Tag: fun read

Books, great reads, Reviews

Fighting Dirty by Lori Foster

debra

Ms. Foster is one of my favorite go-to authors.  I love her writing.  You see her characters as real people that you just can’t help but grow to care about.

We finally have the story for Armie and Rissy and Ms. Foster does not disappoint! Fighting Dirty is the fourth and final installment of her Ultimate Series.  This series follows the lives of several fighters in the SBC, a fictional ultimate fighting company. In many series, I think there is one character that seems to capture the imagination and affection of the readers and all of us wait for that character’s book.  In Ms. Foster’s Ultimate Series that character is Armie.   I, along with a lot of her readers, have been fascinated by Armie from the very beginning. We have seen small snippets of their story throughout the prior books in this series.  He is a character with a dark secret in his past, an uninhibited outlook on physical relationships and he absolutely has a heart of gold towards people he cares about.  He has been in love with Rissy for years, yet he never admitted it and never pursued her due to his belief that he wasn’t the right man for her.  Rissy is the little sister of Cannon Colter (the hero from No Limits), Armie’s best friend who has stood by him through everything—including Armie’s past.  That alone made Rissy off limits for him.  Coupled with the fact that Rissy is a “good girl” in Armie’s book, he knows that they will never have a future.  What he did not count on was Rissy herself and her views on things.  Rissy loves Armie just as he is and accepts him for who he is.  I was glad that Armie shared his secret with Rissy early on and I thought her acceptance of Armie was a well-written scene.  Rissy is a strong female lead and a great match for Armie.  There is also a suspense plotline ranging from a bank robbery where Armie saves everyone to an attack on one of the characters just to keep things  interesting.

I loved this story.  Both Armie and Rissy are great characters and the chemistry between them is smokin’ hot yet there is also a sense of sweetness about them.  You actually root for these characters to make it.  This story also has some nice humor in it.  I also enjoyed seeing the characters from the previous books  in this book. I have always enjoyed Ms. Foster’s dialogue in her stories.  The dialogue is believable and well-written.  I hate to see this series end but am always looking forward to the next series she writes.

I received an ARC of Fighting Dirty in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Reading,

Debra

 

 

Books, great reads, Reviews

Blood Kiss by JR Ward

Karen

Oh hello there stranger…its been awhile. When Les and I started this blog the conversation literally went like this. Les: “Wanna start a blog?”  Me:”OK” not any real planning. So when we both hit our busy season at work, you all got neglected. Sorry about that, but lets talk books okay?

blood kiss

Whoa. Okay let’s do this properly, blurb, review, and then some randomness. But before we start I have a confession, I love the Warden (not thinking about the Bourbon Kings) and have been a fan for a while. So when she announced a spin off of the BDB I was naturally curious (or excitingly counting down, you decide). Okay now you know mentally how I went into this we can start.

Blurb: Paradise, blooded daughter of the king’s First Advisor, is ready to break free from the restrictive life of an aristocratic female. Her strategy? Join the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training center program and learn to fight for herself, think for herself…be herself. It’s a good plan, until everything goes wrong. The schooling is unfathomably difficult, the other recruits feel more like enemies than allies, and it’s very clear that the Brother in charge, Butch O’Neal, a.k.a. the Dhestroyer, is having serious problems in his own life.

And that’s before she falls in love with a fellow classmate. Craeg, a common civilian, is nothing her father would ever want for her, but everything she could ask for in a male. As an act of violence threatens to tear apart the entire program, and the erotic pull between them grows irresistible, Paradise is tested in ways she never anticipated—and left wondering whether she’s strong enough to claim her own power…on the field, and off.

The Review: I really liked this book. I didn’t fall over dead because of its awesomeness, but part of that I think was me. It’s important to understand that only half of the book is about Craeg and Paradise, the other half is a revisit on Butch and Marissa’s relationship. I devoured every page that Craeg, Paradise or any of the recruit were on. I found their relationship well crafted, interesting, and frankly hot, hot, hot. And the whole training aspect of this book, awesome. I’m eager to hear more from Peyton, Axe, Novo and Boone. It’s nice to get a little fresh blood in this series.

My favorite part is that this book reminded me why I love JR Ward. It was scorching right from go, the story didn’t feel one dimensional, and I laughed out loud more than once. I was reading at stop lights at one point I was so engaged. So why not a 5 star review? I think this was because I never really fell in love with the Butch and Marissa thing making me wish sometimes that the book was just about Craeg and Paradise. I didn’t want them to have to share a book. It’s not necessarily that I have anything against revisits, I love The King and can’t wait for The Beast, I just found them a bit boring compared to the rest of the book. This is why I feel like that’s just my problem, I tried to originally skip Butch’s book and go straight to V’s (which you can’t, you really have to read Butch’s book first) so I’ve always been a little rushed with them. If you like Butch and Marissa, then you’ll love this book. Even if you don’t, like me, you’ll still find the rest of the story engaging.

Overall I have to say this was a blow out of the water bounce back for Ward, it reminded me why I love her so. I have stopped buying the books after #9 but this is a purchase for me. And it makes me want to reread the series, which is always a good thing. This is a must read for any Warden fan but even if you don’t know JR Ward (sorry what rock have you been sleeping under?) you should still give this read a go.

Books, great reads, Reviews

Shifter Planet by D.B. Reynolds

debra

Hey everyone,

Blurb:

Specialist Amanda Sumner is one of the first to make contact on the Earth-like planet Harp and discovers she’s the only Earthling, who can hear the trees sing in the strange forest. Determined to remain and learn more of the planet’s secrets, Amanda sets out to become part of the elite Guild there…

But there is a secret involving some Guild members–one that could get her killed.

Shifter Rhodry de Mendoza wants the Earthlings off his planet before they destroy it—even if that means denying what he feels for the fierce and lovely Amanda. The pair is thrown together in what becomes a fight for their lives. And they might just lose everything–including each other–in their battle for the right to live in peace.

I really enjoyed this book.  I have been a long time fan of Ms. Reynolds since I found her Vampires in America series several years ago which is still on-going.  She writes very well and is wonderful at the craft of world building. Both characters of Amanda and Rhodry are well-developed.  Their motivations are understood throughout the book.  I think Amanda is especially strong and she shows it especially as what happens to her and then Rhodry unfolds.   She also did a good job of describing the antagonists in the story and what they wanted as well. One thing that I really liked about this book was that the relationship between Rhodry and Amanda was a slow build.  The author did not rush and it worked.  Honestly, once Amanda entered the trial to pursue entry into the Guild, she and then Rhodry were so busy trying to survive, they didn’t have time for a whole lot to happen fast.  Anyway, this really involved learning more about the planet of Harp, some of the history of Harp’s genetically altered shifters, Amanda’s ability to  “hear the trees” and get back to the City.

This was a great combination of some fantasy, some space travel, and paranormal. I am looking forward to more books in this series.  There are several very interesting characters that hopefully will have their stories told as well.

Happy Reading,

debra

Books, great reads, Reviews

Seven Nights to Surrender by Jeanette Grey

Les

One week in Paris to find herself, but Kate finds so much more.

Soooooo…… I seem to be having good luck with books lately. I liked this story.

It’s about a girl going to Paris to find herself, but she finds a lot including hottie Rylan. She is an artist, and he is a guy in a coffee shop.  This is far from a whirlwind romance. It’s very real.

This story is told from different perspectives, which of course we know I absolutely love when authors do this.

What I really like about this story is you know the delemma from the beginning and your just waiting for it to drop. So the anticipation is there always.

I like Rylan more than Kate. I know surprise, suprise! I like him even though he is not a jerk, which is a suprise to me.

Anyway, check it out. It is worth it.

Peace,

Les