Review - Rock Me by Cherrie Lynn

Rock Me by Cherrie Lynn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another great installment in the Ross Siblings series! Thank you, Cherrie Lynn, I can't wait to read the next one!!
Brian - what can I say about Brian, except where can I meet a guy like that?!? Tattooed, pierced, muscled, longish dark hair -  so hot. And he is just an awesome guy. I fell in love with him in this book!
Candace - she was likable. And I liked them together. I liked how his protective instincts came out around her, and I liked how she really did fit into his world - she just got scared. I hate Candace's world. I wanted to slap her mother and her cousin. And I'm so glad her brother got what he did. :) At times, I thought Candace and her friends acted a little more immature than their early 20s. And who is still a junior in college at 23? Unless she took time off in between? That was never fully fleshed out.
Candace tried so hard to be independent, but truth was - she lived in an apartment paid for by her parents, who also paid for school, and she didn't work...
I came to like her though, as she grew in the book and realized exactly who she was and what she wanted out of life. I liked when she finally took a stand. And I loved the whole rock festival weekend!
This book took me on an emotional roller coaster - there were great ups and heartbreaking lows. The climax of the book is tense and heartache follows, but the ending is so worth it - even if it wraps up a little too easily. ;) All in all, a fabulous read about a not-so-bad Bad Boy, and a former pampered princess who just wants out.



View all my reviews

Mini Review - My Shifter Showmance by R.G. Alexander

My Shifter Showmance by R.G. Alexander

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I loved the premise, I loved the characters. I loved all of it... Except the length. It was too short! I wanted more. More of the characters, more interactions, more intrigue, more sex, more, more, more. I'm not greedy or anything. :) Seriously, I'm a huge R.G. fan, really. And she writes so well. This book was enjoyable to read. I just think it could have been developed into an even longer novel.



I know, it's not a great review. But I don't have much else critical to say. Strong female lead, hot, feline male lead who goes after the woman he wants, is aggressive and knows how to pleasure her. A little bit of angst, some great secondary characters I want to know more about. The plot moved along, and then it was just over. I'm sure if it were longer, I'd have loved it more and given it 5 stars. :)



View all my reviews

Review - Curveball by Kate Angell

Curveball by Kate Angell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I fell in love with the Richmond Rogues in Squeeze Play. I love baseball, I love baseball players. So, I had to devour this next book in the series. The Bat Pack - what a great group of guys to focus a book on. Love them! Something about the bad boys, or even just the "player"- but I enjoyed reading about these guys more than Risk and Zen. Their women were awesome, as well. I loved Keely and Emerson, their independence, their determination not to be "fan girls", how they wanted more from the guys than just a quick roll in the hay, and held out. I also liked Jen, but felt like we really didn't get to know her as well. Maybe because she's always been in Chaser's life - there wasn't the getting to know each other phase of their relationship. The sexual tension is rampant throughout the book. And there is much hot sex to be had... sweet, hot, sex. This book is strictly romance.
I'm going to be nit-picky. Baseball is my favorite sport, and while I'm not as observant as the woman in the bar who could tell the players had had sex by the swivel of their hips, I do know the sport. So, some of the little baseball details throughout the book weren't always perfectly logical along the lines of the game of baseball. But, I suspended my disbelief - or however that literary term goes, and I immersed myself in the world of the Richmond Rogues, and loved it! Can't wait to read the other installments.



View all my reviews

Review - The Reluctant Vampire by Lynsay Sands

The Reluctant Vampire by Lynsay Sands

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This one was more like 3.5 stars for me. I liked the characters, though it was the group that I don't know as well as the others. Mirabeau, Tiny,Alessandro, Leonora, Edward, and Dawn... these are all people I hadn't seen in a long time, so it took me awhile to remember their stories.

Harper and Drina were likable - both funny. Stephanie was an enjoyable character, as well. I look forward to seeing more from her and how she's doing in future books.



My issue with this series is now the lifemate thing seems to be coming too easily. So, Marguerite can now pick your lifemate. I liked it better when it seemed to happen more by chance. Also, I like when they resist it - and don't fall into bed immediately after discovering they are lifemates. I don't know, I guess I like a little struggle and heartache in my romance. It makes when they finally do come together that much more awesome. :)

I do always enjoy the Argeneaus, though and look forward to the next installment. I'm holding out for a book for Bricker, though. Can't wait for that one.



View all my reviews

Review - Winter Fire - Jess Dee

Winter Fire by Jess Dee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Loved this! It was short, but packed with heat and emotion! Rachel is in the Blue Mountains for her BFF's birthday party - Jenna, who is twins with Jackson, who Rachel has been in love with for 12 years, who is also is love with Rachel. Yet, they have denied their mutual love for those 12 years because Jackson and Jenna have a pact not to date each other's friends. So Rachel goes into the birthday weekend, dreading seeing Jackson, who she hasn't seen in 2 years. Then she meets Garreth - a sexy stranger who wants to get her in bed, and makes no bones about admitting it straight out.

Rachel thinks hot sex with a sexy stranger is just what she needs to get Jackson out of her head. But, of course, it doesn't work that way and there is surprise and heartache, and maybe an HEA - I don't want to spoil the ending.

The characters were easy to love - Rachel and Garreth had amazing, witty and flirty dialogue that was fun to read. We get to know these two pretty well. Jenna and Jackson - not so much. But we know the depth of Rachel's feelings for Jackson, and I was rooting for them. Although, I was rooting for Garreth, as well.

Hot sex, hot menage, emotions, great characters, easy to love - it's all in here.



View all my reviews

Review - Giving Chase - Lauren Dane

Giving Chase by Lauren Dane

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This one just wasn't for me. I wanted to like it, to read all the books in the series. Four hot brothers finding love? Sounded good. I guess this one's just not my style. I didn't enjoy the characters. I don't mind insecure female leads - but Maggie was over the top for me. Everyone kept having to reassure her how beautiful she was. ugh. Kyle was kind of bland. I liked Shane a whole lot better - he was flawed. I like my characters flawed, I guess. Everyone in the book was in their mid to late twenties, yet sometimes they talked to each other like they were in high school. Especially the "bad" women, who picked on Maggie all the time and never failed to remind her she wasn't "cool" or in the "in-crowd". It was just a little too much for me.
The sex was good. I did enjoy that. :) But all in all, this book just didn't do it for me. Cheesy characters, cheesy dialogue, cheesy plot twist. And odd, Southern dialogue that I didn't always understand. Maybe the next books in the series get better? This one? Not for me.



View all my reviews

Review - Breaking Free - Cherise Sinclair

Breaking Free by Cherise Sinclair

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I didn't expect to love this book so much! In fact, I had skipped this one to read Cullen's story because I hadn't liked Nolan that much. I was so wrong! This book was amazing, I had to read it in one sitting, except for the end. I kept putting it off because I didn't want it to be over.
What's there to say? Ms. Sinclair has done it again. This series is simply masterful. I don't have any direct experience with Doms, but I now have a fantasy of meeting a Dom just like one of the Masters of the Shadowlands. :) Do men like that really exist?
Master Z asks Nolan to take a on troubled sub, see if he can turn her around. He agrees when he sees how she doesn't get off in a scene, how scarred she is from past abuse. Beth was awesome. Strong and independent. Given her past - spending 2 years with an abusive, sadistic husband, she could have turned into a shy hermit. But she needed the BDSM in her life and found it at the Shadowlands. Unfortunately, she hasn't yet found a Dom who can pleasure her. Then Nolan comes in and practically undoes her with a simple kiss. He is unlike any Dom she's known before.
Nolan is the perfect Dom, masterful, hot, unyielding, protective, caring. So amazing. With each book, I find a new favorite Dom... :) I loved the play party scene Nolan hosts at his house. How fun would that be?!

There is plenty of tension in this one, hot sex, hot BDSM, emotions, suspense, action, and on and on. It has it all! I can't wait to read the next installment in this series. Thank you Ms. Sinclair, for creating this fantasy world for me!



View all my reviews

Review - Unleashed - Cherrie Lynn

Unleashed by Cherrie Lynn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Loved this! Stayed up all night just to finish it. :) I am such a sucker for the whole "friends into lovers" plot line. And this one did not disappoint. Probably because Kelsey has been in love with Evan since college and their timing just always sucked, and he was never ready for a relationship. She married his best friend, he gets engaged, and one day, Kelsey walks in on her husband and Evan's fiancee. She hasn't really seen him in 2 months because seeing him brings up the memories of what happened. Then he calls her out of the blue and asks her to go to Hawaii with him - what would have been his honeymoon.

What a great vacation they have. They do not jump into the sack immediately. There is plenty of delicious sexual tension and innuendo. We get to see perspective from each of them, and I wanted to yell, "Just do it, already!" In a good way. When they finally do get together -- HOT! I fell in love with Kelsey and Evan, I wanted them to find happiness together, finally. The plot moves along and there is emotions after emotions involved. So, so worth the missing hours of sleep. Can't wait to read the next one.



View all my reviews

Review - On the Island - Tracey Garvis-Graves

On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I bought this because of all the great reviews. I guess I'm just not a sweet romance type of person. I enjoyed it, I really did - it kept me reading. I didn't have to sit and finish it all in one sitting, however. Once Anna and T.J. got back to the real world, the story stalled a little for me. Then it picked up, and the ending was sufficiently fulfilling.
I enjoyed their time on the island - the struggles to survive, their triumphs and heartaches. I loved watching T.J. grow and how they began to see each other as more than just survival companions.
Maybe because Anna is so close to my age - I knew what she would do. I knew what she was thinking when they got back to Chicago. I saw it all coming. But it didn't bother me.
The funny thing is- the writing style is very on-the-surface. The reader does not get much insight to what the characters are thinking, even though the chapters switch between Anna's and T.J.'s POV. It's more like reading a narration of the events. So, all the emotion is brought out in dialogue and by the narrator's observations of the other. I really enjoyed their conversations. T.J. is awesome, I just really liked him.
All in all, I enjoyed this one. I didn't love it, I probably won't read it again. But it was a sweet romance.



View all my reviews

Review - Friday Night Bites - Chloe Neill

Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I devoured the first book in this series and could not wait to get the next one. Finally! It was in my hands. It took me awhile to get into it, but I think I was in a reading slump in October and November. Anyway, I read it on a long car ride last night by the light of my cell phone (yes, I need book lights) because I couldn't put it down. I had to know what came next.



This series reminds me of Buffy episodes. There's a Big Bad (Celina), who has an ultimate motive, and along the way, the "gang" encounters mini battles in the ongoing war. Sorry, not sure what constitutes as spoilers here, but this book centered around one facet of Celina's ulterior motives. She irritates me. The bitch needs to get put down. But what I love about Chloe Neill is that it's all her machinations. Celina, Ethan, Mr. Merit - they're not just each a great strategist - it's Neill. And that's what makes me keep coming back. The constant politicking, strategizing, the moves that are being made that we, as readers, don't even know about yet.



Then there's Merit and Ethan. Gah! Really!? I hate politics, I hate logic and rational thought when it comes to my book-boyfriend relationships. I love what Merit's sister said to her, "He could sexually harass me any day." and "And by the way, if you have a chance with Blondie, take it. Please. For me." And I think all us readers would add FOR US!! Dang. I love the sexual tension throughout the book, with undertones of something more. I love Ethan. Period. I love how frustrating he is, how controlled, then BANG! He reveals a hidden part of himself and he's vulnerable. I understand why their relationship is a bad idea, but dayum... I want her to hit that... Even when she kisses Morgan (who is definitely hot, too) I just didn't feel it. I want her with Ethan, dammit!



Merit's world kind of implodes in this book and she goes through transitions as she adjusts to life as a vampire, a Sentinel, and living in Cadogan House. I feel for her in this one.



I love how real the characters seem. At times, they may be immature or respond irrationally. But, they seem real to me. Like how people I know would respond, how we would banter. I love Chloe Neill's dialogues. The snark, the flirting, the sarcasm, all of it. I love it.



So, there's book 2. It ends in the middle of Merit/Buffy off to begin a new mystery. So next week's episode is Book 3, and dangit - I don't have it yet. I need to get it, and Book 4, and Book 5... I think I'll wait to read Twice Bitten until I have the rest of them in my hands. I don't want to put myself through this torture again. :)



View all my reviews

Review - Dom of My Dreams by M.F. Sinclair

The Dom of My Dreams: A BDSM Novel by M.F. Sinclair

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I don't know if I can adequately describe how much I loved this book. I. Loved. This. Book. I couldn't put my Kindle down all day because I HAD to finish it. Nothing got done around my house until I found out what would happen with Marjorie and Seton.

This book spoke to everything I've fantasized about. Sorry, TMI. But that's part of why I loved it so much. I could relate to Marjorie. I knew immediately she was afraid of being hurt, of committing. I loved how she struggled to stand up to David Seton, while dealing with her arousal. I never disliked Seton. I wanted to play his game with him and my heart ached for Marjorie when she struggled with newfound feelings.

There was plenty of angst throughout the book, and the resolution is not easily reached. I rode the emotional roller coaster with the characters- I laughed, ached, cheered, and was turned on by their trysts. Yes, the sex in this book is hot. There is some BDSM in it, and it was just enough to be awesome, and make me want to meet a Dom of my Dreams, too. Especially if he's like David Seton, who by the way, is hot, hot, hot! And has a British accent... Hello!!

There are emotional and sexual awakenings, and they aren't always easy in this novel. But they are superbly written. M.F. Sinclair takes the reader along for one hell of a ride and I was all too happy to get sucked in.

I definitely recommend this one if you like emotion with your hot, hot sex. If you want a strong, but somewhat screwed-up heroine, and one sexy, dominating hero.



View all my reviews

Review - Pale Demon - Kim Harrison

Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Why, why did I hold onto this for so long? Why did I think I couldn't get back into the Hollows after not reading for such a long time? I read White Witch, Black Curse in June of 2009. Notice, I just finished Black Magic Sanction right before I read this one? I'm chastising myself for waiting so long between books, and I can't wait for February to read A Perfect Blood as soon as I can get my hands on it.

What's there to say about this book? It was A-MAY-ZING. (Yes, I know I spelled it wrong). I loved the road trip concept. I loved that Trent was a main character in this book. I loved Rachel trying to justify, not only to the rest of the world, but also to herself, her use of black magic to do good. She still isn't completely comfortable with using black magic, even though it's been to save those she loves. And I love this struggle.

Rachel is the best heroine ever. She's strong and kick-ass, yet she's unsure and vulnerable. She forms so many emotional attachments to people, yet spaces herself from them to save them. I love her emotionality. Her romance situation doesn't improve, in fact gets more complicated, and I love that also. She kisses at least four different people in this book, for four different reasons, but it didn't bother me - I enjoy going through Rachel's internal struggles with her.

Trent. Ah, Trent. He has been one of my favorites for a long time, and I've been dying for he and Rachel to get together. I'm not going to give anything away, but we do get to see sides of Trent we've never seen before. We learn a lot about him, his heritage, his past, and more about him and Rachel at camp. Their relationship is tenuous, but underneath, I think there is real trust, and I love it. I can't wait to see what the next book brings.

One of my favorite Trent scenes:

"Seeing him unaware, I could appreciate how slim Trent was, athletic, with just enough muscle in all the right places. A runner's body. I tried to keep my eyes where they belonged--then gave up, letting my eyes linger where they would--then warmed when my eyes rose to find Trent watching me in amusement in the mirror. His smile shifted as he recognized my appreciation, the slight movement of his body an invitation to look more. God, he was teasing me, and flushing, I took my eyes off him. Ellasbeth, your name is fool" YUM... :)

Of course, there is Jenks and Ivy. So much happens with Jenks. And Ivy's talk with Rachel near the end is revealing. That's all I can say about them, I guess.

I love the way Harrison writes. I love the movement of the characters while they are talking, the little details Ms. Harrison points out in her writing. There's not enough I can say about this book.

Read this and road trip with the crew. A shunned witch, a living vamp, a pixy, an elf, and along the way, they pick up a black witch and a coven witch. You can guess who those are. There is heartbreak as well as flirting. There are demon fights, ending in losses and victories. We get to see elf magic at work, and Rachel finally comes to grip with what she really is.

This book had it all, and I can't wait to see what Ms. Harrison has in store for us next.










View all my reviews

Review - The Anointed: Demon Trackers Book One by CC James

Demon Trackers: The Anointed by CC James

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Demon trackers - I was intrigued and kind of excited. This is a solid first book to a new series. I thought it was on the short side, however, as it seemed to only cover one major event. The action was written in great detail and a few hours time took almost the entire book.


I liked the relationship between Jake and Cal, and then with their father. It was nice to see the men being caring toward each other and worrying and protecting each other - though one or the other was in so much peril at some point - it got a little on the tiresome side to constantly be worrying someone was going to become gremlin food.


There seems to be a lot of backstory that is not yet revealed to the reader and I suppose I will have to continue in the series to find the answers to questions I have about the boys’ past.


This book was well-written, good details, good character development, and I became engaged in the story.


One thing I did not really like was how young the boys are - Cal is 16 and Jake is 19, and they are half-human and fighting horrible demons. I don’t know why their ages bothered me - Jake not so much, but it bothered me that Cal was so young…  Again, I’m not sure why - it just did.


Overall, I enjoyed this story - it is action-packed with lots of demon-butt-kicking. There is zero romance, but from the excerpt of the next book, there might be some on the horizon. I give the story 3.5 stars - I liked it, but I didn’t love it. I would recommend it to anyone who like urban fantasy - lots of action, little romance. Thank you to author, CC James, for the chance to read and review this book. I will be checking out book two when that comes out.



View all my reviews