ARC Review: Shadow Warrior by Christine Feehan

Series:	Shadow Riders #4
Pub. Date:	June 4, 2019
Publisher:	Berkley
Length:	432 pgs
Source:	NetGalley

The Shadow Riders is such a unique series that I feel refreshed and get sucked in every time I pick up one of the books. With all the travel I've been doing, I was stoked to get to this one in the line up right before a hellish day of delayed flights and being squeezed into the tiny rows and uncomfortable seats of turbulent airplanes.

ARC Review: Dragon Fire by Juliette Cross

Series:	Vale of Stars #3
Pub. Date:	April 30, 2019
Publisher:	Self-Pub
Length:	289 pgs
Source:	Author

 

Oh Man, I just love the way Juliette Cross does a growly dragony alpha male. I got interrupted reading this one due to things going crazy at work... so I actually restarted it this morning on my flight to New Orleans so I would get the full effect of Kieran Moonring from start to finish. It totally made my early morning flight go by in a blink.

ARC Review: Shadow Keeper by Christine Feehan

Series:	Shadow #3
Pub. Date:	May 29, 2018
Publisher:	Berkley Romance
Length:	400 pages
Source:	NetGalley

Oooh lawd. Christine Feehan has me over here fantasizing about shadows! Did that one just move? The Shadow series and the uber yummy Ferraro Brothers, will have you looking a little harder the next time you see a shadow move across your field of vision. Shadow Keeper is the third installment of the Shadow series, and I would encourage you to read them in order. While each story has its own arc, it will benefit you to have some of the back story from earlier books. Plus, the whole series has been great so you won't regret investing the time.

Audiobook Review: Raphael by D.B. Reynolds

Series:	Vamps in America #1
Pub. Date:	July 7, 2014
Publisher:	ImaJinn Books
Narrator:	Traci Odom
Length:	8 hrs 32 min
Source:	Author / Audible

I have had this series on my TBR list for quite a while, so I was excited to see an audio review copy available as audiobooks are really the only way I get to my "personal" TBR these days. Traci Odom did a fairly good job with the narration... she is able to affect believable male voices and did a good job at conveying the correct emotion for the various situations. Some of the characters were a little stiff - but it worked to go along with their vampy nature.

Cynthia Leighton is a former cop turned private investigator, who also has access to a good deal of money from a family trust fund. She has a bratty jealous half-sister who she probably should have kicked to the curb long ago. As a PI, Cyn is often trailing after cheating spouses... but she also has the occasional vampire client. It seems that in this world (modern Malibu), vamps are not a well-kept secret. Cyn is a capable PI, she takes her client confidentiality seriously and is not afraid to gear up from her arsenal when the situation may require it. When Cyn is hired to find a kidnapped vampire, it may be her most dangerous job yet (in more ways than one). Unfortunately Cyn has a penchant for running off half-cocked and getting herself into trouble... this didn't jive with her type of character for me (as former LEO) so I had some eye-rolling moments when it came to Cyn.

Raphael is one of eight vampire lords of the United States. He is tall, dark, powerful and broody - a vampire that you do not want to mess with. When someone close to Raphael is kidnapped by a mixed group of vamps and humans, he makes the decision to hire Cynthia to assist with the investigation. I don't think he quite expected her to be better at the investigating than his vamps... and I know he didn't expect to be drawn to her romantically.

I'm not sure how to characterize the relationship between Cyn and Raphael. There is chemistry there, and they are drawn to each other... so much so that they end up bonking in the middle of a shootout. [Sigh.]  But there are obstacles preventing the relationship from really moving forward... and those obstacles are mainly coming from Cyn. I found her to be both obtuse and judgmental. For an investigator, she was quick to jump to conclusions without even trying to uncover the truth. Raphael had a hot and cold thing going on once or twice, but overall I found him to be much more willing to engage than Cyn. I will warn you that

this book does not have an HEA or HFN.

The titles for the series threw me off. I thought this was a straight paranormal romance series with a different couple each book, but it appears that this series is a paranormal/urban fantasy blend where one couple will be constant with others sprinkled in.

The suspense plot was pretty good... and typical for the vampire trope. A disgruntled and power-hungry vampire is trying to take over Raphael's territory, but he underestimated the vampire lord. Most of the plot involved the investigation rather than the vamp-on-vamp battle, which was over pretty quickly. I wouldn't have minded to see Raphael in on the action a bit more, as he was the more engaging character for me.

Overall, this is a good start to the series, and I am glad that I finally started it.  I am looking forward to seeing whether Cyn exercises more street smarts and common sense in the next installment. I received a copy of this audiobook at no cost from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

Vampires in America

ARC Review: Dirty Sexy Saint by Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde

Dirty Sexy Saint 
by Carly Phillips & Erika Wilde
Series:  Dirty Sexy #1
Pub. Date:  Jan. 19, 2016
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  268
Format:  eARC
Source:  Rock Star PR


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

New York Times bestselling authors Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde bring you a dirty, sexy, smoking hot SERIES featuring three bad boy brothers bonded by shocking secrets and their damaged past. Sinful, addicting, and unapologetically alpha, these men are every woman’s erotic daydream ... And your ultimate dirty fantasy. 

Are you ready to get Dirty Sexy with a Saint? 

Clay Kincaid knows he's more a sinner than a saint. Especially when it comes to women. With a rough and damaged past that has left him jaded, he doesn't do committed relationships. But he does like sex—the hotter and harder, the better. He likes it fast and filthy, which is why he refuses to even touch someone as sweet and guileless as Samantha Jamieson. Until he discovers that she likes it just as down and dirty as he does. Let the sinning begin . . . 

This was one of the better contemporary romances that I have read lately. The Dirty Sexy series features three brothers with tortured pasts... the responsible one, the bad boy, and the straitlaced cop. The brothers all appear to be alpha males and I don't think any of them will have trouble steaming up your kindle screen.

Review: Keeping King by Anne Jolin

Keeping King 
by Anne Jolin
Series:  Rock Falls #4
Pub. Date:  Mar. 2, 2015
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  189
Format:  eBook
Source:  Amazon


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:


Peyton Callaghan is a fighter, a survivor, a warrior. When it was kill or be killed, she didn’t hesitate. Now, she’s the only one left standing, haunted by the ghost of a dead man and plagued with the guilt of having taken another person’s life. The upheaval of her life to start over in Rock Falls has been rocky at best, her worst nightmares and wildest desires colliding with each other. Terror tortures her nightly, breeding fear inside her dreams, and in every waking moment, she fights against the lust that threatens to drown her.

Jayden King harbors secrets beneath his outward playboy demeanor. The women who warm his bed lay claim to nothing—you can’t lay claim to someone who doesn’t have a heart. His wit and charm are exquisite means of deflection and distraction from the turmoil roaring inside him. He’s hidden in plain sight, a mask of humor keeping the sadness at bay. The only real reflections of his soul are in the artwork he creates, pieces of him muraled on the skin of others. If tattoo artists could have a calling card, the etch of pain and suffering in each design would be his. Because when the lights go out and the women he’s satisfied have gone home, he’s alone with every fear he refuses to face.

After suffering from a brutal attack at the hands of her roommate’s stalker, Peyton is forced to live with the object of her affection. Without intention, she breathes love into his starved heart, and although the mere thought of that terrifies him, Jayden would burn the city down to keep her safe, causalities be damned.

Some people you have. Some people you hold.

She can have him. She can hold him. But can she keep King? Or is it impossible for Callaghan to keep something that was never really hers to begin with?

I read this whole series within about 24 hours. These were quick reads about a group of tattooed alpha males who seemingly all had maaaggic sticks (if you know what I mean). Anne Jolin writes some very unique alpha males in that they all have a healthy dose of vulnerability.

This book coincides with the ending of Breaking Bennett, where Peyton was attacked in her condo by Beth's creepy stalker dad. Peyton is a tortured heroine, which was eluded to in previous books with her nightmares and reserved personality. In this installment, we uncover Peyton's past and her reason for moving to Rock Falls. I liked her character, well, I have liked all the heroines in this series. She is a survivor, and I liked that she was willing to step out of the box and go after Jay. But I was missing a bit of a connection with this one, which I will explain below.

In previous books, Jay was the jokester of the group, always flirty and fun. He is an alpha male tattoo artist who provided the comic relief. However we now learn that his outward demeanor is hiding old wounds from a tragic event that happened when he was a teenager. Jay is totally different in this book - no more joking Jay. He is serious and vulnerable. Very vulnerable. There is alpha male ugly crying again like in Chasing Rhodes (but for different reasons obviously). I'm still not sure how I feel about weepy alpha males - they make me uncomfortable.

So there were quite a few purple passages in this one that took me out of the story, which is what caused the disconnect that I mentioned above. For example, this is our alpha male speaking to his intended in a conversation:

I refuse to live my life buried under the weight of mediocrity. I refuse to be adequately unremarkable in a world rich with awe-inspiring possibilities. I will take advantage of every breath and every moment I steal from the sun and borrow from the stars. The day I met you was the day the stillness in my heart shook, the hope in my chest waking, and with time, you've breathed love back into my soul.

While I don't always mind purple prose, these types of passages threw me out of the alpha male tattoo artist world. I just don't think people talk like this and, while it may be poetic and pretty, it seemed out of place in this type of book. I know it works for some people, but it didn't work for me in this instance. The series had a few of these purple passages in the last book, Breaking Bennett, but I was able to overlook them easier because I loved the hero so much. In this one, Jay did not grab me as strongly so I didn't have that laser focus and was looking around a bit.

I still love the series and am happy to have found this author. I am also looking forward to reading the next installment, Saving Steele, next year. There is a bit of a cliffhanger for Jackson's character at the end of this book and I am really excited to see where that is going.

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Review: In the Company of Wolves by Paige Tyler

In the Company of Wolves
by Paige Tyler
Series:  SWAT #3
Pub. Date:  Dec. 1, 2015
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Casablanca
Pages:  352
Format:  eARC
Source:  NetGalley


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

He opened his mouth to order her to drop the MP5 she had aimed at him, but nothing would come out. It was like she’d robbed him of the ability to speak. Shooting her wasn’t an option, though. And the idea of arresting her didn’t make him feel any better.

There's a new gang of criminals in town who are organized and ruthless in the extreme. When Eric Becker, along with the rest of the Dallas SWAT team, ends up in the middle of a shootout, he immediately senses werewolves-a lot of them. Turns out, the new bad guys are a pack of wolf shifters.

In a spray of gunfire, Becker comes face-to-face with the most gorgeous woman he's ever seen. Becker does the logical thing. He hides her and leaves the scene with the rest of his team.

Jayna Winston has no idea why that SWAT guy helped her, but she's glad he did. Ever since she and her pack mates got mixed up with those Eastern European mobsters, everything had pretty much fallen apart.

So what's a street-savvy thief like Jayna going to do with a hot alpha-male wolf who's a police officer? 

I have been a total cover whore for this series by Paige Tyler. Luckily, the stories do not disappoint. I mean, what's not to like about a SWAT team comprised of seventeen alpha male (and one female) werewolves?

So this is the third installment of the SWAT series, and we learn a lot more about werewolf society in this installment. While our SWAT team is made up solely of alpha wolves, we are now introduced to betas and omegas. It's kinda weird that none of the SWAT Team (besides Gage) knows anything about other werewolves. You would think that would be something he would want to teach them as soon as they turn and he recruits them to the team. But anywho, it is what it is.

So our hero in this installment is Eric Becker, he who is obsessed with yoga pants. I can't remember much else about him from past books besides that little tidbit. Becker goes out of his way to help our heroine, Jayne Winston, and her pack, out of a very bad situation. While he may be an alpha werewolf, I didn't find him to be all that demanding like most alphas are. Once he fell head over tail in love/lust at first sight/sniff with Jayna, he seems pretty considerate and understanding. He was a nice guy, but he didn't have that broody quality that I usually like. Overall I liked him, but not quite as much as Xander and Gage.

Jayna Winston is a tortured heroine who grew up in a crappy home and gained her werewolf abilities during a horrible incident with her lecherous stepfather. Once she left home, she was taken in by a pack who now has her loyalty. Only her alpha has gotten them into a dangerous situation with some mobsters. Jayna has never heard about the fated mate aspect of werewolves, so she does not understand her extreme attraction to Becker. And given her past, she is understandably gunshy about sexual entanglements. I liked Jayna. I was a little worried that she was going to push Becker away, but she impressed me with her willingness to accept his help and give the relationship a shot.

The action and suspense in this story was pretty good. The Albanian mobsters were super greedy and sociopathic, and Liam was easy to hate. This book was not quite as steamy as the last one, but it still had a good heat factor. Becker and Jayna were a little more low key given Jayna's past. Cooper played a bigger part in this book as a secondary character, and I like him quite a bit so I am looking forward to his story.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

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