Tag: romance

Books, great reads, Romance

Don’t Tempt Me by Lori Foster

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The Blurb:  Jason Guthrie has no time for entanglements—between helping out his widowed brother and teenage nephew and getting his hometown back on its feet, his days are spoken for. But his nights are another story… And when his lovely new neighbor, Honor Brown, reluctantly accepts his help in remodeling her house, Jason finds himself wishing his handyman skills could knock down the defenses she keeps building around herself.

Martial arts teacher Sullivan Dean knows real danger when he sees it—even when it takes the form of the gorgeous blonde helping her friend move in across the street. After putting his wayward past behind him to focus on teaching control to troubled kids, Sullivan has learned to avoid party girls like Lexie Perkins. But Sullivan can’t seem to keep his hands off the real woman behind that flirty charm—or keep his heart from landing at her feet…

My Thoughts.  4.5 stars. I enjoyed this book a lot. Lori Foster is one of my favorite authors and I will read anything she writes.

This book tells the story of Jason and Honor. Honor has moved in next door to Jason to a fixer upper. She was dealt a rotten hand in early life but was fortunate to be raised by her grandfather whom she loves and who loves her. She works hard as a hairdresser and does alot to take care of her granfather who is living in a facility. Jason works hard at his business also and has his brother and nephew living with him. Jason feels an immediate connection with Honor but she is very independent, determined to do things on her own and has difficulty in opening up to people. Jason is determined to get her to open up to him.

This story is heartwarming in several ways. The characters are great “everyday people” with everyday problems whom you end up rooting for. My only critique would be I truly did not understand why Honor felt she needed to keep the secret about her grandfather throughout the story. However, a small point in an otherwise very nice story to read.  The story is well-written and the dialogue believable which is one of the things I enjoy most about Ms. Foster’s writing.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Books, fantasy, paranormal romance, Romance

Dark Promises by Christine Feehan

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First, the blurb:  Gabrielle has had enough of battles, of wars, of seeing Gary Jansen, the man she loves nearly lose his life when it isn’t even his fight. Once he was a gentle and very human researcher. Now he’s a fearless and lethal Carpathian warrior with the blood of an ancient lineage coursing through his veins—a man Gabrielle still needs and desires and dreams of with every breath she takes. All she wants is a life far away from the Carpathian mountains, far from vampires and the shadows cast by the crumbling monastery that hides so many terrible secrets. But Gabrielle soon learns that promises made in the dark can pierce the heart like a dagger. And she isn’t the only one in search of answers in the corners of the unknown…Trixie Joanes has come to the Carpathian mountains in search of her wayward granddaughter, fearing that she has been lured there by something unspeakable. Instead, Trixie has stumbled into the path of a desperate man and a woman in love and on the run. And they’re all fated for the lair of a mysterious ancient with revenge in his soul and the undying power to make bad dreams come true.

My thoughts:  This book tells the story of Aleskei and Gabby. All Gabby wants is to live a life free of vampires, Carpathians, fear and away from the Mountains. She is prepared to mate Gary, a true hero among the Carpathians for all the work he has done to help them. However, Gabby’s destiny lies elsewhere–specifically, with an ancient Carpathian named Aleskei. Theirs is a story that will tug at your heart. Along the way, we meet Grandma Trixie–a wonderful character who can’t help but love!

I really enjoyed this book. I have been reading the Carpathians for years (and years). This is book #29 (yes, 29) of this series (and I believe that includes the novellas) I call them “my beloved Carpathians”. However, I have also been somewhat critical of this series for a while because I felt the author was not doing much to advance the overall story arc and I felt the writing was suffering. I am very glad to feel some of the formerly great writing coming back to this series. Having said that, I still have to say I don’t think this book did a lot to advance the story line. Yes, we did learn a few pieces of information, however, we also gained several more characters that I loved but now have their books coming also and we still have several characters whose books we have been waiting for. But, as I love the Carpathians, I will keep going!! I have to believe that Ms. Feehan will eventually save the Carpathians!

Books, indie author, paranormal romance, Romance

Sword Witch by C.S. Wilde

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Sword Witch is a short novella by C.S. Wilde that tells the story of Sally, a sword (warrior) witch and her fight for the love of a human, Joseph.  She enters into a deal with an evil Fae in order to accomplish her goal by using illegal magic, and risking her own freedom.  And of course, it leads to an epic battle involving her half-Fae Brother, Neil.  I liked the give/take between Sally and Neil and seeing a little bit of their childhood and history.

This was a fun and entertaining read. I liked Sally’s magic–a couple of things she could do was really cool.   I also think this story would have worked as an even longer story, if the author chose to. I would actually like to see a story for the brother, Neil.

I received an ARC  in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

Books, fantasy, great reads, paranormal romance, Reviews, Romance, scifi, Urban Fantasy

The Beast by JR Ward

Karen

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I loved this book! There I said it. I thought it felt like the books of old when the original brothers were getting together, and I’m kinda partial to the originals. But blurb first, let’s follow the rules!

 

Nothing is as it used to be for the Black Dagger Brotherhood. After avoiding war with the Shadows, alliances have shifted and lines have been drawn. The slayers of the Lessening Society are stronger than ever, preying on human weakness to acquire more money, more weapons, more power. But as the Brotherhood readies for an all-out attack on them, one of their own fights a battle within himself…

For Rhage, the Brother with the biggest appetites, but also the biggest heart, life was supposed to be perfect—or at the very least, perfectly enjoyable. Mary, his beloved shellan, is by his side and his King and his brothers are thriving. But Rhage can’t understand—or control—the panic and insecurity that plague him…

And that terrifies him—as well as distances him from his mate. After suffering mortal injury in battle, Rhage must reassess his priorities—and the answer, when it comes to him, rocks his world…and Mary’s. But Mary is on a journey of her own, one that will either bring them closer together or cause a split that neither will recover from…

 

This book delivered as a good read. But for me it was more than that. The more I read this the more I realized that there were two other reasons that this book was so good. (1) I like Mary and Rhage. It makes a difference because I haven’t really liked the couples pretty much since books 9, I didn’t like Tohr/Autumn, Payne/Manny, Qhuinn/Blay love the boys just not my thing, and I despised Selena sooo yeah. Found the princess weak and pointless. Yeah I guess it’s nice to read about people I like. Problem I see in the future? I love Assail (and he is AMAZING in this book!!!) but his chick?? Eh I could take her or leave her. In fact I never really saw what the big deal was about Assail, then take that chick away and Bamn! he became interesting! But put them back together in a book? More boringville for me. Oh and don’t even get me started on Layla….seriously guys I don’t think I can read a book about her if Ward writes one I dislike her that much. (2) Things actually happened in this book, the plots carried and some story lines actually got completed. Lately I’ve been feeling like new stuff been added but nothing is getting resolved. Finally this fixes some(not all but that’s okay) of those loose ends.

All and all it felt the Warden of old and I LOVED EVERY BIT OF IT!

So in my opinion if you have read part of this series or all of this series go and get it, you’ll like this one. If you’ve never read any of the BDB and you’re a PNR fan or someday want to grow up to be a PNR author just remember this when deciding if you should pick it up. The USA Today said about JR Ward “J.R. Ward’s urban fantasy romance series is so popular I don’t think there’s a reader today who hasn’t at least heard of the Black Dagger Brotherhood” just get the book.

The first book in this series is Dark Lover if you want to begin at the beginning:

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