6) by Allyson James

Justin by Allyson James

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have been a longtime fan of the Shareem books and I don’t know how this one slipped by me. I really need to re-read the series.

Like many of them, this book was funny and heartbreaking. I really enjoyed meeting many of the couples/triples from previous books.

The only thing I didn’t care for is when they switched dom/sub roles. I’m not comfortable with the male as the sub.

I will definitely keep a closer watch on this series to make sure I don’t fall behind again.

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Filed under Erotica, Regency, Science Fiction

May 11, 2013 · 7:57 pm

Written in Red (The Others, #1) by Anne Bishop

Written in Red by Anne Bishop
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! This is the first Anne Bishop title I have read, but it won’t be the last.

Simon is a shapeshifter and Meg is a blood prophet. In this world, “the Others” control everything and humans are just meat. Meg is human, but doesn’t smell like prey.

That is the basic premise for the book. There are a variety of shifters, including the standards such as wolf, coyote and bear. There are also birds. I think my favorite of them all are the crows. Even in human form, they love shiny things.

The important thing to remember is the shifters take human form. They are not humans that shift into animals. They are just the opposite.

There are also vampires, although they are not the ones we are the most familiar with.

And that is the best thing about this book. It introduces an entirely new world with rules that I have not seen in any other books.

I cannot wait for the sequel. Murder of Crows is expected to be published in March of 2014.

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May 5, 2013 · 9:24 pm

Angels’ Blood (Guild Hunter, #1) by Nalini Singh

Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don’t know why I waited so long to read this book. I knew I would probably love them since I am so crazy about Singh’s Psy-Changling series and I was right.

This is a totally different world from Psy-Changling, but there are some similarities between the ArchAngels and the Psy. The angels have lived so long they have forgotten their humanity. Of course, they were never really human to start with.

I loved Elena. She is a born hunter and definitely a strong heroine. She had a tragic childhood, but has overcome it for the most part. She has some wonderful friends who are closer than most families. I can’t wait to hear more of their story.

Raphael was very hard to warm up to. It wasn’t until the very end that I decided I could like him. It will be interesting to see how he is in the next book. He came a long way towards developing a sense of humanity in this one due to Elena.

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