Waking Up Married by Mira Lyn Kelly (Dec 1, 2012)

 

Waking Up Married by Mira Lyn Kelly

This could have been the conventional type of romance. One which consists of an ‘accidental’ marriage that the pair decides to try to make real. It would have been good too.  Instead, this author took what could have been a trite and silly fairy tale type unbelievable romance and turned it into something more…something a little more real. Moreover, it is  a lot better than the usual conventional themes.
Let’s face it, it you are reading a book like this you love romance and you may even be willing, like I am, to  take yourself out of reality and throw all illusions of real-life into the wind.  And I think this book actually takes that step back from reality  and turns this into a book that is just a little more special.

We have, as I said, a sort of typical romance of accidental marriage.   We have the perfect man, or what passes a perfect man offering to stay married for the idea of a strong partnership/marriage and father-hood.  However, of course he wants more. However, not the way it seems we should be expecting.  All along, he has had to persuade Megan that she was doing the right thing. You start thinking that he loves her and really does want this to go farther than a mere partnership.  But, alas, this is not to be.  However, the interesting part is just beginning when he sees the error of his ways.  
What I did not see coming was just why Connor didn’t want love in his life, and to get to that point in the book the ride was a pretty interesting one.
The characters while not 100% believable, are likeable. The humor in the story is dry and well written and the emotional aspects are fairly believable.  It was a short novel so things are not as developed as I would have liked.  Nevertheless, for a quick, light, fun read I think that this will make for a good one.

			Drive Me Wild (The Others) by Christine Warren Edition: Mass Market Paperback Price: $7.99
Was "Fur For All", November 27, 2012 This review is from: Drive Me Wild (The Others) (Mass Market Paperback) Drive Me Wild (The Others) by Christine Warren This is NOT truly a re-print BUT... ...this WAS originally published as an Ellora's Cave Publishing book in 2003 and has been out of print for quite a while. I loved the original and as with several other of Ms Warrens re-prints, I was looking forward to some added scenes, dialog, etc cetera and I was not disappointed! The 'romance' scenes are just as steamy as I remember from the earlier book and I was a little shocked to see that they hadn't seemed to have been toned down for the wider market as they had been in at least one of the other re-prints. The story features what could be a woman that you could easily come to dislike since it seems early on in the book that Tess Menzies has no spine. This book is ALL about the fact that the woman is going to be submissive sexually and I have no problems with that, but I hate it when that submissiveness plays into Tess's daily life and it seems like she can never say no to ANYONE. Luckily, Ms Warren really knows how to make her characters grow and by the end of the novel you will be rooting for Tess. Tess is a witch and as she has come to realize not a very strong one and she has an ability for some brief lapses into premonition. Tess has been drafted by her Grandfather to bring a message to the Council of Others leader Rafael De Santos a lusty, sexy, hot-hot-hot were-jaguar. The message gets delivered and things very quickly go from promises of heat, to full blown passion in a matter of a couple of chapters. So now, we have a mystery of why the Witches Council wants to meet with the Council of Others (the furred and fanged group). However, we have an even more interesting mystery that has to do with an old curse and the fact that the feline population of were's have been losing the ability to reproduce...that is until Rafe and Tess get together! This is a thoroughly engaging story filled with heat passion and a lot of humor. There are plenty of interesting characters and enough mystery to keep you reading well into the night. Rafe may get on your nerves a little bit, but he even with his flaws he is an adorable Alpha/Dominant type that will be sure to please most readers. Have a good read!

 

Wild About You (Love at Stake) by Kerrelyn Sparks (Nov 27, 2012)

• $7.99 Mass Market Paperback
• Available for Pre-order. This item will be released on November 27, 2012.
• $5.99 Kindle Edition

Oh, I’ve been waiting a while for Howard’s story and here it is.  Handsome Howard, Hunky Howard and the list goes on!.  The majority of these books are about vamps, but when Ms Sparks gets a notion to write about the furrier side of life she really goes all out!

This book is filled with a ton of steaming innuendo, longing looks, sexy passages, sexy male anatomy wonderful descriptions, mystery and suspense!  You name it, you will find it!

It has been a while since Elsa has felt even the tiniest bit petite.  At over 6 feet, this beauty has never felt delicate. In fact, she works demolishing homes for a international televised home show, pretty much with her bare hands and a few tools.

Howard has a secret, he has a box of DVD’s hidden under his bed featuring two men and a lady – but it isn’t what you’re thinking...oh no, it is a stash of the home show with Elsa starring!  Howard has a major celebrity crush.  But his crush may become a reality if Howards employer has anything to do with it.

Now Howard is a bear shifter and Elsa is coming to find out she is just a bit different too. {Just why do forest creatures cluster about Elsa?)

There is so much going on in this book that it would be nearly impossible to give a good synopsis without giving away a lot of the story.

So I will say that it is a wonderful story.  It has great humor, excellent mystery; fantastic sex scenes that do not occur at the beginning, but give the characters time to forge a relationship with each other.  It has fully fleshed characters and a complex story line that encompasses years, distances and nearly improbable to believe myths/curses.

Will Howard and Elsa get their happily-ever-after?  Will Howard ever get revenge for all the wrong perpetrated upon him?  You are just going to have to read   “Wild About You” to find out! And if this is your first Kerrelyn Sparks I assure you it will not be your last one!

Running Wild: The Men from Battle Ridgeby Linda Howard and Linda Jones (Nov 27, 2012)

In this really great opening book into a new series, you will get to meet the feisty, smart and scared Carlin Reed.  And, yes she was named after George Carlin! She is being stalked by someone nobody would ever expect it of, and her stalker has already killed one person that Carlin cares about.  Now she is on the run.

Her running takes her to an unlikely place by the name of Battle Ridge, Wyoming a very quiet ranching town that is sort of on the way out, with people moving trying to make a living elsewhere.

After working for a while for Kat the owner of The Pie Hole here in town, Carlin gets sort of coerced into taking a job for Zeke Decker, a  cattle ranch owner who is just walking sex on a  stick, if you know what I mean!  He is gruff, blustery and the type of guy who wants to fix everything for almost everyone!

This was a wonderful romance, but even more importantly, it was a terrific suspense novel.  This is something that Linda Howard is known for, and she really worked it.  I had trouble seeing just where Ms Jones left her mark, as the writing was so seamless between the two women.

Some of the passages got to be a little too much with the inner angst but they were soon bypassed by increasingly suspenseful…well…suspense scenes.

Zeke does get around to eventually getting his own way and teaching Carlin just what she needs to know about saving herself if she ever finds herself in need too.  And of course she will eventually need to.  She makes for a great kick-butt heroine who also knows when to let someone more experienced take over in the kicking butt department.

This was written with a tight plot, great, well-rounded characters of different kinds all with their own voices. The scene descriptions where vividly written, the scenery descriptions made you actually see them in your mind.  There was even plentiful humor to break up the fear factor.  The sexual aspect took quite a while to come up and I appreciated that.  I don’t always like a book where the couple has to fall into bed in the 5^th chapter. I could actually believe that they took their time and really fell into love instead of it being simply lust disguised to look like love.

I loved this book and will be buying the next one in this series, and I will be keeping this on my to –be- re-read shelf!

*ARC SUPPLIED BY PUBLISHER*

			Notorious Nineteen: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich Edition: Hardcover Price: $14.00
4.5 Stars, November 20, 2012 This review is from: Notorious Nineteen: A Stephanie Plum Novel (Hardcover) So you want to know if it is worth your hard earned cash to buy this next installment. Knowing that the series has been taking a tumble lately made me a little leery but I seem to have OCD and need to keep reading to find out just what trouble Stephanie is going to get into. And this book offers her trouble up a little differently this time. This time trouble comes from many directions and one of those directions is Ranger. It seems he needs a bodyguard and feels that Stephanie will fit the bill. Why you may ask? Well because he needs a date and at the time the case just wasn't all that scary...but it quickly turns very scary for both Stephanie and Ranger - and then to add to the scare factor Stephanie needs to go undercover for Ranger as a bridesmaid for one of his old military buddies. Now Stephanie is also having problems with a very interesting skip. And I mean that seriously. This is one of the first books lately that really engaged me in trying to figure out the mystery and had me coming up empty. The last few books have been easy to figure out who-dun-it, this one not so much! To add a little more spice to everything Stephanie is working with Morelli too. That's right, she is working with Morelli, Ranger and for Vinnie. And she isn't doing that bad of a job of it. It seems that Ms Evanovich has finally taken some of our concerns to heart and has let Stephanie mature a bit. Oh not 100% but she isn't as idiotic as she has been in the past. She is still making some mistakes, but it seems that she is making more good decisions than poor ones. Grandma gets into the act and actually does something smart to help Stephanie. Lula seems to have done a teensy bit of growing up too. And I do mean a teensy amount. So don't expect anything too different from, that front. Her romantic relationship/s take an interesting turn as Stephanie starts examining her romantic life in a mature manner. Oh, she isn't all the way there, but she is questioning whether or not she could be married - to either man. She knows that she loves both of them, but she is smart enough to know that maybe marriage isn't for her...at least for now. Only you can tell if you want to spend $14.00 for a book that won't take all that long to read, or one you can't lend because it's on your Kindle - I thought it was. I stayed engaged through the whole thing, my curiosity kept being piqued by the mystery of it all and the danger Stephanie and Ranger found themselves in (Steph more than Ranger!) , and the romance aspect with both men is a stew that is bubbling merrily away. I really want her with Ranger, but...yeah I can see the problems. I think to keep this series going, Stephanie is going to have to keep playing the field or find a totally new man that can accept the danger she faces most days of her life. Good luck deciding what to do!

		Renegade Offered by Hachette Book Group Price: $2.99
Conventional, November 19, 2012 This review is from: Renegade (Kindle Edition) This is your typical fantasy novel. We have of course the good guys (Valeria Banning), the bad guys (the Ghouls and an insider) and the 'maybe' guy Griffin Dare, a mage who has been on the run from an accusation of murder for 6 years. Ms Northcott does what few authors dare to do and even less authors get away with, and that is to dump the reader directly into the authors world with no explanation of what to expect. These two meet when Griff defies common sense and saves Val at the expense of his own life. Ghouls abound everywhere at every moment and the reader can be left gasping at the pacing of this novel. It was difficult for me to see just how Griffin and Valeria were gong to have any sort of private relationship with so much action going on, but of course they did. As unbelievable as it was yes they did manage. The characters are interestingly drawn but I did not really 'beleive' the story itself. The romance felt too contrived, forced. The action was interesting and the sub- plot kept my attention and the secondary players seemed more interesting to me than the main players. It will keep you engaged but I don't think it will be making you feel like you just HAVE to keep reading.

			Bird of Paradise Price: $1.99
Sweet - Almost Old-Fashioned, November 12, 2012   This review is from: Bird of Paradise (Kindle Edition) This was a sweet, funny, sexy and eye opening look into how it may be to be a larger lady in today's day and age and to be stuck in a swimsuit on a lovely Mediterranean beach. Filled with Katie MacAlister's trademark sense of humor, a reality show, a man who isn't quite what he seems a cat with a gecko on his head, a woman who isn't confident with her own body, and you have the makings for a humorous novella. There really should have been better editing and some of those issues will be difficult to get beyond, but once you do, have fun!

			Iced: A Dani O'Malley Novel (Fever Series) by Karen Marie Moning Edition: Hardcover Price: $15.00
If I Hear That Word One More Time!, November 11, 2012   This review is from: Iced: A Dani O'Malley Novel (Fever Series) (Hardcover) Iced by Karen Marie Moning By no means should one expect while reading this, that you are simply picking up the "Fever" series and continuing on with all that you've know. You WILL see many characters you discovered in the past books, but the ones you've come to know and love will be taking a back-seat - for now at least. We will be digging deeply into characters we have mostly only read about for short periods in the last series. It has been one year since the `wall' in Dublin has crashed and we are about to see events from 14 year old Dani O'Malley's perspective. We must remember that Dani has never been 100% human and with this book, she may be even a little less. It is imperative that you read the other books in this series to get up to speed with this one. You will feel sorely lost without knowing what has been going on in our world until now. My issues with this book are many. This is the first time I have ever read a book and so disliked the protagonist. Dani is a 14-year-old girl...not an adult no matter what kind of past life she has had and no matter what kind of life she is making for herself now. She is a child and really does act that way. Many have said that this is not a young adult novel and I could almost agree since Dani does not even seem to have the maturity of a young adult sometimes. Many times while reading this book I feel like I am reading a very wordy manga and not a true book. Dani has a voice that is so childish that after a while I thought I would scream if I saw the authors' use of the "F word spelled incorrectly" or "dude" just one more time. I realize that this is an affectation to show how young she is supposed to be, but the usage simply just makes the book less palatable. The fact that Dani seems to have the attention of at least one adult male (yes he is `other' but still) makes this a little hard to take. Perhaps if the book had been written at a time a few years in the future with Dani being older than 14, this one fact wouldn't rankle so many people. Dani can be dislikable on so many levels, but that does give hope that she will grow in coming books. There was no character growth with this book. This book was written with Ms Monings usual sense of style, beautiful word paintings and excellent timing during the action scenes. New mysteries will be ours to solve and new bad guys will be coming out of the thin air. However, I just cannot get past the childishness of the protagonist or the overly adult situations throughout the rest of this book. I am also hoping that Ms Moning will find a way to redeem Christian. I have read Ms Monings books, ALL of them and a MacKeltar except for one never went this bad, and the one that did go `bad' redeemed himself. This book ended on a cliffhanger so be prepared.

Heaven to Wudang: Journey to Wudang: Book Three by Kylie Chan (Nov 27, 2012)

Formats		Price
Mass Market PaperbackAvailable for Pre-order. This item will be released on November 27, 2012. Pre-order Price Guarantee. See Details		$7.99
Kindle EditionAvailable for Pre-order. This item will be released on November 27, 2012.		$7.99

Next to be Released  a Novella – “Small Shen” Prequel -  release date Dec 1^st 2012

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In this third novel,   the conclusion to this second trilogy, but presumably not   the series because of the cliffhanger ending, John is now back but most certainly not at full strength.  Emma is suffering from a disease that was a most unexpected twist in the plot for me; and she finally finds out just what she is. Leo still wants to die, loved ones are kidnapped and broken, and there is total chaos. This was an exciting book in this series but it was also a letdown to say the least.

Kitty Kwok is back and even more evil than when the series started,  We had thought that most of the demons have been defeated,; but have they?  Traps have been  laid for John, Simone and Emma, with Emma usually (always) taking the worst of it; always rushing in to lead the cavalry.  Except during one important fight where she just sits back and watches while things go horribly wrong.

There is so much going on in the book that I wouldn’t even know where to begin.  There are so many characters that it becomes mind-boggling and one nearly needs a score card to keep who is who and what they are doing and when they are doing it, straight.

There is so much emo stuff going on, that at times I wanted to scream that enough was enough.   Ms Chan uses her knowledge of myth and religion to perfection, but the subtleties of writing the full story seems to have escaped Ms Chan with this novel. Everything that is happening seems a bit to over the top.  Yes, it is a fantasy novel, but when fantasy turns into a melodramatic mish-mash that would play better as a late night TV serial, then I have to wonder. I think she was trying to clear up too many plot points before this book ran into two volumes and did  a slap-dash job of it.

One of the main problems for me was at the end when we have the chance to find out just what Emma is and this was treated almost as an insignificant aside to the story.  And, when even bigger issues with Emma’s inner self are brought up, those issues seem written only with the idea of yet another trilogy in mind, not to truly clarify things.  I suppose that is because another group of these books will be written.

I’m afraid that anything else I say will be a spoiler, so I will simply conclude with this  -- this is an important book for fans, but a terribly frustrating, and at time overly long-winded  read all the same. All the hallmarks of Ms Chan’s usual work is here but it didn’t seem as if her heart was in it.

 For readers who have never read anything by this author - DO NOT START HERE!  You must start with the first trilogy and work your way to this one of you will be horribly lost and very disappointed.  

*ARC SUPPLIED BY PUBLISHER*

		Hell to Heaven: Journey to Wudang: Book Two Offered by HarperCollins Publishers Price: $7.59
A Treat for Fans, November 5, 2012 This review is from: Hell to Heaven: Journey to Wudang: Book Two (Kindle Edition) Hell to Heaven: Journey to Wudang: Book Two by Kylie Chan (Oct 30, 2012) I am most likely going to be the only dissenting reader that did not adore this book once more reviews are posted. Don't get me wrong though...while I don't LOVE these books, they do keep me curious and fascinated enough to keep reading and to slogging through the long passages that can be repetitious or rambling or unnecessary to the progression of the plot. As others have said, do not try reading this novel without reading the first four books in this series. You will find yourself lost if you do not. For fans, I may even suggest a skim through, at the least, of the last two books to refresh your memory. I wish I had done this with at least the third book before attempting these next 3! In this book, we get a very, very slow start, which is somewhat typical of this series and then the last 50% really picks up with the last chapters being the most emotional. So emotional that as I was reading them I was sobbing my heart out. This is somewhat silly of me since fans will; know that none of these main characters can really die! We find in this addition to the series, Emma still battling her Demon nature, John still missing but showing up when really needed and the `Devil' is still being a pain in the butt. In a clever twist of the plot (and a true surprise to me), someone who had a fairly major role in the first book "White Tiger", shows up to make Emma's life even more difficult. You can actually hear the evil cackling laugh when you read these passages. There is not much character development in this book. The only thing different is we know that 10 years have gone by and Emma has a lot of responsibility, but the other major characters like Simone and Leo seem to have stuck in a rut. Simone is still exhibiting her rebellious streak, but then again she was doing that in "Earth to Hell" Neither feels to me that they've grown of matured at all. They seem very stagnant. The plot to this book seems to have the feel of the plot in the first novel. They are still fighting demons, this time there is something a little different about these (then again when are there normal demons l?) It is an interesting read but most especially if you are interested in Chinese Mythology since this series leans heavily on the mythology and teachings to keep things moving. Actually, the mythology and the world Ms Chan has created make it very easy for the author to get her protagonists out of hot water when things look dire. This was an interesting, if a tad tedious at times, read. A necessity for fans and collectors of this series. *ARC SUPPLIED BY PUBLISHER*

			Vlad All Over by Beth Orsoff Edition: Paperback Price: $7.77 Kindle Edition - $3.99
Better Than I Expected, November 2, 2012 This title will be released on November 20, 2012.  This review is from: Vlad All Over (Paperback)   Vlad All Over by Beth Orsoff What a fabulous concept. I loved this new book by one of my favorite authors. Luckily, for me and other readers Ms. Orsoff maintains her creativity and her writing ability and in some ways has even had that ability mature and strengthen. This novel contains Beth's' usual assortment of very believable and mostly likable characters. Her writing is crisp, the dialogue believable. The history and legends of the country are discussed in terms that everyone will understand and want to know more about. This was a very unusual plot, and that includes the romantic aspect of it. Although you will find that romance really takes a back seat in "Vlad All Over". This novel is driven not only by the relationship of the protagonists, but more so by the `non-relationship' they will eventually end up with. Gwen is oh so many things; she is a schoolteacher, an adopted child and now the nanny for the summer of one of her students. As the nanny, she will be spending the summer in Romania. An unusual country in which to stage a woman's lit novel. After all Romania is the land of Dracula - Vlad Tepes, Vlad the Impaler. I should have know that Ms Orsoff would not be content to set her novel in such a mundane area such as the USA...Ms Orsoff has been known to take her books into interesting realms and she sure has with this one! I find it difficult to discuss the plot in my review since I'm so hopped up about this book that I'm afraid that I'll give away too many spoilers. Suffice it to say that this book contains all the usual elements of a woman's lit novel - a damsel who sort of in distress who is also stubborn, sometimes even bit@hy. It also has an over bearing, rich, know-it-all alpha male protagonist- widower Alex Romanescu and an adorable child Isabella (Alex's daughter), and many interesting secondary characters. There so many secondary and tertiary characters that are so interesting, that I hope they will eventually have a book to themselves or at least have more of their stories told in the next book. If I had one issue it is that Gwen does become a little tedious in her protestations of what Alex does to her. I understand that it is a plot device meant to keep us wondering, but sometimes I just felt that the lady did protest (and fight) too much! I understood it was necessary but I didn't have to love it. Although it did keep things `real' and interesting. Yes, there is going to be a sequel to "Vlad All Over". We, unfortunately, do not get a conclusion to the story line in this book. Therefore, we are kept hanging, and if you are like me and do not read the previews at the end of books - I suggest you do with this novel, it will shock you. At least it did for me.

			A Cowboy for Christmas: A Jubilee, Texas Novel by Lori Wilde Edition: Mass Market Paperback Price: $7.99
Less Than I Hoped For, November 1, 2012 This review is from: A Cowboy for Christmas: A Jubilee, Texas Novel (Mass Market Paperback) I'm most likely going to be one of the few that thought that this was a less than stellar novel. Lissette Moncrief's husband had been killed in action and has left all his money to a half-brother instead of to his wife and child. Lissette is a baker and could have used that money to help her 2 year old son and grew her company that supplies wedding cake and other Texas goodies. By accident, (literally) Rafferty and LIssette meet up in a grocery store parking lot when she hit his truck. Rafferty is in town to deliver something and you are left for a little while just sort of knowing that it is Lissette who is going to be the beneficiary of his delivery. Now this is where my dissatisfaction with this novel comes in to play...Lissette has just been told her child is going to need al sorts of special care but because of her `pride' she is not going to take any of the money that really should have belonged to her. Of course, sparks fly between Rafferty and Lissette and this is only 6 months after her husband's death. Granted, they were not getting along very well even when he was state side and she had an idea that he was getting a little on the side. Still, only 6 months later? Oh yes Rafferty is a cowboy so perhaps that explains the reason of why the sparks are flying so soon and so thickly. Lissette is prideful and very stubborn and Rafferty is more mild mannered and somewhat of a push over and while this may work in some stories, it failed to work for me in this one. Now there is an interesting secondary story going on with Lissette's mother-in-law who is holding on to a deep, dark secret that she is sure when once learned everyone will hate her for. There is so much inner-dialoguing going on that there doesn't seem to be anytime for real character interaction to take place. A lot of angst abounds in this novel also and can get a little tedious at times.. Normally I'm a fan of an author who gives us a character that has a physical impairment, but in this novel the female protagonist, Lissette Moncrief's son is losing his hearing. Both his mother and late father had been carrying a rare gene that when combined leaves your child with profound and irreversible hearing loss. The author shocked me by treating this as if it were the end of the world. It is something a 2 year old will easily live with; it's not an inoperable cancer or worse. This was a good read but not a wonderful read, even though we do get our Happily Ever After in the end.