Audiobook Review: Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym M. Martineau

Series:	Beast Charmer #1
Pub. Date:	June 25, 2019
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casa Recorded Books
Narrators:	Brian Pallino Jennifer O'Donnell
Length:	438 pgs 12 hrs 43 min
Source:	NetGalley / RBDigitial

Kingdom of Exiles is a creative debut from one Sourcebook's newest authors, Maxym M. Martineau. I got to meet Maxym at Book Lovers Con this year, and she was lovely. I am stoked she has decided to write in my favorite genre - fantasy romance - as it seems the books in this genre are fewer and far between these days. I can definitely say that this author has been added to my auto-buy list, and can't wait to see where she takes this series in the future.

ARC Review: Bad Reputation by Stefanie London

Series:	Bad Bachelors #2
Pub. Date:	Aug. 7, 2018
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Length:	379 pgs
Source:	Publisher

Bad Reputation is the second book in the Bad Bachelors series, which revolves around a dating review app a la the former DontDateHimGirl.com. I recommend reading these books in order so you have the backstory on the app, its creator, and the circle of female friends serving as our heroines. Note: This review may contains spoilers for the first book, Bad Bachelor, so proceed at your own risk.

ARC Review: The One You Can't Forget by Roni Loren

Series:	The Ones Who Got Away #2
Pub. Date:	June 5, 2018
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casablana
Length:	416 pages
Source:	NetGalley

This is only my second read from Roni Loren, and I'm jumping into a series already in progress. The One You Can't Forget is the second installment of The Ones Who Got Away. I haven't read the first book, and I felt like this one worked okay as a standalone. The series focuses on a group of heroines (and the hero of the first book), who are survivors of a mass shooting at Long Acre High School. The stories take place 10-15 years later, and our heroines are a close group of professional women living in Texas.

Audiobook Review: By His Touch by Adriana Anders

Series:	Blank Canvas #2
Pub. Date:	June 20, 2017
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Narrator:	Wendy Tremont King
Length:	13 hrs 25 min
Source:	Hoopla

This is another of my blogger shame books that fell through the cracks last year, but I was happy to find it in audio for my latest road trip. I really liked the first book, and I was glad to see that the Blank Canvas series is staying in small town Virginia with our philanthropic dermatologist and her tattooed and traumatized patients.

ARC Review: Bad Bachelor by Stefanie London

Series:	Bad Bachelors #1
Pub. Date:	March 6, 2018
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casablanca
Length:	384pages
Source:	Netgalley

This is my first read from Stefanie London, and I admittedly got sucked in by this cover and the very Tom Hardy looking cover model. This book also brought out my heroine hater tendencies and found me squarely in the corner of all the bad bachelors out there. Shocker!

The premise behind the story revolves around the Bad Bachelor app - an app along the lines of the former Don't Date Him Girl (DDHG) site that was around a handful of years ago. Touted as a way to empower and educate women, the Bad Bachelor app allows anonymous users to rate and hate on men, airing grievances and saying whatever their heart desires without any consequence whatsoever. As you can imagine, that can result in countless keyboard warriors being vile and vindictive and making my lip curl with their petty behavior.

ARC Review: Heart on Fire by Amanda Bouchet

Series:	Kingmaker Chronicles #3
Pub. Date:	Jan 2, 2018
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casablanca
Length:	448 pages
Source:	NetGalley

The Kingmaker Chronicles has been packed full of action and sensuality, and is one of my favorite series over the past year. This riveting conclusion is how I rang in the new year, and it was somewhat bittersweet to know that the series is ending so soon.

In Breath of Fire, we saw Catalia "Cat" Fisa, mature as a character and start to accept her fate as future queen of Thalyria. In Heart on Fire, Cat continues to realize what the gods intended by imbuing her with their power and setting her on the path to become a savior of Thalyria. I liked that Cat was continuously humbled by everyone's belief in her and support of her power bid. I also thought that the touch of vulnerability in Cat when it came to her relationship with Griffin helped humanize her, and soften the edges of our kickass heroine.

ARC Review: Tougher in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell

Series:	Texas Rodeo #3
Pub. Date:	Aug. 1, 2017
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casa.
Length:	416 pages
Source:	NetGalley

In short, this is a special book. Anna over at Herding Cats and Burning Soup is always gushing about her cowboys, and that made me realize that I haven't read many cowboy books. So I set out to rectify that situation, and I decided to start with a new-to-me author, Kari Lynn Dell. I think I am glad I started with this story because I definitely want to pick up her other books now. While there was some character crossover from earlier books, I didn't feel lost or confused with the story. So I think you are fine starting w/ this book if you haven't read the others. I also think you will want to go back and read the earlier books (like me) once you finish this one.

ARC Review: Wolf Hunt by Paige Tyler

Series:	SWAT #6
Pub. Date:	June 6, 2017
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casa.
Length:	352 pages
Source:	NetGalley

As I started reading Wolf Hunt, I realized that I missed the last book of the series, Wolf Unleashed. I have enjoyed this series so I think I missed just because I forgot to put it on my calendar. But if you have read the first book and know the story behind the Special Wolf Alpha Team (SWAT), then I think the other books can be read out of order w/o too much heartburn. The long and short of it is that we have a huge and hunky SWAT team full of alpha werewolves out to protect, serve, and steam up your kindle.  Our alphas continue to find The One (their fated mate) at a rate unheard of for their species/race previously. Is this a coincidence, or is something more going on?

ARC Review: The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

Pub. Date:	Oct. 18, 2016
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Length:	304 pages
Source:	NetGalley

Sadly, this is one of my blogger shame books - a review copy that I received last year, but that fell through the cracks and didn't make it onto the blog. I'm glad that I have finally worked it into the schedule, because I enjoyed it a great deal. Marie Benedict brought the history of the Einsteins to life in a meld of fact and fiction that captivated me from beginning to end.

Admittedly, I feel like I know very little about Albert Einstein. Other than crazy hair and the theory of relativity, very little about him stuck with me from what little we were taught in school. That could be due to the fact that I was not particularly interested in math or science (that's why I became a lawyer), so my curriculum in school just didn't touch on his life and accomplishments. That being said, from what little I was taught, I know that neither of his wives were mentioned. 

Dual ARC Review: Wild Ride by Julie Ann Walker

Series:	Black Knights Inc #9
Pub. Date:	April 4, 2017
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casa.
Length:	384 pages
Source:	NetGalley

Hiya bambinas!

Julie and I are doing another dual review today of the latest release in this long-standing series by Julie Ann Walker. I haven't read the earlier books, but have been wanting to try out this author for quite a while. Julie convinced me that I could start here without being lost, so keep reading to see how that panned out.

Bambi's Review

I'm late to the game on this series... not because I was not interested but because I haven't had time to add the 8 previous books to my reading calendar. I finally decided to jump in with the current release and read the stories out of order (even though that drives my reading OCD a little bonkers). So while I don't have the backstory of Black Knights Inc. (BKI), I managed to get through Wild Ride without feeling too lost or uninformed. If you have not read the earlier books and want to jump in and test the waters with this book, I think you will be fine.

ARC Review: Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders

Series:	Blank Canvas #1
Pub. Date:	Feb. 7, 2017
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casa.
Length:	352 pages
Source:	NetGalley

I am impressed by this first work from debut author, Adriana Anders. I was drawn in by the cover and the synopsis at a time when I was looking for an emotional book, and I think Under Her Skin fit that bill pretty well.

Uma Clark is a tortured heroine on the run from an abusive and somewhat powerful ex. She has suffered mental/emotional and physical abuse that has long-term and possibly lasting effects. She was an utterly sympathetic heroine... after reading what she endured from the legally and politically connected Joseph "Joey" Chisholm, my heart hurt for her. Now Uma has arrived in Blackwood, Virginia for a specific reason (which should be left to the reader to discover)... but the small town is a little too close to her ex for comfort. This means Uma feels she is living on borrowed time and she is terrified. As a result of the terror, Uma is jumping at noises, seeing her ex in every male face, and having panic attacks... so it's no wonder that its obvious to everyone she encounters that she is in hiding and needs help.  Well, its obvious to seemingly everyone except for her new employer, the curmudgeonly Ms. Lloyd - an abusive old coot with eccentricities of her own.

ARC Review: Highland Vixen by Mary Wine

Series:	Highland Weddings #2
Pub. Date:	Feb. 7, 2017
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casa.
Length:	320 pages
Source:	NetGalley

The rich colors in the covers of this series continually draw my eye and make it impossible for me to resist. I read the initial installment of this series, Highland Spitfire, last year and I remembered really liking Helen Grant as a secondary character. Unfortunately as soon as the book started, I found myself wishing for a prologue recapping what happened in that first book (at least with regards to Helen). It felt like the story was starting in the middle and I couldn't remember the back story for the life of me. So here's a little recap of how Helen came to be at the MacPherson keep. She was stolen! In recompense for her brothers thieving cattle from the clan, Helen was taken away and deposited at the keep as a hostage, where she was not made to feel welcome by the suspicious and sometimes haughty clan members.

ARC Review: Breath of Fire by Amanda Bouchet

Series:	Kingmaker #2
Pub. Date:	Jan. 3, 2017
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casa
Length:	448 pages
Source:	NetGalley

This is an outstanding continuation of the Kingmaker Chronicles by Amanda Bouchet. This author has developed an interesting niche mixing mythology with fantasy romance... at least I haven't seen any other books where Olympians and Titans are integrated into a high fantasy realm. I like it! If you read my prior review, you will know that I was missing some world building. I'm happy to say that , in this installment, we got some backstory that really helped beef up the mythology aspect. It was interesting to see how the Olympians were integrated into the history of the realms.

ARC Review & Guest Post: The Untouchable Earl by Amy Sandas

Series:	Fallen Ladies #2
Pub. Date:	Nov 1, 2016
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casablanca
Length:	416 pages
Source:	NetGalley

The Untouchable Earl is my first read by Amy Sandas. I was sucked in by the blurb as this sounded like a historical of a darker nature than what is common these days. The story appears to take place contemporaneously with Luck is No Lady, so I don't think you have to read these two books in order. You should be fine if you are starting with the second book as I did.

Lily Chadwick is a heroine that has fallen on hard times after the death of her parents. After the death of her mother, her father devolved into drinking and debt, leaving his three surviving daughters in dire straights after his death. Lily is the middle sister and she finds herself somewhat plain, wishing she shared more attributes with her sisters. Lily also has a secret, dark desires that stem from her stealthy reading of erotic novels. She despairs of finding a husband that will actually make her happy and satisfy her passionate nature. For a virginal heroine, Lily did not come off as a shy heroine, at least with our hero. In society, she acts the demure lady... but the chemistry with our hero seems to overwhelm her. I do wish she would have shown more grit and backbone when she is stolen off the street and sold to a pleasure house, but she seemed to lack the confidence. I also didn't connect as fully with her characters as I would have liked, but I can't put my finger on exactly what was missing.

Series Saturday Review: Discovery of Desire by Susanne Lord

Series:	London Explorers #2
Pub. Date:	Sept. 6, 2016
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casablanca
Length:	384 pages
Source:	NetGalley

Well Susanne Lord has blown me away again. She astounded me with her debut novel, In Search of Scandal. Now I am equally, maybe even more so, impressed by Discovery of Desire. I can't get over just how eminently likable characters her main character has been in each of these books.

ARC Review: As Rich as a Rogue by Jade Lee

Series:	Rakes & Rogues #3
Pub. Date:	Aug. 2, 2016
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casablanca Tantor Audio
Length:	416 pages 12 hrs 50 min
Narrator:	Elizabeth Bidwell
Source:	NetGalley / Tantor

Six years ago during her first season, Mari Powel was deemed the Wayward Welsh by Peter Norwood, Lord Whitly. The moniker has prevented her from finding a suitable husband, so suffice it to say that she does not have amiable feelings toward Lord Whitly. Good thing he left the country.

ARC Review: A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet

Series:	Kingmaker Chronicles #1
Pub. Date:	Aug. 2, 2016
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casablanca
Length:	448 pages
Source:	NetGalley

I'm so happy to have a new name in fantasy romance - my favorite genre. Amanda Bouchet is off to a good start with captivating characters who have some interesting abilities and diverse family dynamics.

Freebie Friday Review: Hot as Hell by Julie Ann Walker

Series:	Deep Six #1
Pub. Date:	June 1, 2016
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casablanca
Length:	139 pages
Freebie Date:	June 1, 2016

This prequel is a quick intro to the series - a very quick intro. The story is only about 35% of the Kindle file and the rest is a sneak peak into Devil and the Deep. So this is a perfect story to read over your lunch break or anywhere you have a short wait.

ARC Review: To Love a Wolf by Paige Tyler

Series:	SWAT #4
Pub. Date:	June 7, 2016
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casablanca
Length:	352 Pages
Source:	NetGalley

Paige Tyler's books are always quick reads for me. It has nothing to do with the page count, but everything to do with her pacing and the amount of action she infuses. It keeps the story moving along at a fast clip. I love these types of books and authors that having the story pace down pat. But now, on to the plot!