Never Again by Michele Bardsley

Never Again by Michele Bardsley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the best Michele Bardsley book I've read to date. Her Broken Heart, OK books are relatively lighthearted fun (I read them when I'm in the mood for mindless), but this book really shows the breadth of skill Ms. Bardsley had. This book is not light-hearted, but it is amazing. When I finished this book my first thought was 'I really loved that book!'

The characters are well planned and written, the emotions are easily conveyed, you can really feel Lucy's despair and hope, Gray was uber sexy and his turmoil and guilt were very strongly felt. The characters had a life to them that was evident in every page.

This book far surpasses any of her previous work.



View all my reviews

Guarding Suzannah by Norah Wilson

Guarding Suzannah by Norah Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really liked this one! I'm glad that I decided to read it, I really enjoyed the characters Suzannah had the perfect blend of vulnerability and strength, and John (Quig) was just perfect for her. The characters had strong personalities, and I most definitely didn't see the ending. I guessed the perp, but how the perp is discovered, I definitely didn't see coming. Wonderful read.



View all my reviews

A Lot Like Love by Julie James

A Lot Like Love by Julie James

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Lord, I love Julie James. She writes such wonderful romantic suspense with her own brand of humor, wit, and sarcasm that makes her books so unique. This book was absolutely no exception. Before this book I only had about 5 quotes selected on my kindle, after this book there were many more! I adored Jordan and Nick, and Nick's don't-fuck-with-me face, was just one example of James' sense of humor.



View all my reviews

As She's Told by Anneke Jacob

As She's Told by Anneke Jacob

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



I enjoy well-written bdsm stories. I've got a pretty open mind and I like to push it's limits.

I wish I had never decided to read this book. It started out good, you could feel the connection between Anders and Maia, but as the book went on, the connection disappeared. It disappeared until Anders was an egotistical jackass and Maia was...nothing. Literally nothing, there was NOTHING there. 24/7 TPE is acceptable to me, but when you don't take better care of your slave than you would of your dog, when you treat her WORSE than your pets, that's when I have a problem. When you punish your slave for NO reason that's when we start getting into the abuse spectrum. When you beat your slave because you 'had a bad day' that's a problem. I just want Maia to stand up and walk out, surely anyone would treat her better than Anders. Anders is a pitiful excuse for a human being, and his friends aren't much better.

This kindle version of this book it rife with spelling errors and poor formatting.

Read this book at your own risk, but don't expect a happy book by any means.



View all my reviews

Black Wings by Christina Henry

Black Wings by Christina Henry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was actually pretty good. Gabriel was kind of a wimp, definitely not Alpha but the characters were interesting and Maddy was a good heroine. She had all this power but it freaked her out and she couldn't control it, not like your usual PNR heroine.



View all my reviews

Quicksilver by Amanda Quick

Quicksilver: Book Two of the Looking Glass Trilogy by Amanda Quick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Quick/Castle/Krentz whatever, really needs to get her history correct. I'm not talking world history, I'm talking her OWN history. I've noticed in all these Arcane society novels none of the history makes sense, it's like she forgets what she already wrote. She needs to keep notes. However, this was a good book, as they all are.



View all my reviews

Blood Bonds by Adrienne Wilder

Blood Bonds by Adrienne Wilder

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was surprisingly good. I was a little sketchy about it, but I am super glad I read it. Haley is a dragon, and it's one of those 'I'm going to be super powerful and everyone fears me.' book, kinda. Haley is soo outrageously normal. She cries, she makes bad decisions, the whole bunch. Now one thing to consider is that the dragons are relatively free with their bodies, this isn't a romance book, touch is extraordinarily important to them, you do the math. I was really glad I read it, and plan to read more of this author and this series (if there are more, which there should be.)



View all my reviews

A Secret Life by C.J. Archer

A Secret Life by C.J. Archer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


First things first: The author contacted me to see if I would review this (since I've enjoyed her previous work) I agreed and she sent me a copy.



Now onto the review:



I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I read it all in one sitting. The author really made you feel for the characters. However, I hated the antagonists more than I like the protagonists. I wanted to slap Min's father, throttle Style and stomp all over Ned. That being said, I did like Min and Blake, they seemed to connect from the first, I liked Min's spunk, and who doesn't love a sexy pirate? I'm sorry, Privateer .



I highly recommend giving this a go, it was fun, interesting, and engaging.



View all my reviews

Bedazzled

Bedazzled by Bertrice Small

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book made me cry like a baby when Jemmie took Rowan away. In my view that makes it a good book, because it reached me on an emotional level. I was also filled with outrage over the actions of India's family, I doubt I would have ever been able to forgive them. Few books reach me on an emotional level, and yes, this is a bodice ripper and has lot's of purple prose, it's good, and I'm glad I decided to read it as part of my current harem obsession.



View all my reviews

Grave Witch

Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was really hesitant to read this. I tried one book by this author and didn't get past the first couple pages, but I'd been considering this book for awhile, and I finally decided to just suck it up and give it a shot. I'm really glad I did. It was really really good.

The characters were all fully fleshed out, even the minor-est of characters were fully formed. The plot was compelling, though not particularly unique. If you're in the mood for a well written story with sexy guys, magic, humor, and a chinese crested named Prince Charming. Than this is the one for you.



View all my reviews

Strangers

Strangers by Barbara Elsborg

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read this book in one sitting, I couldn't put it down, I shouldn't have started it at 10pm! This book literally had me choked up, tears running down my face, gasping, the whole ten yards. When it was over I was like NOOOOOOOO and than I turned the page to the epilogue and was like YESSSSSS! This is NOT a happy happy book, it's really emotional and intense (with lot's of sex). I recommend this book! I don't know if I could read it again because it was just so emotional!



View all my reviews

Mine

Mine by Brenda Huber

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was actually really good! I read it because I'm on a rock star kick, this failed to meet those expectations. I mean, yes technically Cole is a singer in a rock band, but it's more of a side note, it's definitely not a main point in the story, no tours, no concerts, no press, nothing.

However, while this was an awful rock star romance, it was an awesome paranormal romance story!

Cole was soooo sexy, and Alex was really sweet. She had cajones, but was also vulnerable, she had a great personality. The other members of the band (namely Styx) were cool too.

I highly, highly recommend this one! :)



View all my reviews

Any Way You Want it

Any Way You Want It by Kathy Love

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book was OK. I definitely didn't feel the connection between Maggie and Ren. It wasn't really believable, the 2 of them together. The whole thing had this sort of air of suspended disbelief, not something I particularly enjoy when the plot doesn't measure up...and to be honest, I'm not even sure there was much of a plot, I mean, I guess there was one, there has to be one for a book right? It just wasn't much of one.

I didn't give it 1 star because it wasn't awful . It was just...OK.



View all my reviews

It Had to be You

It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this book! It was great! Phoebe and Dan had such great chemistry! This book was feel good, but still had some drama. There were lot's of laughing and snorting and still tense moments. I really enjoyed reading it, it was really cute! :)



View all my reviews

The Perfect Play

The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I felt like the first half of the book was filled with football references to every day life,and the whole book was filled with copious amounts of sex.

I actually liked this one OK minus the football references in the beginning, and allll the sex. I felt like the football references were overkill, we get that he's a football player ok? There's no reason to beat us over the head with it. Also all the sex, it was like they couldn't be within 15 ft of each other without needing sex, that's a LOT of sex, and it really wasn't needed.

I did like this book.



View all my reviews

Animal Magnetism

Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was so freaking adorable! Y'all should give it a shot because it had me laughing out loud and highlighting lines like crazy on my kindle. One of my favorite phrases is one that the women use when displeased with the men, they call them "p*nis-carrying humans"

The plot was great, Brady was uber-sexy and I really liked Lilah, she was strong, and NOT one of those heroine who's all "yea, we'll keep this super casual....5 min later....i love you! let's get married!" She actually did her damnedest to keep things casual because she thought that's what Brady wanted.

This book had me rolling in the aisles, grinning like a fool, and going 'awwwwwww' a lot. If you're looking for a happy, feel-good, smiley book with super cute animals...this is the one for you! :)



View all my reviews

Assassin's Honor

Assassin's Honor by Monica Burns

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


So you get 2 super secret psychic societies, a sexy archaeologist, a missing artifact, sex, cryptic warnings, etc. etc. Anyone else getting Indiana Jones vibes? Me too...at first, but really they're not related.

Ares (yes that's really his name) was sooo sexy, dark, brooding, dangerous, mysterious...at first, but than he had to ruin it by getting feelings . Now don't get me wrong, feelings are great, but not when it turns the man into a sap. I mean, once the feelings came into it, the dark, brooding, dangerous etc etc. pretty much disappeared.

Emma was a great heroine, really relatable and very stubborn, which means you start feeling bad for Ares at some point.

Of course there's the necessary life or death situations, the misunderstandings (aLOT of those) the whole nine yards.

All that being said, it is worth a read, and I really did enjoy it.



View all my reviews

Blood Challenge: World of the Lupi bk 7

Blood Challenge by Eileen Wilks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really like this series, but I'm starting to get nervous. The thing I like about the series is that Lily is normal people, well, she may not BE normal people but she ACTS like normal people. She's not all powerful, no one in the series is. However...this book started to have some hints that make me nervous. Hints that maybe this series will go the way of Anita Blake. The next book will either bear that out, or prove me wrong. These are just faint hints, but enough to make me nervous. There was a reason I stopped reading Anita Blake, and I hope that doesn't happen here.



View all my reviews

Lawman

Lawman by Diana Palmer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you love heroes with uber groveling, a heroine in mortal peril, a baby, and a happily ever after, than this is the book for you! Good thing I like all of those things. :)



View all my reviews

Deadlock: Southern Arcana bk 3

Deadlock by Moira Rogers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I loved this book! Alec and Carmen were so perfect for each other, you could really feel how they felt about each other. The plot was really good, the power structure was very unique. This book kept me up long past the time I should have been in bed. It was very enjoyable to read and I wasn't aware of time passing. Highly recommended.


P.s. I hope someone puts Diego in his place and gives him the a**whooping he so richly deserves.



View all my reviews

Sinners on Tour: Backstage Pass

Backstage Pass by Olivia Cunning

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Whoa! This book was majorly awesome! I was hemming and hawing about it for a couple months, but I finally caved, and boy am I glad I did! The back makes it seem like she has like copious amounts of sex...with everyone. She doesn't, so that was good! There was a lot of sex, but it didn't seem extraneous, it fit in with the story and worked. This book was also like hella long, which I love. The plot was great! The whole band was awesome. All of the characters were fully fledged, and you really care about them. I love all the members of the band. I can't wait to read the next one, hopefully there will be more Myrna and Brian. I'm really really interested to see how the author redeems Jessica...since everyone pretty much hates her guts like whoa!



View all my reviews

Blood of the Rose

Blood of the Rose by Kate Pearce

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It sucked me in from the first page, and spat me out at the last one. This book was just as wonderful as the first one! I love Christopher and Rosalind, they're so wonderful together. I loved the little tidbit of their life at the end and can only hope we get more glimpses in the next book. I highly recommend this series.



View all my reviews

What Mattered Most

What Mattered Most by Linda Winfree

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was sooooo angsty, but perfect! The bodily harm/injury and threat of death portion that's a part of every romantic suspense book was done in the first 3rd of the book. The rest of the book was all about forgiveness, and their relationship with each other and their son. This book was so good, but is definitely not light-hearted. You start out on Lanie's side totally, but eventually you start to feel bad for John and by the time the book ends you're sooo happy. I highly recommend this book. It was great!



View all my reviews

Were She Belongs

Were She Belongs by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Holy Crap, this book was awful. It's like the editor gave the author a thesaurus and said "Here, go forth and synonymize this book to death!" Add that to sentences like "They were were." and grade school grammar and sentences. It also had what I like to call 'knowledge vomit' rather than have the heroine learn everything in a normal manner they had her go into a trance and 'when she woke up, she would know all.' Following the trance she started to speak awkwardly like 'Mates! come to me, I have much to share with you.' When before it was things like 'Guys, come here, I need to talk to you!'



God this was awful! I didn't finish it, and WILL be returning it.



View all my reviews

Dead Man Rising

Dead Man Rising by Lilith Saintcrow

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I only read this one to see if Japh was really dead. Again, the urban fantasy part was pretty good, but Danny spent alot of time whining and moaning and bitching, and walking all over Jace. I hated that, there was more of a connection between Jace and Dante then there ever was between Dante and Japh. I liked the Jace the most out of all the characters. When he died, I cried. This is where the series ends for me.



View all my reviews

Working for the Devil

Working for the Devil by Lilith Saintcrow

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book was OK, not great. The plot was good, I really liked the plot, the characters were pretty good too, mostly. However, I felt absolutely NO connection between Japh (Jaf) and Dante. There was NOTHING between them, no spark, nothing, and we're supposed to believe they're desperately in love??? Let me tell you, when they finally had sex I was like...wait a minute..WHAT?!?! There wasn't even any LOVE between them, the word wasn't even mentioned! I liked the urban fantasy part of the book, but the romance sucked. There was more of a connection between Jace and Dante than Japh and Dante. However I DID read the second book because I wanted to see if Japh was really dead.



View all my reviews

One Two Punch

One-Two Punch by Katie Allen




This books was so cute! I really really loved it. Too often Ellora's Cave books are super short, even when listed as a plus novel. This was a great length, had a great story, a grin-worthy HEA, and sexy sexy heroes.



View all my reviews

Samson's Lovely Mortal

Samson's Lovely Mortal by Tina Folsom

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was so cute! It's definitely got a lot of sex, but it's mostly good sex. There's only one instance of bad/stupid sex, and it doesn't involved the main characters. I liked the character of Delilah, and Samson was pretty funny. I liked the concept, a vampire with ED, too often vamps are portrayed as picture perfect. I especially liked the idea of Dr. Drake, vampire shrink to the undead denizens of San Fran, he provided some comic relief without being funny. All in all, it was pretty good, had a good though unoriginal plot and was written pretty well. I'm glad I gave it a shot, though, I just started the second one, and so far, not impressed.



View all my reviews

Bonded by Blood

Bonded by Blood by Laurie London

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It started out slow and iffy, but by the time we hit the feel good HEA I had a big stupid grin on my face. I definitely recommend it, it won't be everyones cup o' tea, but those of whom that it hits the right note for will really enjoy it.



View all my reviews

Moonlight Warrior

Moonlight Warrior by Janet Chapman

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I really didn't like this one that much. I liked the heroine, liked her family and friends, but I HATED the hero. He was like some holier than thou dipstick who acted like he knew better than the heroine and FORCED her to do things his way. I'm sorry, but if my mom had dementia (or Alzheimer's or w/e it was, it wasn't made clear) and she went on a walk down to the ocean and had been gone a long time I would want to make sure she was OK, but the hero acted like it was foolish of her to want to go check on her mother and forcibly stopped her from doing it. Than, later on in the story he acted all concerned about the mother "Oh I think she's getting worse" that kind of thing. I just wanted to grab him and shake him and tell Eve to move out and find someone else because almost ANYONE would be better.



View all my reviews

The Pregnancy Test

The Pregnancy Test by Erin McCarthy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a pretty lighthearted, cheerful little romp. There was no enemy, not much angst...not really ANY angst. It was a pretty mindless read, so it's good when you're in the mood for a nice little story that's not too involved and doesn't involve utilizing any part of your brain except the reading part. The best part of the book was that the heroine is British and that Ms. McCarthy makes every effort to utilize the British pronunciations when Mandy is speaking.



View all my reviews

Kiss of the Rose by Kate Pearce
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Whew! Vampires, Tudors, King Henry of the many wives, mortal enemies become lovers, welshmen, a series following the same characters, awesome covers, how can you go wrong?? The answer is: very simply. However, I thank my lucky stars that this is not the case with this book! This book is richly vibrant in history while still being believable in the paranormal spectrum. Amazing characters, great depth, you can really feel their anguish, and they had quite a bit of it. I stayed up until 2am to finish this book, and my first thought when it was over was something along the lines of "omg, I need to read the next one right now!" fortunately cooler heads prevailed...for now.

I have such a love for the House of Tudor and for that time period, I was truly thrilled to find a book (series) that focuses on that time period in it's whole, not just on the time of one of the wives. Case in point Katherine of Aragon is already on her way out at the end of this book which means Anne Boleyn is stepping up to the plate, I'm really interested to see how the books handle the transition since the heroine has a great love for the queen.

The hero is extremely sexy, he's dark, snarky, sensual, moody and vulnerable. He is the one man with whom the heroine feels free to be herself: strong enough to kick ass, but vulnerable and feminine enough to want to cuddle into him.

I highly recommend this book to all lovers of vampires, history, and/or romance.

View all my reviews

Thread of Fear

Thread of Fear by Laura Griffin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was really good. I enjoy Laura Griffins writing style, and how she has great strong but sweet and vulnerable heroines. The character of Fiona was a really interesting one, the idea of a forensic sketch artist was really unique. I wouldn't mind reading more books about characters like that, the supporting aspect of police work, too often the heroines are either cops or victims, the switch was really nice. The writing was amazing of course, and the hero was pretty awesome. My one problem was that I absolutely hated the character of Courtney, I had planned to read her book next, but I hated her character so much that I returned her book.



View all my reviews

The Smoke Thief

The Smoke Thief by Shana Abé

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book was pretty good. Sort of intriguing but very predictable. You could pretty much tell exactly where the book was going from page 1, but that's not to say it isn't an enjoyable read, because it it. The main characters were relatable, and fleshed out, they were a good match and Rue definitely didn't just roll over for Kit, she made him work for it. On an interesting note, there wasn't you'd call a 'bad guy' in the book, that's pretty well accepted in every book, but not this one! There were a couple enemies but none of them were villains, it was an interesting plot choice, that definitely paid off. All in all it was an enjoyable read, and definitely worth a shot.



View all my reviews

Dragon Bound

Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was utterly fantastic! The heroine was wonderful, the perfect blend or vulnerability and kickassness. The hero was an utterly dangerous alpha dragon, who thinks Twizzlers and Cherry Coke Slurpees are disgusting.
I absolutely loved how well written this book was, the plot was wonderfully interesting, the secondary and tertiary characters were all fully fleshed out and with very clear personalities. This book was filled with wonderful bouts of humor while still being serious, just like it is in real life, too often authors go either too silly, or too serious, Ms. Harrison hit the right note here, perfectly balanced. I am so looking forward to more works from Ms. Harrison. I received this book this morning at 10am, started it at 11:15, and finished it at 4pm. I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of a great romance, a sexy take-charge hero who has to learn to say please, wonderful supporting characters, a unique plot, and a wonderful heroine.

(I acquired this book through Goodreads Giveaways)



Pia Giovanni is blackmailed into stealing something from a dragon's hoard, which everyone knows is a big no no. However, she gets her own on her blackmailer in a truly wonderful way, the thing she steals is a penny, yes you saw that correctly, a penny, and not just any penny as Dragos the Dragon is quick to point out but a 1965 penny, which is no comparison at all to the 1972 penny Pia left in it's place!

If you think that sounds outrageous and little too silly for you, I highly urge you to think again. Pia and Dragos treat that penny with all the importance of the hope diamond, and it doesn't seem the least bit ridiculous.



View all my reviews

Shield's Lady

Shield's Lady by Amanda Glass

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Let's just say I had super high hopes for this one. They were pretty well dashed. When I was halfway through I decided it rated 2 stars, however by the end, I bumped it up to 2.5. The end was great, once the heroine stopped being a whiny little child and grew up the book was wonderful, unfortunately it took almost the whole book for her to stop acting a child. Unfortunately, the ending was not enough to make up for the rest of it. The heroine made me think of a 3 year old who claps their hands of their ears and goes "La la la la la I'm not listening!" That being said, the writing was wonderful, and I truly wanted to finish the book even though I hated the heroine.



View all my reviews

Paradise

Paradise by Judith McNaught

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I have to say, when I started this book I was very, very hesitant. I'm not big on massive childhood backstories, and I was really displeased that it was here, so I really didn't start to enjoy the book until they were all grown up, but when they were, hooo boy.

This book was wonderful, there were moments that be crying, moments that had me laughing, and moments that me 'squeeing' like a demented fangirl. I'm so glad that I didn't let myself get turned off by the childhood beginning and gave this wonderful book a fair shot. It was wonderful.



View all my reviews

Tangled Up in Love

Tangled Up in Love by Hailey North

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was so cute! It was one of those feel good books, without -gasp- any massive misunderstandings, gratuitous quarrels between the hero and heroine. PLUS, it had lot's of fuzzy animals and the hero was a vet! It was very well written and just darn sweet. All the characters were totally realistic and perfectly relatable. I enjoyed this book quite a bit. :)



View all my reviews

Lion's Heat

Lion's Heat by Lora Leigh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really love the character of Jonas, and I know that people hated this book, I can see where they're coming from. Jonas has a personality in the beginning and end of the book, but in the middle he's kind of blah. Also, people hate his mate, I can totally see that, I didn't hate her, but I didn't love, love her either. There were times where she was absolutely great, but there were other times where she was really annoying. The absolutely great outweighed the annoying in my view. It was rather the same as Jonas, she was great in the beginning and the end, but awful in the middle.



View all my reviews

Archangel's Consort

Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Loved it! Finished it in less than 3 hours! This was a wonderful continuation of the series, but definitely not the best. I felt that the plotline was very rushed, and there was never any downtime, nor much in the way of emotional Raphael/Elena scenes that we have become accustomed to. However, I really enjoyed it, and devoured it in less than 3 hours, simply because I love the characters of Raphael and Elena. Definitely a must read for fans of the series.





View all my reviews

Obsidian Prey

Obsidian Prey by Jayne Ann Krentz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Pretty good. I thought the heroine was a little too easy going though. I love all of the Harmony books, but the "I hate the guilds" heroines are getting a little old and recycled. However, it was still an enjoyable read.



View all my reviews