BOOK REVIEW: CARROTS by COLLEEN HELME - SHELBY NICHOLS ADVENTURE # 1 - CONTEMPORARY MYSTERY

By: Colleen Helme

Published By: Colleen Helme

Released: Available Now

Details: Kindle Purchase, 286 Pages

RATING: 3.75 STARS

Blurb: Goodreads

Shelby Nichols is an average woman who is married to the only guy she ever fell for. Her life is organized and predictable, revolving around her husband and two children. All that changes the day she stops at the grocery store for some carrots. As the cashier rings up her purchases, a gunman is busy robbing the bank inside the store. When a customer grabs the robber's mask, he is shot and everyone runs for cover. Everyone except Shelby, who finds herself face to face with the killer. The next thing she knows, she's lying on the floor with a bullet wound to her head. Luckily, the bullet only grazes her scalp, and she doesn't suspect any lasting effects until later when she suddenly 'hears' what people are thinking. With this uncanny ability, her life takes on a whole new dimension. Her kids think she's bossy and too old to understand them, but that's nothing compared to her husband. He says he loves her, but what is it about the redhead at work that he doesn't want her to know? As if that isn't enough, the gunman knows she can identify him, and he's out to silence her forever. In her fight to stay alive, she is saved from certain death by a handsome hit-man with ties to organized crime. This pulls Shelby even deeper into danger, where knowing someone's thoughts can not only hurt her feelings, but get her killed.


BOOK REVIEW:

I bought Carrots in September 2014 and have only just read it and now the Shelby Nichols Adventure is a full-blown series. All the covers are so pretty. I do love them.

Who knew buying carrots could lead to a bullet graze to the head resulting in the ability to read people’s minds?

Shelby is a stay-at-home mum with two teenage children, well, one is twelve. Her husband, Chris, is a lawyer. Shelby pretty quickly gets mixed up in a whole pile of shenanigans which lead her to a confrontation with Ramos, Uncle Joey’s hit-man and standing in front of the mob boss and making a deal with him.

Let all the crazy begin.

The one thing I did enjoy very much was Colleen bringing to life the real-life complications of being married and being able to read your husband’s thoughts. I don’t know how many relationships could withstand that one-sided knowledge and come out the other end, not altogether unscathed, but still in love. That is opening up a whole world of hurt for the person who can read those thoughts, not to mention the invasion of privacy Chris had to deal with. I felt his pain, I really did. But at the same time, he was a bit of a PITA with his ignorance of Kate, the redheaded vixen in the office. I mean...really? Dude you’re supposed to be intelligent. He did redeem himself with me and his love for his wife conquering the hurdles placed in their path. Also, he gets a pass for the invasion of privacy his wife had to learn to deal with and try to control.

Uncle Joey... fear him or love him, he plays his part well. Kate is an excellent biatch. You will loathe her, which equals author's-job-done.

This installment is very silly, possibly a little eye-rolling and a tad predictable, but I will be coming back for more.

Ramos seems a bit of a knock-off of Ranger from Stephanie Plum, but I can live with Ramos if he can show me he’s worth adoring like I adore Ranger. #teamranger

As per the Stephanie Plum series, you will be sure to be getting a car explosion.

I couldn’t rate this first installment any higher because I’m not altogether believing in Shelby’s character as much as I should be from this first installment. She did annoy me a fair bit with her choices and after reading so many Steph Plums, Ramos seemed a little transparent and I do fear a Chris/Joe-Shelby-Ramos/Ranger situation possibly coming over the horizon. 

But I won’t know until I read more.

Assuming. Much.

BOOK REVIEW: BORN OF ICE by SHERRILYN KENYON - THE LEAGUE # 3 - PIATKUS - PARANORMAL ROMANCE - SCI-FI

By: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Published By: Piatkus

Released: Available Now

Details: Paperback from library, 352 Pages

RATING: 3.75 STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

In the Ichidian Universe where The League is law, most live in fear. We fight back. Welcome to a world where corrupt assassination politics dominate everyone. It’s kill or be killed. Welcome back to the future…and meet hell's new breed of heroes.

Devyn Kell spent his life in service to the League until he learned of the double dealing and backstabbing that was costing innocent people their lives. Refusing to play those politics, he became a Runner; someone who makes sure planets get the weapons, medicine and supplies they need to survive. May the gods have mercy on any who get in his way, because he definitely won’t.

Alix Garran is a woman on the run from a past she can’t escape. Signing on to work for Devyn as a System’s Engineer, she finds a cause she can fight for—and a man she can respect. But as Alix’s past catches up to her, and Devyn’s old enemies turn lethal, they have to fight together…or fall alone, in Born of Ice, the third bestselling League novel from Sherrilyn Kenyon.

BOOK REVIEW:

Okay, here’s the deal: I do LOVE Sherrilyn Kenyon’s writing and I am making my way through both The League and Dark Hunter series. I am coming in very, very late to both series and I love all the five and four star reviews. Bravo!

I just referred to my reviews of the first two books in this series and I gave them 4 and 4.5 stars. I enjoyed them very much.

This book took me by surprise…fast forward at a guess thirty plus years and we have Devyn, son of Syn and Shahara, which is great , but being the third book in the series, it was a leap into hyperspace. Bahahaha. It felt kinda weird going there after only two books in the series prior, but it was okay. I got used to it and I forgot about Syn being an older man.

I had a little trouble with connecting with Devyn and Alix as a couple. I was trying to deal with it as I read, but there wasn’t that reader/character connection for me personally.

You win some; you lose some.

Born of Ice got my eyes a little twitchy, especially when pages 173, 175, 177 and 181, Claria does a switcheroo and becomes Claire on several occasions. I read from the Piatkus published copy. These are the ones I could quickly find.

At first I thought, eh, they are being silly with her name, but then the more I read, my eyes started twitching.



“Thanks, Claire.”



“I’m not your bitch, Claire.



Devyn took a step forward. “Claire—”



Devyn motioned for Zarina to follow him so that he could give Sway and Claire privacy.



I still enjoyed it enough to give it 3.75 stars. Not as good as the first two, but still I read cover to cover and glad I did read it.

I just found this on Google, it explains the time jumping. https://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/book/league-reading-list/ 

Original Publication Date: January 01, 1990

This is the correct reading order for The League® series that Sherrilyn means for the series to be read in. For those who are wondering why the series jumps ahead in time from League®: Nemesis Rising® to League®: Nemesis Legacy®, the reason is simple. Back in 1991 when Sherrilyn first sold Born of Night, her original publisher tied up the Nemesis Rising books with the option clause of her contract for many, many years. Since the books were so original and unlike anything currently published back then, they were delaying the publication dates and refusing to release the books back to her (again, the book sold in ’91 and wasn’t released for publication until ’96). Unable to touch the series since the main characters were under contract, Sherrilyn went on and began the second set of League characters under the Nemesis Legacy® banner and started writing about the children of the first set.

She quickly sold those books to two more publishers. But because they were tied to the first, she was advised to change their names and break them away from the original books so that no one would know the Legacy books were tied in any way to the Nemesis Rising books. As a result, Paradise City (League: Nemesis Legacy) was released in 1993 by Dorchester and Fire & Ice (League: Nemesis Legacy) was released in 1995 by Time-Warner. After their stellar success, Born of the Night (League: Nemesis Rising) was then finally by its original publisher in 1996 who saw that there was indeed a market for Sherri’s work. Sherri was then able to get the rest of the Nemesis Rising books away from that publisher and Born of Fire (League: Nemesis Rising) became the first ebook in history by a bestselling New York published book author when it was released in the summer of 1996. Then, in 1999 Born of Night (League: Nemesis Rising) and Fire & Ice (League: Nemesis Legacy) were both rereleased by Time-Warner where it immediately skyrocketed to #1 and stayed there for months. However, their program was summarily cancelled the next year and all their editors let go. Sherri was again cast adrift with the series and her e-rights, as well as the print rights were again tied-up.

In 2004, Fire & Ice (League: Nemesis Legacy) was then bought by Penguin Group, USA where it immediately it more bestseller lists and was again republished in 2010 as part of an all Kenyon anthology collection entitled In Other Worlds.

Due to contract restrictions on the original Born of Night, Sherrilyn had to wait for all her rights to be returned to her before she could continue writing the League®: Nemesis Rising novels®. But in 2009, once her rights were again her own and she had all of the original books back, except Fire & Ice, Sherrilyn returned the titles and the character names to their original ones and was able to republish the first three published League books as a cohesive unified series and the first three Nemesis Rising and Nemesis Legacy books (which at that time were selling on eBay for thousands of dollars a copy) were brought out back to back. Born of Night (League: Nemesis Rising), Born of Fire (League: Nemesis Rising), Born of Ice (League: Nemesis Legacy).

From that point on, Sherri has continued the series as she wanted to originally in the ’80’s, starting with the League: Nemesis Rising characters and then moving to the League: Nemesis Legacy once she finished the Nemesis Rising arc that takes place during the League-Sentella war.

NemesisLegacy books begin approximately 30-35 years after the war ends.

As to why all the books aren’t listed in the front of other League books is simple. The series has never been published by a single publisher. And sadly, publishers only list the books that they publish in their own company. Therefore, the only place the get the full list of all the League books is here on Sherri’s site.

If you want to read the books chronologically, you can choose that option on the menu bar above, but please note that Sherri didn’t write them that way. She wrote them out of sequence and that is how they’re meant to be read. So it’s safe to read them in the order she wrote them in, as she was very careful in how she gives out character details. So while the books might go back in time, there is a carefully thought out reason for this. She doesn’t do that arbitrarily.

Nemesis Rising Books setting: Before & during League-Sentella War i.e. Nykyrian/Nemesis rising to become emperor of the Andarion and Triosan empires

Nemesis Legacy Books setting: 30-35 years after the League-Sentella War ends. The are about the reign of Nykyrian/Nemesis as emperor.

BOOK REVIEW: THE ART OF SEDUCING A NAKED WEREWOLF by MOLLY HARPER - NAKED WEREWOLF # 2 - SIMON & SCHUSTER - PARANORMAL ROMANCE

By: Molly Harper

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Released: Available Now

Details: Hardback from local library, 338 Pages

RATING: 3.75-4 STARS

Blurb: Goodreads

Baring It All

Generations of werewolves have been secretly residing in a secluded valley a stone’s throw from Grundy, Alaska. So when a snooping Outsider comes to Grundy to investigate rumors of lycanthropic shenanigans in the area, the valley’s pack alpha, Maggie Graham, resolves to chase him away, even if doing so takes a quick bite on the butt. What a pity that researcher Nick Thatcher turns out to be so drool-worthy, and that his kisses make Maggie want to sit up and beg. Maggie just can’t seem to convince Nick to leave . . . and even worse, she can’t convince herself to stay away from him. Cross-species dating is problem enough for a harried alpha female, but on top of that, a rival group of werewolves is trying to move into the valley. With interpack war threatening, Maggie can’t afford to be distracted. Combining romance and a career can be tough for anyone; for a werewolf in love with a human, it may be disastrous. . . .

BOOK REVIEW:

This is my first Molly Harper read and she is very tongue-in-cheek with her humor.

I did start at book number 2 because my local library only had books 2 and 3. I didn’t really miss out on anything by not reading book 1. Sure there are mentions of little things from the previous book, but not enough for me to feel I needed to read the first one. This book was centered around Maggie and the ever cute, geeky Nick.

I did read some reviews for How To Flirt With A Naked Werewolf and I do understand Maggie may have come across with a different personality as she did in this book, due to the circumstance of HTFWANW ( I had to abbreviate). She's now alpha and has a pack to look after.

I am giving this book between 3.75 stars and 4 stars. For me this was an okay/good read. I really enjoyed the twist that you can’t pick coming, because there is no reason for you to see it coming.

Touché!

I did find the storytelling a little predictable and a little too convenient in places and I really didn’t connect that well with Nick and Maggie as a future couple. He’s a great guy, sweet and intelligent, and a little sexy, but I wanted to believe in Maggie and Nick.

The cover art is fun and I do realize this is a very light, fluffy sort of story when it comes to paranormal romance and that is great. I enjoy the fluffier side of reading quite a lot, but I do also have to be invested in the characters a little more than I was.

This is certainly a great poolside read to enjoy.

BOOK REVIEW - BREAKING THE STORM by SEDONA VENEZ - CREDENCE CURSE # 1 - PARANORMAL ROMANCE

By: Sedona Venez
Published By: One Wish Publishing
Released: Available Now
Details: Kindle purchase currently FREE , 254 Pages

RATING: 3.75 KNOX & RYKER STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

A fae witch, a rock star, and a passionate paranormal affair…

Stormy is cursed. If the fae witch ever finds true love, the man is sure to die a terrible death. Five years ago, she left her sexy rock star of a boyfriend Knox to save his life.

When her escort service for paranormals puts her face to face with Knox again, her passion grows like never before. Can she possibly keep it together when Knox insists that she be his escort? Will her curse make it all fall apart?

Breaking the Storm is the first book in the Credence Curse Saga, a series of adventure-packed shifter romance tales. If you like dark magic, powerful women, steamy love scenes, heart-pounding romance, and piles of sexy shifter secrets, then you'll love the latest romp from author Sedona Venez.



BOOK REVIEW:

This book caught my eye when I was randomly scrolling about on Amazon a few days ago. I picked it up for #free and it still is free.

I really liked the prologue and I was fascinated to know more, but that is where that ends and the first chapter rolls forward to ‘Centuries Later’. We do get a teeny bit more near end of book.

Now I thought I had this whole Credence Curse worked out in my head…but then maybe not.



In our defense, we’d had no choice. Humans were our last resort for the continuance of the Credence bloodline. The magic in our fae blood bound us to expose ourselves as Others to any human we loved, or we’d be risking our death. It was a double-edged sword that gave us a chance to love and be loved. A chance at happiness, but it would be ruthlessly stripped away by death of any man we’d loved.



Okay so I thought I got that under my belt when I was reading the prologue, but then by the end of the book—I don’t think I got it, because of Knox. Rock star Knox.

You see, Stormy aka Storm leaves him as she believes he is human, for fear of his death, but later…even though she still thinks he’s human… (scratches head a little) I may have totally missed something. I was concentrating hard.

I really liked the whole world building of this book. It was interesting. What let me down was how dumb Storm was over one thing and only one thing. 

This is the most frustrating thing about this story. OMG! Storm is a very intelligent woman, runs a business and comes across very smart…except for this one thing.

She knows Ryker is head of the Other Council and he is a wolf shifter. He knows Storm and Light are fae-witch. Ryker’s bodyguard dudes know what each other is—but…

GAHHHH! The frustration of continuing to read while this dumbness went on, was hard and eye roll worthy. It was selective dumbness. I was banging my head on a table (inside my head) when continually reading this. She could pick out every other Other, but not Knox.

@(#*@)(#*@)(#*)!!!

I know it was easier for the author to write it this way to fit in with her story…but it was not for the reader. So many freakin’ hints are dropped for the reader and Storm, but Storm is totally oblivious.

SMH

Then there is the BDSM part of the story. I read BDSM and this was hot sex. Research needed to be done on what is BDSM. Telling Storm what to wear and being a little bossy is not BDSM.

Being an alpha male character does not make you a dom.

I did enjoy this story, and for those that have no idea about BDSM, then cool, you will be happy reading these sex scenes. 

What I really wanted from this story was to know Knox more. He really is a great character. There is like a five year gap between the last time they saw each other and then all of a sudden it is this BDSM and I am dom and you are sub stuff. I needed a bit of fleshing out. It felt very random to insert this without a build-up of some kind.

There was the curse and another side story going on. There was a death and a nosy reporter. I needed those parts given more time, too.

This was a good start to this series, but I felt there where plot jumps that needed care and also fleshing out of characters.

Lightening aka Light was a great character. I really like her and I do like Storm, Knox and Ryker, but I wanted more than maybe the emphasis being on the so called BDSM parts. Give me the sex, but give me the fleshed out story too.

Some readers will be more than happy the way it is written from cover to cover, but I needed more. I did really like the overall world building and the kinda zany mother and aunt.

Harper is a really great character too, written very well. There were so many things to like about Breaking The Storm. I kinda want to shove it back into an editing process and context proofreading process. I have looked at many of the reviews on Goodreads to see if I was the only one…and I’m not. I feel my review is very fair.

I am looking forward to Ryker and Light's story, because those two were great in this book.

BOOK REVIEW - WHISKEY BEACH by NORA ROBERTS - CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE - PIATKUS

By: Nora Roberts

Published By: Piatkus

Released: Available Now

Details: Paperback from library, 484 Pages

RATING: 3.75 - 4 STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

For more than three hundred years, Bluff House has sat above Whiskey Beach, guarding its shore - and its secrets.

To summer tourists, it's the crown jewel of the town's stunning scenery. To the residents of Whiskey Beach, it's landmark and legend. To Eli Landon, it's home...

A Boston lawyer, Eli has weathered an intense year of public scrutiny and police investigation after being accused of murdering his soon-to-be ex-wife. And though there was never enough evidence to have him arrested, his reputation is in tatters as well as his soul. He need sanctuary. He needs Bluff House.

While Eli's beloved grandmother is in Boston, recuperating from a nasty fall, Abra Walsh has cared for Bluff House, among her other jobs as yoga instructor, jewelry maker, and massage therapist. She is a woman with an open heart and a wide embrace, and no one is safe from her special, some would say over-bearing, brand of nurturing - including Eli.

He begins to count on Abra for far more than her cooking, cleaning, and massage skills, and starts to feel less like a victim - and more like the kind of man who can finally solve the murder of his wife and clear his name. But Bluff House's many mysteries are a siren song to someone intent on destroying Eli and reaping the rewards. He and Abra will become entangled in a centuries-old net of rumors and half-truths that could pull them under the thunderous waters of Whiskey Beach...

Passion and obsession, humor and heart flow together in a novel about two people opening themselves up to the truth - and to each other.

BOOK REVIEW:

I have just finished this whopping huge book. My very FIRST read by Nora Roberts, although I do read her as J.D. Robb. ( In Death series)

I have read 4 books to-date in the In Death series and adore J.D. Robb’s writing aka Nora Roberts. So I decided to pick me up a random read of Nora’s, which happened to be Whiskey Beach.

I gotta say—and I know Nora is like the queen of writing—but this book didn’t do her queen status justice…for me. This is just my personal reading experience.

I found the book far toooooooo long. I love a long read, but in this case I became a little bit bored and that is not good. It took me a lot longer to read this book than a JR Ward whopping thick read. I devour the In Death books in a day, but this book took me a week.

I originally liked Abra Walsh’s character, but the more I read her, the more she made me feel like the woman was a total superstar at everything she put her hand to. She was the perfect woman—even though her past wasn’t. She kinda grated on my reader nerves. She’s the first character I have read like this and it was a bit hard to read her, sometimes. I understand what Nora was doing, and she wanted to show us a self assured, strong woman who took the reins…but it came off differently for me. I loved she was a yoga instructor and I actually want to take yoga back up because of Abra, but then she was good at every darn thing and then more and other things.

Eli Landon…I couldn’t connect as well as I hoped with him as a character. I wanted to. He felt quite flat to me. 

The pacing was quite slow and I think that could have been remedied by tightening up the story by culling at least a hundred pages. Other readers might be perfectly happy the way it is, but for me, I found this a difficult book to finish.

This experience won’t stop me reading more Nora Roberts, I have The Obsession in my hands to read next. Another random pick from the library.

But I might just take a weee break first before cracking it open.

BOOK REVIEW - PLAYING DIRTY by TIFFANY SNOW - RISKY BUSINESS # 2 - PIATKUS - CONTEMPORARY CRIME ROMANCE

By: Tiffany Snow

Published By: Piatkus

Released: Available Now

Details: Paperback from library, 313 Pages

RATING: 3.75 STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

DOWN AND DIRTY
Faced with a choice between bad-boy detective Dean Ryker and sexy power player Parker Anderson, Sage Reece fought the law--and the law won. But while Ryker's sizzling touch may rule her nights, Sage's days belong to Parker's cool, calculating intensity. . . .

Both Ryker and Parker are determined to protect Sage from a brutal enemy who'd use her to pay for their mistakes. Yet when the usually on-point Ryker is distracted by ghosts from his past, Parker seizes his opportunity to get Sage's attention--and keep it in ways beyond her wildest dreams.

Now, caught between a mobster out for revenge and two men who were once best friends, Sage must play to win—even if it means getting dirty. . . .

BOOK REVIEW:

I am a huge Tiffany Snow fan and I did LOVE the first book in this series, but…

Let me explain my own personal thoughts.

I don’t have a great love for love triangles, but I do think Tiffany Snow does them really well.

But in saying that, I found this installment made me roll my eyes quite a lot. I mean I had eye roll overload.

Sage just got on my nerves the way she was written. It is probably a case of: it’s not you but me. In my eyes she became quite dumbed down and silly.

The first book I LOVED…this one… 

I am definitely reading Play To Win, next, and have it in my hands to read from my local library.

I haven’t yet finished the Kathleen Turner series as I am buying them as I read and dang it—did I get a beauty of a spoiler in this installment. I am giving myself memory loss on that one. Teach me to not finish off the KT series first.

Although this installment made me groan and eye roll too much, I am still glad I read it. Parker and Ryker are both great guys and I think Sage simply let me down.

BOOK REVIEW - SLADE by VICTORIA ASHLEY - WALK OF SHAME # 1 - CONTEMPORARY EROTICA

By: Victoria Ashley

Published By: Victoria Ashley

Released: Available Now

Details: Kindle, 176 Pages

RATING: 3.75 SLADE STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

My name is Slade Merrick and I’m a fucking sex addict . 

I’ve been told it’s a problem. But I see it as a passion; something that I’m good at. And who the fuck stops something that they’re good at?

They want me to seek help; get my cock in check. Don't judge my lifestyle. You’re no better than me. Just admit it, you like to fuck too. Sex is what I do best; my own personal high, so I embrace it instead of being ashamed.

When I'm not fucking, I'm slinging drinks at Walk Of Shame or stripping my way into your bed; another thing I'm good at. Every woman’s darkest fantasy brought to life.

So, am I stopping? Fuck no. Sex is beautiful, raw and erotic and I get off knowing I can have it with anyone I want . . . with the exception of her.

Aspen.

She walks into the club swaying those hips, instantly drawing my cock to attention. She’s pure perfection. That is, until she opens that mouth, drawing me in and for the first time in forever I want something more than sex. I want her and she hates it.

Things get dirty. Dirty is what I like; it’s how I live. But . . . she’s playing a game she can never win.


BOOK REVIEW:

The covers for this series are really eye catching and they caught me, so I had to read. I’ve got the box set, but also along the way I had #oneclicked Slade and Hemy, individually. Simply took me too long to crack them open.

Now, I know this first installment went off like a firecracker with ten thousand plus ratings on Goodreads—alone—but…

I’m gonna rate according to my level of rating for beautiful, cocky, Slade’s book.

I am giving 3.75 stars for depth of story and a few other reasons.

I would give 4.5 stars for the DIRTY! Giddy up!

As an overall this story is short, which is perfectly fine, I totally dig reading shorter books, probably more than bricks, but there isn’t a lot for me to hold onto in depth of characters etc in this installment.

If you want a dirty good time, with pretty good writing, (I didn’t let the dirty distract me from the actual writing) then Slade is your man.

I do love Aspen’s name, such a great name.

This is more a wham-bam read for me, but I did enjoy it. No matter what I think, it certainly has made a tidy profit.

BOOK REVIEW - THE PROTECTOR by JODI ELLEN MALPAS - ADULT CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE - FOREVER

By: Jodi Ellen Malpas
Published By: Forever
Released: Available Now
Details : Netgalley from Publisher for honest review, 384 Pages

RATING: 3.75 - 4 STARS

Blurb: Goodreads

People think they have Camille Logan nailed: daddy's girl; beautiful, spoiled young woman with her father's bank balance to fund her lifestyle. But Camille is determined to have a life free from his strings. Out on her own, she's made mistakes, including one that found her clawing her way back after a stint in rehab and plenty of bad press. Now, after fighting so hard to be independent and happy, she finds her life threatened as a result of her father's ruthless business dealings. Caught between resentment and fear, Camille prepares herself for the measures her father will take to protect her. But nothing could prepare her for the ex-SAS sniper who crashes into her life.

Jake Sharp resides in his own personal hell. He was distracted from duty once before, and the consequences were devastating--both personally and professionally. He vowed never to let that happen again. Accepting the job of bodyguard to Camille Logan isn't the kind of distraction from his demons he should take. Women and Jake don't mix well, yet protecting the heiress seems the lesser of two evils. But Jake soon discovers that she isn't the woman she's perceived to be. She's warm, compassionate, her presence settling, and his duty to protect her soon goes deeper than a well-paid job, no matter how hard he fights it. He needs absolution. He comes to need Camille. But he knows he can't have both.

BOOK REVIEW:

I read The Protector, some time ago and I held off writing my review. I haven't yet read the This Man series, it is still on my TBR pile. I have all the books. I have only read the first two books in One Night series.

Damn... I wanted to love this story, I truly did. I think that is why I held off writing my review, because it is written by Queen JEM.

I have to be honest with my reviews, and I always am, and this one crushes me a bit to write.

I simply didn't find the story original and I didn't connect with Jake until the end...then I was all sniffles.

It was mainly  a connecting with the two main characters thing, for me. 

I still enjoyed the read, but I wanted a protector story that I connected with both characters, and it worked for me as the reader.

This is just my one personal opinion, and I can see so many readers totally dug it with four and five star reviews, and some felt like me. And that is ok.

BOOK REVIEW - FASHIONABLY DEAD by ROBYN PETERMAN - HOT DAMNED # 1 - PARANORMAL ROMANCE

By: Robyn Peterman

Published By: Robyn Peterman

Released: Available Now

Details: Kindle Purchase, currently FREE

RATING: 3.75 STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

Vampyres don’t exist. They absolutely do not exist.

At least I didn’t think they did ‘til I tried to quit smoking and ended up Undead. Who in the hell did I screw over in a former life that my getting healthy equates with dead?

Now I’m a Vampyre. Yes, we exist whether we want to or not. However, I have to admit, the perks aren’t bad. My girls no longer jiggle, my ass is higher than a kite and the latest Prada keeps finding its way to my wardrobe. On the downside, I’m stuck with an obscenely profane Guardian Angel who looks like Oprah and a Fairy Fighting Coach who’s teaching me to annihilate like the Terminator.

To complicate matters, my libido has increased to Vampyric proportions and my attraction to a hotter than Satan’s underpants killer rogue Vampyre is not only dangerous . . . it’s possibly deadly. For real dead. Permanent death isn’t on my agenda. Avoiding him is my only option. Of course, since he thinks I’m his, it’s easier said than done. Like THAT’S not enough to deal with, all the other Vampyres think I’m some sort of Chosen One.

Holy Hell, if I’m in charge of saving an entire race of blood suckers, the Undead are in for one hell of a ride.


BOOK REVIEW:

This is my first Robyn Peterman read, and Fashionably Dead is FREE on Amazon. Robyn has over 2000 ratings. (an author's dream)

Readers love this series.

Now this is only my one opinion that is coming late into the game and doesn't mean a great deal in the 'bigger picture'.

I did enjoy Fashionably Dead. Robyn has a great sense of the silly in her writing and you can tell she is having a really great time writing this story.

I’m gonna state up front that I am giving this 3.75 stars, but I still enjoyed this book and will be continuing the series.

For those readers who have read the Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill, they may notice a few ‘little’ things in Fashionably Dead. One of them is having the lead character named Ethan and kinda (in my personal opinion only) resembling Ethan from Chicagoland Vampires. In my head I kept seeing THAT Ethan all the time, rather than Hot Damned’s Ethan.

Just me… I know.

It was a little distracting in my head when reading. Not a reason to bring the stars down though. Not at all. Loads of peeps have not read CV series so would not notice these things.

Moving on.

I lowered my stars purely based on my level of rating and what I want from a story as a reader. I felt there was a lot of ‘speed-dating’ so to speak when it came to plot. I call them plot-jumpers.

It was almost like Robyn was so super excited to spin her yarn, she couldn’t slow down and flesh-out some places—which is okay for the reader who digs that.

I felt things were a bit too convenient. What I mean is Astrid didn’t really earn her stripes, she was handed them on a silver platter… every time.

In the early stages of the book we are ‘told’ things rather than ‘shown’ which was part of my whole ‘speed-dating’ comment.

The Kev has trained Astrid. When? But we are told; so it is. This is one example. Speaking of The Kev… guy is an absolute hoot.

Now this story isn’t to be taken seriously, it is a total pile of the funnies, but a story still should have a good structural bone up the middle—IMO. It’s the glue that holds it all together.

Astrid I felt needed some work. A bit of  laying-down-the-land with her character—I thought was necessary. Everything is kinda taken in its stride. Her BFF, Gemma, takes everything in her stride. There’s a lot of ‘striding’.

I did have a chuckle at the 6% roughly mark when Astrid discovers her new self and Gemma is more worried about Astrid getting her hair done without her.

BIG PLOT JUMP.

WT!! Bahahah.

Again, nothing is taken too seriously and I had to keep reminding myself of this, but I thought some honest, deeper emotions, could have come into play, that were a bit more realistic.

There seemed this whole area that had been torn out of the book that I missed. LOL

The Kev is a fave—visually. (insert chuckling)

Pam… totally dug what Robyn did there.

I won’t continue with the things that lowered my stars, because I am late to this series and it was the first book. So many dudes have read it and loved the shit out of it and that is awesome.

A definite pool-side read.

8 books in the series, loads of 5 STARS thrown at it… I’m in for the ride.

BLOG TOUR - FREEKS by AMANDA HOCKING - YA PARANORMAL - PAN MACMILLAN

By: Amanda Hocking
Published By: Pan Macmillan
Released : Available Now
Details: Received from Publisher for honest review. Thank you!!

RATING: 3.75 STARS

In a world of magical visions and pyrokinesis, Mara just wants to have a normal life. But is that possible?

Mara has become used to the extraordinary. Roaming from place to place with Gideon Davorin’s Traveling Carnival, she longs for an ordinary life where no one has the ability to levitate or predict the future.

She gets her chance when the struggling sideshow sets up camp in the small town of Caudry and she meets a gorgeous local guy named Gabe. But before long, Mara realizes there’s a dark presence lurking in the town that’s threatening the lives of her friends. She has seven days to take control of a power she didn’t know she had in order to save everyone she cares about—and change the future forever.



BOOK REVIEW :


I am a HUGE fan of Amanda Hocking. I have a couple of her original covers for Trylle and My Blood Approves signed, which I covert. They are my precious.

I have read most of her works and reviewed them. Freeks, I enjoyed, but it might not be my favorite book from Amanda, and that is okay.

I am not sure if it is the beginning of a series because there was certainly room for more story line and answers to questions I have from Freeks.

I really liked her use of carnival characters who all possess a little something supernatural.

The romance I felt needed to connect with me more between Gabe and Mara. I would have liked him more in the story to solidify their less than two week romance. I needed something to hold onto there.

I really liked all the characters, but still feel like I have questions. I wondered about the tag on the cover telling me A Return To The World of The Trylle Series. I did not see any Trylle world in this book.

Unless, I have a memory lapse. I am curious about this.

I enjoyed this YA read, but at the same time I was looking for more. Trylle series and My Blood Approves series are both my two absolute fave series of hers. I was missing some of that writing style from Freeks.

I felt maybe the plot was a little too easy in Freeks, but maybe this will not be the case for another reader and I wanted more connection with Gabe and Mara in dialogue and being front and center. Gabe popped in and out and we moved around the life of the carnival more. I felt sometimes we moved away in the story from where we probably should have stayed for a bit longer, but of course it is not my story to tell.

I will always pick up an Amanda Hocking read regardless.

If you are an Amanda fan, try this one on for size and see what you think. I am a blogger who reads a mountain of books and I am also getting older, so this may also be a reason for my lower rating. I do enjoy a good YA read as much as an adult read, but sometimes I might be looking for a deeper connection with characters compared to a teenaged reader.

Amanda's Mini Q & A

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Most of my free time is spent taking care of my pets (I currently have two dogs, three cats, and a hamster, so that takes up a lot of my time). I also watch a lot of bad movies, read a lot of good books, and play video games with my husband and stepson.

How many jobs have you had before you realised you were destined to become a writer?


I always knew that I wanted to be a writer, since I was about two or three years older, and I learned that making up stories could be a profession. But before I was actually able to pay the bills with my writing, I think I had six other jobs. Most of them involved either dishwashing or assisting people with disabilities.


Favourite genre to read?


My current favorite genres are probably horror (either YA or adult), and true crime.

GIVEAWAY & REVIEW BLOG TOUR - PARADISE CITY by C.J. DUGGAN - PARADISE # 1 - NEW ADULT CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE - HACHETTE

By: C.J. Duggan

Published By: Hachette

Released : April 28th 2015

Details: Digital copy for honest review from publisher

RATING: 3.75 - 4 STARS

Blurb: Goodreads

There's bound to be trouble in Paradise . . .

When her parents decide a change will be good for her, seventeen-year-old Lexie Atkinson never expected they'd send her all the way to Paradise City. Coming from a predictable life of home schooling on a rural Australian property, she's sure that Paradise will be amazing. But when she's thrust into a public school without a friendly face in sight, and forced to share a room with her insipid, hateful cousin Amanda, Lexie's not so sure.

Hanging out with the self-proclaimed beach bums of the city, sneaking out, late night parties and parking with boys are all things Lexie's never experienced, but all that's about to change. It's new, terrifying . . . and exciting. But when she meets Luke Ballantine, exciting doesn't even come close to describing her new life. Trouble with a capital T, Luke is impulsive, charming and answers to no one. The resident bad-boy leader of the group, he's sexier than any boy Lexie has ever known.

Amidst the stolen moments of knowing looks and heated touches, Lexie can't help but wonder if Luke is going to be good for her . . . or very, very bad?

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

I have been very excited to read this new series of C.J’s. I have some of her Summer series which has sold so well as an Indie author on my Kindle and can’t wait to put some time aside to read that series. The covers are so pretty.

Now C.J is published by Hachette.

Congratulations!!

Ok , now I have been reviewing for nearly five years and I want to start by saying I read a shiz load of books and am very well read across genres. My ratings come from my personal thoughts of what I think makes a five star, a four star and so on read for myself. 

So this is just my own opinion.

I enjoyed this first installment, but to be honest I felt the story didn’t kick in and connect with me until the 45% mark approximately.

Just under the half way mark and then BAM shiz started happening and I was more invested.

I would classify the first part as very YA genre and then lordy it took off in a very New Adult way.

Most of the characters are only seventeen and eighteen and attend Paradise City High. They are in year eleven.

I really LOVED Boon’s character, he felt very consistent as a character from start to finish. He is funny and very likable. I am a Boon fan!

Luke Ballentine and Boon are part of  Kirkland House. There are three houses at Paradise City High.

Cousin Amanda is the not so nice cousin to Lexie.

Lexie has been home schooled and her parents are allowing her to attend the last several weeks of a REAL SCHOOL.

Amanda and Lexie used to get along, now Amanda is a bit of a biatcchh. She is an up and down character, especially for a family member.

Luke and Boon spend quite a bit of time in Siberia, because bad boys tend to find themselves, well, in Siberia. Code name for detention.

“Well, well, it wouldn’t be a complete detention without Boon and Ballantine, would it?”



There are some shenanigans and some sudden sizzling moments between a couple characters. Because this is set in Australia, one of those sizzling scenes had me thinking about my daughter who has just started year 7 in high school and... no...no...no!  

I liked the visual I got of the Wipe Out Bar and its owner. I’m not sure what to make of Laura and her antics in this book, but she aided in said shenanigans.

The ending I am in two minds about because it goes kind of against how understanding and trusting a certain character is throughout the book.

It kind of felt a little out of place because of said understanding behavior towards more than one character. It went against the personality of this person. What endeared me to this character was he surprised me each time with how mature and understanding he was which showed a deeper level to his Siberia antics. It was refreshing. 

Then...

But eh, teenagers are teenagers and that equals mood swings so this could be the answer.

There was this modern day Puberty Blues feel to this first installment for me. 

I liked the full on Aussie feel and reading the Aussie products mentioned. Example, Samboy Chips, Mars Bar... no mention of Vegemite. I did feel like I was stepping back in time to my youth and the beach side weekends at Streaky Bay ( yes there is such a place).

I definitely really enjoyed the latter half of this first installment, it moved along well and we got to really know more of Luke and Boon and all the complicated stuff that comes with being a teenager.

For me this was a good start to this series and I look forward to reading more.

Michelle

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C.J Duggan is an Internationally Number One Best Selling Author who lives with her husband in a rural border town of New South Wales, Australia. When she isn't writing books about swoony boys and 90's pop culture you will find her renovating her hundred-year-old Victorian homestead or annoying her local travel agent for a quote to escape the chaos. The Boys of Summer is Book One in her highly successful New Adult Romance Series.

Summer Series

The Boys of Summer (December 2012)

Stan (October 2014)

An Endless Summer (July 2013)

MAX (TBA 2015)

That One Summer (December 2013)

Ringer (March 2014)

Forever Summer (TBA 2015)

Social Media:

o https://www.facebook.com/CJDugganAuthor & https://www.facebook.com/HachetteAustralia

o Twitter: @CJ_Duggan & @HachetteAus

o Instagram: @cj_duggan & @hachetteaus

o http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5779034.C_J_Duggan

GIVEAWAY

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BOOK REVIEW - THE RUBY CIRCLE by RICHELLE MEAD - BLOODLINES # 6 - PENGUIN - RAZORBILL - YA PARANORMAL

By: Richelle Mead
Published By: Penguin, Razorbill
Released: Available Now
Details: Paperback from publisher for honest review

RATING: 3.75 STARS!

The epic conclusion to Richelle Mead's New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series is finally here...

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

After their secret romance is exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series. When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world.


BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

I want to start by saying how much I adored the Vampire Academy series and I have loved the Bloodlines series.

I never quite found that five star rating for the Bloodlines series, but I enjoyed it and am sad it has come to an end.

I have read ALL Richelle’s adult series, except the Age of X. I have both books and started the first book.

Now comes the highly difficult part of reviewing.

I will be honest and say The Ruby Circle was not my fave in this series. It is just my one personal opinion as I can see on Goodreads a lot of readers have loved it, and some feel like I do. It is not because it is the last book in the series, it simply wasn’t grabbing me.

I think if I had a couple Jill povs and felt the danger from her side ... but Jill was just there in the background somewhere lost as everybody tried to find her, it may have added something for me.

Adrian, my love, I am not sure how I feel about you in this last book, so I won’t voice my opinion. Simply put, I lost you a bit in this one.

I missed Hopper, whatever happened to the little guy? Maybe I forgot about something from Silver Shadows. My bad if I have.

This one took me a lot longer to read because I usually smash them out in a couple days. I still rate very well, but it wasn’t my fave.

Richelle is an incredible writer and it is my fault, probably, that I didn’t dig this last instalment as much.

I look forward to whatever Richelle brings us next whether it be YA or Adult or NA.

Michelle

BOOK REVIEW - UNWANTED by AMANDA HOLOHAN - YA DYSTOPIAN - PENGUIN AUSTRALIA

By: Amanda Holohan

Published By: Penguin Aust

Released : Available Now

Details: Paperback from publisher for honest review

RATING: 3.75 STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

All her life, eighteen-year-old Bea has wanted nothing more than to become a sniper on the wall and earn the coveted ink of a Dread warrior - a mark of distinction among her people.

She knows that one day the terrifying Erebii might break through the city's outer defences, and if her people aren't prepared and the wall is breached then the last human city will fall.

But everything Bea thinks she knows is about to be challenged...

What does the ink really do as it flows underneath their skin and who is the mysterious Unwanted boy that keeps appearing in her life?

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

I love reading YA dystopians and I also love reading Australian authors. I’m an honest reviewer so this is just my one personal opinion.

I want to start by saying I thought Amanda's writing was lovely, now here comes the tough part for me because I really wanted to love this book because virtually the moment it rocked up on my doorstep I opened it up. I was excited to read it.

Bea is a new Dread Warrior. I really liked the whole idea of Dread Warriors ( they have dreadlocks ) and this being the last city on Erth. No, that wasn’t a spell error.

I liked the idea for this dystopian. I think I needed Bea to be much more fleshed out for me to identify with her. She is a trained fighter but I didn't really feel that she was used much to show us this. 

I felt like the story was a bit patchy and I found Red solved situations too easily. He would come along and things happened with relative ease. I thought he was like the solution guy. He knew everything and how to get about, it made for Bea's adventure into discovery very two dimensional. I felt like she had her own tour guide.

I could see the well of potential in Unwanted, but it missed the mark in several places for me.

I understood why Amanda kept Red slowly feeding Bea information because it kept the story moving, but I kinda figured some things out there, especially when we were shown something fairly early on when it came to a Stork. I felt Red could have connected with the reader better. He was a great character but he didn’t grab me. I so wanted him to grab me and for me to feel excited about him.

Gus was another character who I would call one of the three main characters, but there was a lack of connection there for me as the reader too. I felt like Amanda was trying to make a subtle love triangle but it simply wasn't there. I'm still a bit unsure of what was going on there. Nothing actually went on, but I felt like I was supposed to feel something. I would have loved to have had a deeper connection with him. I liked him, but...

One thing that totally had me going WT!! Was when Bea told Gus she loved him.

Man, WT!? I was a little confuzzed by that comment. Now if you read this book you will understand why I said that. I did this weird whiplash thing when I read that. There was no real basis for that comment to be blurted out of Bea.

I thought Amanda’s idea was a really cool one, but in my one personal opinion I think it lacked in grabbing me as the reader and taking me along on Bea’s ride.

This is why I say it has a well of potential. Again, some readers may simply love it the way it is, and that is totally cool.

I feel like there was meant to be an attraction between Red and Bea but it was simply not spelled out properly.

If I was to be asked if there was a romance in this book, I would say no. Gus certainly showed his interest in Bea but she was off doing her thing, sure they had some wall moments and spent a little time together, but you gotta be present to have a thing.

I did LOVE the twist that came with this book as I think it is very hard to pick it and that is a double-thumbs-up for me.

I felt like at times it was a bit hard turning the pages because I needed more excitement or some romance or more flowing of story line. Don't get me wrong, Amanda uses Bea's sisters and other Dread Warriors and other characters, I liked Jim, but...

Owl Vaughn could have been used better I thought too. I know why he wasn't in the book much, but it kinda felt forced when he popped back up. He was like the start and the end.

I felt like there could have been a lot more suspense to this read considering what I know at the end and also it is a dystopian and they should come with kickass action and suspense.

These are just my honest thoughts and I am a well read reviewer. I really wanted to like this book and I feel terribly bad that it didn’t connect with me.

I gave this book a bit more than I was intending because visually through Amanda’s writing I could see in my head her world, nice enough, but I just wanted to shake the whole story and its characters up a bit. 

Michelle

BOOK REVIEW - UNMARKED by KAMI GARCIA - THE LEGION # 2 - YA PARANORMAL - SIMON & SCHUSTER

By: Kami Garcia

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Released : Available Now

Details: Paperback from library, 382 Pages

RATING: 3.75 STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

The heart-pounding sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller, Unbreakable, by New York Times bestselling Beautiful Creatures co-author Kami Garcia.

He is here... and he could be anyone.

Kennedy Waters lives in a world where vengeance spirits kill, ghosts keep secrets, and a demon walks among us–a demon she accidentally set free.

Now Kennedy and the other Legion members–Alara, Priest, Lukas, and Jared–have to hunt him down. As they learn more about the history of the Legion and the Illuminati, Kennedy realizes that the greatest mystery of all does not belong to any secret order, but to her own family. With the clock ticking and the life of someone she loves hanging in the balance, Kennedy has to ask the question she fears most: what is it about her past that has left her Unmarked?

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

I enjoyed this installment in The Legion series. For me personally it wasn’t as good as Unbreakable, I felt like the story had less action, which you would expect more of.

I didn’t connect as well with all the characters this time round. I really loved Lucas and Jared and Priest in Unbreakable, but something felt a little less from them for me personally, in this book. 

I liked the bad-boy-geek glimpse we got of a friend of Alara's. I would like to see more of him.

I still enjoyed reading this book, but I felt like I lost some of the connection I made with Jared and Lucas, Priest, Alara and Kennedy. I felt that Elle is really only along for the ride for a bit of a love interest, even though we got a little twist.

I did enjoy the new characters brought into this instalment. I think that it made sense to bring them in as they are more knowledgeable and this group of Scooby Doo style gang were still bumbling about a bit with their knowledge of their forefathers.

I think I needed this second instalment to be tighter in plot and reasons for what was happening.

I did like the couple of twists. I have to admit it was predictable Kennedy’s father coming into the picture, but I’m really liking Dimitri and Gabriel. I think it was a smart move introducing them and it gave me that surprise I had been waiting for while reading. 

I didn’t really feel like I got a lot out of this sequel. I felt like we moved sideways, rather than forwards in story line. There were some really great things revealed to the reader that helped with the direction this series is going in. I thought they were great twists.

Andras, the demon of all demons, isn’t really that frightening considering the threat he is to all humanity. I want more evil from him, more convincing of his value in this series. I know he had his evil way with seventeen young girls, but as a character we see in front of us and what he is doing...not so much.

I look forward to seeing how Kami handles the next instalment.

Michelle