Archive for February, 2011

Buy It from Damnation Books:

BEFORE THE END BOOK 1: A TIME OF DEMONS
Kathryn Meyer Griffith
ISBN: 978-1615721320
Kindle ASIN: B003OQUOOY
May 2010
Damnation Books
Horror
eBook and Trade Paperback

Cassandra Graystone is used to seeing things others don’t see. After all, she can look at someone and know they are going to die soon. However, nothing has prepared her for seeing demons! Worse yet, her best friend, Sarah, tells her the tarot cards are foretelling horrors of an upcoming apocalypse. Cassandra wants only to continue singing and playing music with her brother, Johnny, while caring for their elderly aunt and uncle but all of that is about to change. Will Cassandra, her family, and her growing circle of friends be prepared when the apocalypse comes knocking on their doors?

A TIME OF DEMONS is flat out creepy! Kathryn Meyer Griffith pens a tale that could be torn from the newspapers (minus the demons, of course) as winter storms rage and chaos seems to be taking over. She does a marvelous job at creating an atmosphere that is sinister while contrasting it with the hope that shines through in the characters.

A TIME OF DEMONS is a story that only gets better as it progresses. Part of what makes the story so intriguing is the characters and their own personal foibles. The characters are all too human- laughing, crying, and even pouting as they see their entire world changing. Even the demon Rayner is multidimensional.

Kathryn Meyer Griffith writes a classic horror tale with A TIME OF DEMONS. Yes, there are demons killing and maiming but the focus isn’t on the gore. Instead, she creates a horrific world through imagery that terrifies far more than any blood splatters would. I’ve been a fan of Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s writing since the early 1990s and it is awesome to see her making a comeback now. Highly recommended!

Buy It from White Rose Publishing:

SNOW BLIND
Kara Lynn Russell
ISBN: 9781611160673 
B004K6MI1Y (Kindle eBook)
January 21, 2011
White Rose Publishing
Inspirational Fiction/Contemporary Romance
eBook

Robin Spenser never wanted to have to see Shale Anderson again.  He completely stomped on her heart once, and nothing but an urgent message from his grandmother would have her seeking him out, especially given the blinding snowstorm that she was attempting to drive through now.  Shale had become a successful graphic novelist, but he was living as a hermit in a dark world where forgiveness could not reach and debts for past mistakes were never fully paid.  But the circumstances set in motion will cause both Robin and Shale to face their dark memories and present failings in the light of God’s promises rather than the judgments of man.

Snow Blind is a rich, embracing story that sweeps the reader away to live with two vulnerable, hurting characters as they struggle with very real world issues of forgiveness, guilt, consequences and temptation.  Robin could have just been the heroine who brings God’s light to the story, but Russell gives her appealing depth and exposes her private struggles with forgiving her own past while still being a strong Christian woman. Thus drawn, she becomes a woman that readers can easily love and they become even more invested in her quest for making the best out of the hurtful situation of having to try to convince Shale to reconnect with his past again.

I was all prepared to heartedly dislike Shale, the stereotypical anguished hero who turned his back on everyone for success and greed, but Russell throws in unexpected revelations that humanize Shale as well, leaving us to question how we ourselves might have responded to the situation in which the young Shale had found himself.  

Snow Blind is a fast read with action and growing suspense that will delight and warm readers with its depth and richness.

STRANGE NEIGHBORS BOOK 2: THE WEREWOLF UPSTAIRS
Ashlyn Chase
ISBN: 978-1-4022-3662-4 (Mass Market Paperback)
B004ISLNSS (Kindle eBook)
February 1, 2011 (Mass Market Paperback and eBook)
Sourcebooks/Casablanca
Paranormal Romance/Shape Shifter
Romantic Comedy
Mass Market Paperback and eBook

There’s an apartment building in the middle of Boston that tends to house the oddest assortment of tenants, making for some very Strange Neighbors indeed.

Roz Wells, Public Defender, has just moved into her best friend’s old apartment upon her marriage. Roz is looking for a little excitement in her life, since her law career is more than a little lackluster anymore. As soon as she starts to meet her new neighbors, life gets interesting again. Things begin to heat up when she gets involved with sexy neighbor Konrad Wolfensen, until he ends up on her case load for allegedly stealing an industrial freezer, with his bare hands.

Konrad has a few secrets he’d like to keep from his sexy new neighbor. The biggest of these being that he grows furry and likes to howl at the full moons. Then there is his “job” as a security systems consultant and sales person. The closer he grows to Roz, the more his secrets are threatened, especially when he gets caught up in a mysterious theft at the local art museum.

Both Roz and Konrad would like to find new careers together so as they try out many different ideas, nothing quite works out, except the passion deepening between them… until Konrad’s secrets come out. What’s a woman to do when she discovers her lover is The Werewolf Upstairs?

I am sad to say I was very disappointed in The Werewolf Upstairs. For starters, I had no experience with Ashlyn Chase prior to this novel so I had no idea that she was an erotica author. Had I known that, I probably never would have read this book. This novel should have been marketed as erotica instead of romance, due to the very numerous, and extremely explicit love scenes. I find myself skipping entire chapters to get past the sex already and back to the story. Unfortunately more often than not, the plot felt like filler and the sex felt like the focus. This is precisely why I typically do not read erotica. I want a story enhanced by the physical and emotional relationship, not the other way around.

Honestly, I was far more intrigued by the various neighbors in the building, and the ghost in the museum, than I was in Roz and Konrad. I felt a little bit of the love between them, but not really enough to fully become engaged in their story. For all the sex they were having, there just didn’t seem to be much spark between them. I was completely amused by the different characters, especially the phone sex operator witches upstairs. Those two ladies are absolutely hilarious and I would not be opposed to reading their stories. And let’s not forget the multiple shape shifters, the vampire, and the ghost who also live in the building. Put them all together, and they steal the show. Heck they all steal the show every time they put in an appearance, together or alone.

Overall, I am very torn about the Strange Neighbors series. Knowing I was relatively unimpressed with The Werewolf Upstairs, I’m not sure if I will or won’t read additional books in the series. I have book one, Strange Neighbors, already on the book shelf from before reading this installment, but don’t  know if I will get around to reading it or not. I don’t expect I’ll rush to read it, in any case. I do love the residents of the apartment building and would like to get to know them better. However, I have no interest in a book that is more about sex scene after sex scene than story progression. So I don’t know that the appeal of the different personalities will be enough to overcome the rest of it.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, February 2011. All rights reserved.

THE PERFECT PLAY
Jaci Burton
ISBN:  978-0-425-23881-3
B00466ILPA (Kindle eBook)
February 2011
Penguin Putnam/Berkley Heat
Erotica/Contemporary
Trade Paperback and eBook

Mick Riley is NFL quarterback and one of the country’s top athlete’s. He has it all, a stellar career, fame, and fortune. When he comes across Tara Lincoln, an event planner who is planning a party for his team he is blown away by how different she is from the woman he usually dates and how she seems to be unaffected by his fame. He wants a relationship with her, but as a single mother of a teenage son, all Tara wants is a one-night stand. However, Mick didn’t get to where he is by giving up so he pursues Tara with a single minded intensity and is determined to prove to Tara that he is more than his image and he can be the exactly the type of man she needs in her life.

First off, I must state the obvious. THE PERFECT PLAY has the most awesome cover in the world and I dare any of you to walk past it in a bookstore and not pick it up. If you don’t, there really must be something wrong with you. I foresee this cover being a collector’s item. I would’ve been really bummed if I picked up THE PERFECT PLAY and the contents between the pages didn’t live up to the awesomeness of cover.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, while I’m not a diehard Jaci Burton fan, I have read a couple of her previous releases and I must say that THE PERFECT PLAY is the best book that I’ve read by her that she’s written. In the past, I’ve often not been able to buy into the emotional connection between her hero and heroine. That is not the case with THE PERFECT PLAY. THE PERFECT PLAY has a great balance of sexual and emotional chemistry between the Mick and Tara and as a result I was able to completely buy into them as a couple and their happily ever after.

If I had any issues with THE PERFECT PLAY, I had a hard time at first buying into how quickly Mick considered Tara the best thing ever, his relationship with his agent and the PR things he does didn’t seem realistic to me for a football player, and buying into Tara’s Cinderella act. She got annoying after a while not trusting in Mick when he hadn’t done anything to prove that he wasn’t a person she could trust.

However, those are minor quibbles. I loved THE PERFECT PLAY and am anticipating the next release in the series although I don’t know how Ms. Burton is going to make me love the heroine when she was kind of a jerk inside THE PERFECT PLAY.

MINE UNTIL MORNING
Jasmine Haynes
ISBN:  978-0-425-23702-1
B0046ECJ6E (Kindle eBook)
Penguin Putnam/Berkley Heat
December 2010
Erotica/Anthology
Erotica/Contemporary
Trade Paperback and eBook

MINE UNTIL MORNING is an erotica anthology that revolves around a courtesan service, their clients, and the courtesan’s themselves.

The Only Way Out is the story of Dani Dawson who is a courtesan. She got in the business with her husband Kern as a way to spice up their sex life. Her husband Kern loved to watch his wife have sex with others. Dani stops when he is stricken with cancer; however, her husband’s passing has left her with a mountain of debt, and the only way Dani can think of to pay them off is to resume her work as a courtesan. There is one problem with her plan, her brother-in-law Mac. Mac now feels it’s his responsibility to look after Dani per his younger brother’s death bed request but Mac gets the shock of his life when he discovers how his sister-in-law pays the bill, and what’s more, he is not a shocked as he should be, he’s turned on.

In The Wrong Kind of Man Cleo is a single-mother struggling to make ends meet when she goes out on a date with Walker one of the regulars at the restaurant she works at. Their casual, sexual relationship grows deeper than they either expected when he happens to meet her daughter and mother and a bond forms. When Cleo finds out what Walker does for a living, she ends the relationship but she can’t easily erase the feelings he evoked nor the match-making attempts of her mother.

No Second Chances revolves around Isabel who runs Courtesans. When Isabel runs into her childhood flame, the sparks fly and she and Royce began seeing each other again.

What I loved best about MINE UNTIL MORNING is how the anthology doesn’t revolve around typical romance characters (individuals in their twenties and early thirties), but mature adults who are grappling with second chances, growth, pain, and loss. I especially appreciate that because MINE UNTIL MORNING is an erotic novel, and with erotic novels you don’t often find a great emotional depth as well as physical depth. With MINE UNTIL MORNING you get great umm . . . smexing and great character emotion.

My favorite stories out of the anthology where the first two, which I really loved and were fun reads. I had problems with Isabel’s story and had a hard time buying into her as a character. While I totally understood that she needed Royce to accept the woman that she’s become, it felt to me that she attempted to force her lifestyle down his throat, which was a shame really because hers was the story that I enjoyed the most.

That was my only fault with MINE UNTIL MORNING. MINE UNTIL MORNING is a great erotic anthology that I highly recommend.

SERVE AND PROTECT BOOK 1: GUARDING SUZANNAH
Norah Wilson
ASIN: B003ZK5KS4
August 14, 2010
Smashwords
Romantic Suspense
eBook

GUARDING SUZANNAH is relatively simple story.  Suzannah Phelps is a high powered defense attorney who practically never loses a case.  It opens with Detective John Quigley (Quigg) watching her tear to shreds the latest police officer’s case on the stand.  He isn’t sure why he’s there except that he has been totally mesmerized by the Ice Princess since seeing her  a couple of years prior.  He knew she was completely out of his league, highly intelligent,  daughter of a judge, and wealthy beyond anything a simple detective’s salary could provide.   For some reason Quigg followed her and when he came up behind her after retrieving her dropped bag he couldn’t help but notice the stark terror in her eyes.  After a few testy words she left, and Quigg decided to follow her and watched as she threw something in a dumpster.  Fishing it out he discovered a dead bouquet of flowers. It was enough to rattle his cage and he couldn’t let it go. Later he discovered she was being stalked but would not involve the police as she knew that the brotherhood (of cops) would not be sympathetic to her plight, in fact they might even be the culprits.

***   Did I say relatively simple?  Holy cow – this was an AMAZING read!  The twists and turns of this romantic suspense novel had me tied up in knots and hating to put this book aside to sleep!  The ending was a super sized twist I did not see coming as Ms. Wilson threw in a plethora of red herrings that had me saying ‘aha’ only to later have me shaking my head wondering again – ‘okay we’ve eliminated this one now who could our villain possibly be?’

One of the things I also found unique was the setting of New Brunswick and the detailed picture of their court system (robes, etc.) and of how the daily life in New Brunswick differed from the USA.  Very interesting. Naturally, Suzannah and John do fall in love, but even that relationship had more bumps and grinds then a Six Flags roller coaster ride!  Although I have to say that the inclusion of John’s dog, Bandy added a lot of humor and zip to the explosive sensual chemistry between the leads which was extremely well done and not crass or sexist.

As to the Suspense portion – and I admit to loving Romantic Suspense – I would have to give this author an A+ for both ingenuity, pacing, and overall excitement.  I have long been a fan of the work of award winning author Linda Howard and the other great suspense authors, and I have to say that Norah Wilson’s GUARDING SUZANNAH sits right up there with the best of them.  For me I must recommend this book highly and urge all lovers of well-written Romantic Suspense to definitely give this author a look – see.   I am sure you won’t be disappointed.

Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com

HELLIONS OF HALSTEAD HALL BOOK 3: HOW TO WOO A RELUCTANT LADY
Sabrina Jeffries
ISBN: 978-1441836656 (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1439167557 (Unabridged Audio Book)
ASIN: B0047O3AM0 (Kindle)
January 2011 (Mass Market Paperback)
January 2011 (Unabridged Audio Book)
January 2011 (Kindle)
Pocket Star/Brilliance Audio
Historical Romance/Regency
Mass Market Paperback and eBook

When Giles Masters, a man Miranda Sharpe had once loved and now despises, proposes marriage in order for her to meet her domineering grandmother’s ultimatum for all of her Sharpe grandchildren to be married within a year, she is shocked.   Miranda is at first furious, then after thinking it through, makes a counter-offer which could preserve her inheritance.   However, it certainly ignites Giles imagination.

***   Out of all of Sabina Jeffries heroines, and there have been many, I have to admit to really enjoying Lady Minerva.  Where all of the Sharpe siblings had been traumatized by the deaths of their parents, Lady Minerva was strong willed but alas her wildness (if you want to call it that) was to write!  Even though she based her characters on people she knew if one was a close friend of the family, one could ferret out just, who was who, and discern who she modeled her characters after.

Many years back Giles had kissed Minerva.  He was a different young man with secrets he couldn’t share, and his only defense at the time was to scare Minerva off and make her see him as a despicable rogue and not the hero she’d thought him of when she was nine years old.  He did a great job because since then Minerva had modeled a character in her novels on Giles and did make him an unconscionable  rake.

In a series of attempts to foil her grandmother’s ultimatum Minerva decided to hold interviews for a husband thinking her grandmother would relent – however, Giles stepped up and proposed Minerva marry him!     What follows is Ms. Jeffries impeccable comedic timing of humorous scenario’s as Giles does his best at trying to win Minerva over – she thinks he is a French spy while the truth is, he is a spy, but for the Home Office of Great Britain.

In a sideline story the quest continues in trying to ferret out if her parents death had been the scandalous murder /suicide everyone assumed, or if both had been assassinated. The action is fast and the romance is blazing.  I am just LOVING the Halstead Hellions Series and HOW TO WOO A RELUCTANT LADY is a wonderful addition that should not be missed.

Marilyn Rondeau,  for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com

TUDOR VAMPIRE CHRONICLES BOOK 2: BLOOD OF THE ROSE
Kate Pearce
ISBN:  978-0451232489 (Mass Market Paperback)
ASIN: B004FPYZMA (Kindle)
February 2011 (Mass Market Paperback)
February 2011 (Kindle)
Penguin Putnam/Signet
Paranormal Romance/Vampire
Historical Romance
Mass Market Paperback and eBook

Rosalind Llewellyn, a Druid vampire slayer,  has been summoned back to the court of Henry VIII at the request of her cousin Jasper.  The year before she had almost been killed in helping to bring down an ancient Vampire who was trying to assassinate the king.  Rosalind and Mithras (sworn to protect the Vampires) cult member Sir Christopher Ellis had been betrothed by the king.  Their two families had been enemies for centuries – Rosalind’s to kill vampires and protect the monarchy – Christopher’s to slay the Druid’s and protect the vampires.  Yet their attraction and passion for one another was undeniable and they must band together to defeat a treacherous and lethal vampire who could very well ruin any chance they might ever have for true love and happiness.

***  As a student of and lover of history, it took some time for me to get over the concept of having vampires woven into and interacting with factual persons of history.  KISS OF THE ROSE was the first book of this series and BLOOD OF THE ROSE continues the saga of how the Llewellyn family became permanently employed by the monarchy.  After having watched the TV series of The Tudors it was a bit unsettling to read who was and wasn’t under the sway of the vampires. Oddly it all made sense, and in BLOOD OF THE ROSE which encompasses King Henry’s unholy obsession of Anne Boleyn, the author’s take on what was going on made this bit of fiction sound perfectly plausible!

BLOOD OF THE ROSE is certainly original and creative and Ms. Pearce’s prose is elegant with an alluring style.  Her descriptions of court life are lush and give the reader an innate feeling of how dangerous life could be while trying to stay one step ahead of the intrigues and betrayals that ran rife in trying to stay on the winning side of court politics.

Rosalind and Christopher were both divine in KISS OF THE ROSE and BLOOD OF THE ROSE was even more dynamic and sensually passionate as both stopped fighting their inevitable destinies.  The sensualness was great and while introducing new characters and giving old characters more depth Ms. Pearce simply whets my appetite for the next book of this series – which in my opinion ROCKS and is highly recommended.

Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com

GLIMMER
Vivi Anna
Kindle ASIN: B004O6MUTK
February 2011
Amazon Digital Services
Urban Fantasy
eBook

Prejudice has been rampant in Canada since werewolves have come out into the open. Nina Decker keeps her own supernatural ties a secret. She’s half fae, but harbors a deep resentment for her full-blooded fae mother. Her mother abandoned her and left her with her fae-struck human father. Nina has vowed never to do the same to another man but something about werewolf Severin Saint Morgan intrigues her. Unfortunately, the fae and werewolves are ancient enemies….

Vivi Anna is a master at writing urban fantasy and paranormal romances that keep the reader on the edge of the seat and GLIMMER is no exception. GLIMMER ventures into the world of the fae but these are not the friendly fae some are used to. Instead, these fae can be quite deadly and Vivi Anna doesn’t pull any punches at showing us this, whether it’s through the violence the fae so gleefully commit or their callous disregard for others. Through Nina’s eyes, we begin seeing the rules of the world emerge as Vivi Anna does an awesome job with world building.

However, it is the characters who truly make this storyline work. Nina’s own dislike of the fae along with her willingness to look beyond a person’s supernatural ethnicity makes her an excellent lead character for a story such as GLIMMER. I couldn’t help but cheer her on as she stood up to the established powers and rules governing the fae and the werewolves. Her dislike of humans being fae-struck only added to my admiration for her.

GLIMMER ends on a cliffhanger, one that has me hoping Vivi Anna publishes the next installment in the series very soon! Highly recommended!

Buy It from Desert Breeze Publishing:

LOVE BITES SERIES BOOK 3: LOVE FREE STAKE HARD
J. Morgan
ISBN: 978-1-936000-54-8
Kindle ASIN: B003OQUNP4
June 2010
Desert Breeze Publishing
Paranormal Romance/Vampires
Paranormal Romance/Fantasy
eBook

Dela McNamara’s job as a tour guide for Scenic Savannah Graveyard Tours is usually fairly mundane. Bullets flying everywhere aren’t part of the job. Unfortunately, someone is after Demetrious de Mecini and they’ve sent the Gorgons after him. Dela soon finds herself smack in the middle of a war where danger lurks in the local Wal-Mart and vampires and Gorgons are real.  

LOVE FREE STAKE HARD is the third book in the Love Bites series but can easily be read as a stand alone book. J. Morgan thoughtfully provides readers with a quick recap of the past events before settling into the current tale. There are a few ongoing threads but the major storylines are completed in each book in the series.

J. Morgan is one of my favorite authors and once again he delivers a story that has me laughing from start to finish. The Wal-Mart scene is priceless and still makes me giggle just to think about it. Part of the fun of the Love Bites series, and LOVE FREE STAKE HARD in particular, is how J. Morgan manages to make everyday trials (such as shopping at Wal-Mart) take on an otherworldly meaning. He has a true gift for seeing the humor in any situation and then translating that into a good story. And just wait till you see what he does with the Droid phone!

LOVE FREE STAKE HARD is yet another fun story from J. Morgan. If you haven’t read anything by J. Morgan and you like your paranormal romances to be fun, I highly recommend you give his books a try.