Category Archives: Romance

Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changeling, #1) by Nalini Singh

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”— the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was….

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy co-existence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…

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Filed under Romance, Science Fiction

Possession in Death in The Other Side anthology (Eve Dallas, #31.5) by J. D. Robb

“The devil killed my body. I cannot fight, I cannot find. I cannot free her. You must. You are the one. We speak to the dead.”

Immediately after hearing these words, uttered to her by an old Romanian woman bleeding to death in the street, detective Eve Dallas begins to notice that her latest case has come with a number of interesting side-effects: visions of the deceased, instant familiarity with rooms she’s never seen before, and fluency in Russian. Likewise, there appears to be a force inside of her, a spirit other than her own, that won’t let her rest until she’s found Beata, the old woman’s great-granddaughter, whose disappearance two months prior remains a mystery. Desperate to be free of her new “gifts”, Eve pursues the facts until she discovers a link between Beata’s disappearance and the disappearance of eight other young women, all of whom attended the same dance classes, none of whom were ever heard from again.

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Filed under Mystery, Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction

Beast Behaving Badly (Pride, #5) by Shelly Laurenston

Purchased

Ten years after Blayne Thorpe first encountered Bo Novikov, she still can’t get the smooth-talking shifter out of her head. Now he’s shadowing her in New York-all seven-plus feet of him-determined to protect her from stalkers who want to use her in shifter dogfights. Even if he has to drag her off to an isolated Maine town where the only neighbors are other bears almost as crazy as he is…

Let sleeping dogs lie. Bo knows it’s good advice, but he can’t leave Blayne be. Blame it on her sweet sexiness — or his hunch that there’s more to this little wolfdog than meets the eye. Blayne has depths he hasn’t yet begun to fathom — much as he’d like to. She may insist Bo’s nothing but a pain in her delectable behind, but polar bears have patience in spades. Soon she’ll realize how good they can be together. And when she does, animal instinct tells him it’ll be worth the wait…

And I read these books over and over again . . . at least once a month I imagine.  I particularly love the bears.

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Filed under Contemporary, Humor, Paranormal, Romance

Entice Me at Twilight (Doomsday Brethren, #4) by Shayla Black

Dangerously handsome Simon Northam, Duke of Hurstgrove, and his uptight barrister brother hardly get along, but crashing Mason’s wedding and stealing his fiancée take sibling rivalry to a new level. Duke’s family knows nothing of his magical prowess or the Doomsday Brethren, so how can he explain that mankind’s fate lies with the beautiful, tenacious bride he longs to seduce for himself?

Felicia is an Untouchable, a rare human whose presence disables magic—even the impenetrable forces surrounding Morganna le Fay’s tomb. The evil witch’s malicious powers could propel nefarious wizard Mathias to ultimate world domination . . . if he can resurrect her. To conceal herself, Felicia must heed her simmering desires to mate with Duke, but he risks binding his life—and sanity—to a lover whose loyalty may be forever torn. He faces a terrible choice: betray his brother for ultimate survival . . . or lose the woman who tempts him beyond control.

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Filed under Contemporary, Paranormal, Romance

Mated in Haunted by Your Touch anthology (Doomsday Brethren, #3.5) by Shayla Black

In the shadowy world of the Doomsday Brethren, magical warrior Raiden vows to protect his woman and their unborn youngling from evil—and deliver her safely to another man. But once he’s saved her, can he let her go?

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Filed under Contemporary, Paranormal, Romance

Possess Me at Midnight (Doomsday Brethren, #3) by Shayla Black

As a mysterious dark cloud drains the life of her beloved brother, Doomsday Brethren leader Bram, Sabelle Rion can think of little else. Still, every time she meets Ice Rykard’s intense green gaze, her body aches with need for the sexy warrior. Their attraction is explosive, incredible—and forbidden. As dangerous as he is unpredictable, Ice is her brother’s sworn enemy. But as Bram weakens, a more sinister force is gaining power. Evil Mathias and his ruthless Anarki army are on a bloodthirsty hunt for the Doomsday Diary. Sabelle must guard the potent book with her life—and Ice vows to protect the beautiful witch with his. Duty demands that Sabelle deny her lover’s fiery call of possession and mate with a man who can sway the magical Council against the impending rebellion. With the fate of magickind hanging in the balance, will she forsake the burning desires she can’t ignore or turn her back on her people for the courageous man she can’t resist?

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Filed under Contemporary, Paranormal, Romance

Seduce Me in Shadow (Doomsday Brethren, #2) by Shayla Black

Ex-Marine Caden MacTavish has shunned his magical heritage all his life, but he will do anything to heal his desperately ill brother, a Doomsday Brethren warrior in mourning for his missing mate. Posing as a photographer, Caden must convince firecracker tabloid reporter Sydney Blair to reveal the source of her recent exposé on a supernatural power clash. Unfortunately, keeping his hands off the sizzling redhead proves as hard as getting them onto the potent and mystical Doomsday Diary he discovers at her bedside. A bloody rebellion led by an evil, power-hungry wizard is imminent. If Sydney divulges the book’s existence, she will jeopardize magickind’s most deeply guarded secrets and become the ruthless wizard’s number one target. Caden has never trusted magic’s cruel and dangerous powers, but he will protect Sydney with his life and magic—even if it means risking his heart.

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Filed under Contemporary, Paranormal, Romance

Fated (Doomsday Brethren, #1.5) by Shayla Black

Ronan’s Story – They were meant to be together…but will magic tear them apart?

This is a free ebook on the author’s site.


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Filed under Contemporary, Paranormal, Romance

Tempt Me With Darkness (Doomsday Brethren, #1) by Shayla Black

Purchased

He’s an immortal knight hungering for satisfaction….

As soon as Marrok sees Olivia Gray’s dark windswept hair and burning violet eyes, he’s sure they’ve met in eons past. He’s felt her soft gentle curves writhing in pleasure beneath his own hard powerful body…Morganna! For centuries, towering Marrok, once the mightiest of King Arthur’s warriors, has endured a terrible curse cast upon him when he spurned the witch.

She’s a modern woman about to discover ancient magic….

Olivia shares a mystical — and irresistible — connection with brooding Marrok. Soon after the sexy warrior appears in her erotic dreams, he abducts her, demanding she uncurse him. Their intense passion is more powerful — and intimate — than either of them has ever known. Olivia may be the key to unlocking the diary that will break Morganna’s hold on his life. But in the wrong hands, the book also holds the power to destroy all magickind. As they search for answers, a ruthless wizard returned from exile is building an army of evil. When he discovers Marrok and Olivia have the diary, only their love — with the help of a powerful group of magical Brethren — can save them. (from Amazon)

I actually read this book for the first time almost a year ago exactly.  There are now four books in the series and it was time for a re-read.

I have purchased and read other books by Shayla Black, but this is the only series I truly enjoy.  I really like the tie-in to the Arthurian legend although you do not have to be a major fan to understand these books.  She explains enough of the back history to keep things clear.

There were a couple of what I think of as cliches for male immortals.  Marrok is 1500 years old, but is terrified of riding in cars and has never learned to drive.  I don’t think a warrior would have limited himself that way.

Also, even though he uses a cell phone, he has no clue regarding computers.  I mean really . . . he lives in the middle of nowhere without any means of transport and he’s not even online??

It doesn’t matter.  The series is good anyway.  There are a number of characters which can be hard to keep straight with several unexplained (so far) back stories going on.  The endings are not quite cliff hangers, but critical issues are left unresolved.  That is why I keep reading them (and re-reading them) I imagine.

Now on to book two:  Seduce Me in Shadow.

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Filed under Contemporary, Paranormal, Romance

Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Library

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

First of all, I cannot believe I am six months behind in posting my book journal.  I haven’t even kept the list updated since February and this is from November.  I will never get caught up.

Anyway, I love this book.  I have been telling everyone that it is my favorite book from the past year and not just my favorite Young Adult book.  I am recommending it to everyone.  Well, everyone female.  I don’t think the guys would get past the romance in it.

I haven’t read the sequel yet because I have been told it has a real cliff-hanger ending.  I will wait for the sequel to be published first.


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Filed under Contemporary, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult