Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Review: Highland Spitfire by Mary Wine

Highland Spitfire
by Mary Wine
Series: Highland Weddings #1
Pub. Date: Feb. 2, 2016
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley

My Rating:

Sultry Scale:

In the throes of fierce clan wars, the Queen's Regent tricks the children of two feuding lairds into a desperate choice: marry or die. The union—however reluctant—of a MacPherson and a Robertson could end three generations of hostilities between the two families.

Ailis Robertson wanted a husband, not a savage. But she is rocked by the intense passion she feels for Bhaic—who is likewise taken aback by the fierce jealousy he experiences when he sees Ailis speaking with other men. Is it possible for fierce enemies to become ardent lovers?

Highland Spitfire is an enemies to lovers romance where our hero and heroine are forced to wed by the King's Regent to end a decades-old feud between the Robertson and MacPherson clans. While the Regent's intentions to end the feud were necessary, he definitely could have went about it better. The way the situation played out guaranteed a hostile situation between our couple and their clans.

Our heroine, Ailis Robertson, is the twenty-two year old laird's daughter who hasn't been in a particular rush to get married. Having the union thrust upon her to save the lives of her clan members provided a bleak overcast to what should have been a happy day for Ailis. I admired her courage for agreeing to wed her enemy - her altruism set a good example for both clans and showed that she was more mature than the thick-headed men determined to carry a grudge. But seriously - when aren't women the more mature ones??? I liked Ailis and had a decent emotional connection with her. Being forced into her enemy's territory where most looked on her with suspicion and misgiving was definitely hard for the girl, and those conflicts were where Mary Wine drew me into the story and made me sympathize with Ailis.

Our hero is Bhaic, is current Tanis of Clan MacPherson and heir to the laird. First of all, how the heck do you pronounce this name? Bake? Bike? Bach? It drove me a little batty. I really wish more books had a phonetic spelling the first time an uncommon or difficult name is introduced. Bhaic was a hard hero to love. Once he brings Ailis home to his clan, he doesn't do much to ease her transition or make her feel at home. In fact, he allows his brother Marcus to continually disregard Ailis' feelings and basically humiliate her and treat her like a spy. I wanted to kick both of the numpties in the shins repeatedly, and I would not have blamed Ailis if she would have run back home to her father.

While I enjoyed the story, there were just a couple things that didn't work for me. I didn't care for any of the MacPherson clan. At times, Ailis' attraction to Bhaic felt forced, particularly in the midst of arguments/spats. And along those same lines, the hot and cold aspect of the interactions were happening so rapidly that it left me feeling dizzy. They would be spitting at each other, then have a warm or amusing comment where you think things are turning around, but the next comment they are back to being spiteful. It got to be a little too much. And finally, once our couple finally consummates their marriage, the number of intimate scenes took over the story for a bit. While I always want a bit of sexytime in my romances, I found myself wanting to get back to the plot on this one. But other than that, I liked Ailis - and I really liked Helen. I liked the friendship that formed between the girls - both hostages in an enemy's territory - and I liked the way they stuck together against the thickheaded men. I am guessing that Helen will be the heroine of the next book so I am looking forward to that.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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New Release: Destroyed by the Bad Boy by Madison Collins

DESTROYED BY THE BAD BOY
Madison Collins

Releasing on January 29, 2016

Self-Published

This book contains two complete erotic romance novellas with no cliffhangers.

Stranded ...

On the way to our parents wedding in the mountains, the mother of all snow storms attacks, leaving me stranded in a remote cabin with my new stepbrother.

My hot as hell, I-need-to-change-my-panties because-they’re-soaked, cocky asshole of a stepbrother, Bentley McAllister.

The kicker of it all?

The only items he's packed are liquor and condoms, and he’s looking at me like he wants to put both to good use.

My name is Sierra, and my libido can only take so much.

Send help!

Caged ...

Two brothers...

One girl...

Rising stars in the cage fighting circuit, Cage and Tripp Garrett are as close as two brothers can be. Fiercely competitive and smoldering with intensity, neither has ever lost a fight. Until they face their toughest opponent yet: Lily.

They both want her. But neither can have her. Lily is as off-limits as they come. They make a pact that the tough-as-nails daughter of their trainer will never come between them.

Until one of them begins to fall in love. Then all is fair in love and war.

Caged is a sexy, fast-paced love story with a punch.

Warning: Contains adult language and sexual content.

BUY NOW
AMAZON

Madison Collins is the author of romantic short stories such as Caged, Stranded with My Stepbrother and the upcoming Monster Prick. She enjoys the occasional stiff cocktail, and watching romantic comedies. Most days you can find her curled up with a good book. She currently resides in New Jersey.

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Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Review: The Hunter by Kerrigan Byrne

The Hunter
by Kerrigan Byrne
Series: Victorian Rebels #2
Pub. Date: Feb. 2, 2016
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 432
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley

My Rating:

Sultry Scale:

They're rebels, scoundrels, and blackguards—dark, dashing men on the wrong side of the law. But for the proper Victorian-era ladies who love them, a hint of danger only makes their hearts beat faster...

A scandalous proposal.

As one of London't most elite hunters, Christopher Argent never misses his mark and always gets his man. But when his latest target turns out to be a woman—the popular, and stunningly beautiful, actress Millie LeCour—it turns his whole world upside-down. Overwhelmed by the heat that simmers between them, Christopher can't complete his mission. On the contrary, he'll do anything to save Millie's life—even if it means risking his own...

A dangerous passion...

When she learns what Christopher was hired to do, Millie is torn between the fear in her heart and the fire in her soul. Putting herself in this dangerous man's arms may be her only path to safety—but giving in to her desire may be the deadliest mistake she's ever made. With both of their lives in jeopardy, Millie and Christopher must learn to trust the real feelings they're hiding—to find the true love they're looking for...

I am totally digging the latest series from Kerrigan Byrne, who has proven to be exceptionally adept at writing complex and damaged heroes who will steal your heart like a thief in the night.

The plot of The Hunter follows a similar formula to The Highwayman in that we have a tortured hero ensconced in the criminal underworld, and a lovable heroine with a big secret that puts her life in danger. Don't let that worry you though, for all that the plot formulas were similar, each installment has stood on its own merits with captivating characters, beautiful prose, and a bit of suspense. The plot conflict in The Hunter is of a darker nature than we saw in The Highwayman, and involves a necrophiliac serial killer assassin that gave me the creepy chills. Yeesh. He is definitely not someone I want to meet on a dark night.

We met our hero, Christopher Argent, in the first book where we knew him as the menacing and silent assassin for Dorian Blackwell, the Black Heart of Benmore. However, in this installment we are taken back to Christopher's beginnings as a shackleborn bastard at Newgate Prison. Byrne certainly knows how to hook you into the story with a heartwrenching prologue to get you invested in the damaged boy before you see the dangerous man he has become. The concept of innocent children being raised in a prison is an eye-opening one, particularly as they remained inmates until their majority, when they were released into the world without money, skills or education. While at Newgate, Christopher trained under the tutelage of a Kung Fu Master. Given his size, coloring and scars, my imagination painted a vivid picture of Christopher in his silk pants going through a martial arts routine. I loved having all this back story for our hero because it allowed me to understand Christopher's thought process and reasons for his actions without having to be told every single time... this is what I am always harping about, the show vs. tell... Kerrigan Byrne knows how to do it.

So now as an adult, Christopher is a threatening giant, as sinuous as water and as dark as the shadows. He turned off his emotions way back in the prologue and has been existing as a hollow killing machine ever since.

A boy born in a cage, taught little but cruelty and survival. Then he was thrust into this world and had to make his own way, falling upon the only skills he'd ever mastered.
Violence and death.

It was as though darkness sought him out, as though shadows settled upon him, recognizing one of their own, and he siphoned strength from them. This was where he belonged. Cold, eerie nights full of danger and blood.

He is impervious to all emotion until he first sees Millicent LeCour, whom he is being paid to kill. There is something about Millie that starts to crack the stone encasing Christopher's heart and he is not quite certain how to handle it. As Dorian so wisely imparts:

Men like you and me, we don't love like other men do. With patience and poetry and gentle deference. Our sort of love is possessive - obsessive even - and passionate and consuming and ... well, fucking terrifying sometimes.

Now that I have went on and on about our hero (or anti-hero as it were), I have run out of words for our heroine, Millie. But let's face it, this series is all about the men. The women being likable heroines comes as a bonus.

The darling of the London stage, Millie mesmerizes her audience and our hero. She has a special light that draws people to her, and that light certainly startles Christopher right out of the shadows. While he may step into the light, however, that doesn't mean that he will act like a civilized individual. Millie is acosted, assaulted, threatened, and coerced to submit - but she finds she doesn't mind all that much when its Christopher doing the manhandling. Millie also has a son, Jakub, an intelligent and inquisitive little boy who added a sweetness to the story that Christopher was incapable of. Millie and Jakub created a perfect package to start healing that wounded little boy that Christopher's psyche brutally suppressed in Newgate. Seeing Jakub draw Christopher out with his curiosity was especially touching.

I am enjoying this series immensely and am looking forward to meeting Kerrigan Byrne at the RT Convention this year. She has definitely moved onto my auto-buy list with her ability to craft such captivating and complex characters.

I received an advanced copy of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Victorian Rebels

Monday, February 1, 2016

Audiobook Review: Stone Guardian by Danielle Monsch

Stone Guardian
by Danielle Monsch
Series: Entwined Realms #1
Pub. Date: Nov. 19, 2013
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Narrator: Tavia Gilbert
Length: 9 hrs 57 min
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible
Challenges: New to You

My Rating:

Sultry Scale:

Gryphons flying past skyscrapers? Wizards battling it out in coffeehouses? Women riding motorcycles with large swords strapped to their backs? All normal sights since the Great Collision happened twenty-six years ago.

Well, not normal for everyone. Larissa Miller may have been born after the Great Collision, but as a history teacher who lives in the human-only city, she has never come into contact with any other race or species, nor has she wanted to. Her life is as ordinary as it gets - that is, until one day she walks out of her apartment and is attacked by a mob of Zombies, only to be saved by a Gargoyle.

Gargoyles trust no one outside their Clan, but due to a cryptic prophecy, Terak, Leader of the Gargoyles, has been watching over the human woman for months. While he can find no reason why the woman has been singled out, something about her stirs every protective instinct within him. When the attack confirms that the threats against her exist and are real, he convinces Larissa that though their races have never been allies, the best chance of discovering why she has been brought into his world is by working together.

In the course of their investigation Terak becomes entranced by his little human. But when he discovers why Necromancers want her and the great reward that awaits him if he betrays her, he must choose between the welfare of his Clan and not only Larissa’s life, but the fate of this New Realm as well.

My friend Deanna is a gargoyle junkie. She loves reading about gargoyles, and even ordered several for her yard. So she got me intrigued into the idea of gargoyles as main characters... plus I loved the gargoyle secondary characters in Kim Harrison's Hollows series. I was surprised though when I started the audiobook and I was hit with orcs, werewolves, vampires, dragons, and a whole slew of paranormal characters. Rock on - I love the paranormal world. So I think this series is not focusing solely on the gargoyle clans, but will have a little bit of each species as main characters and romantic interests.

Our heroine is Larissa Miller, a human female who was born during an earthquake in which the magic and human realms became entwined. We see the heartbreaking story of Larissa's father, a law enforcement officer, losing his beloved wife in childbirth. Then we jump ahead more than 20 years to when Larissa is an adult and living on her own, but is still very protected by her father and four brothers. Actually, she has been more than protected, she has been sheltered to the extent that she is nearly ignorant about the other realms and all the paranormal creatures now co-existing in her society. This becomes a detriment to Larissa when, for some unknown reason, she is targeted by a group of paras and is starts undergoing attacks by zombies, orcs and the like.

But an oracle has told our hero, Terak, that the human Larissa will be very important to the future of his gargoyle clan. So Terak has been watching over Larissa and is able to intervene to save her during these attacks. He must get Larissa to accept his protection and discover why she is the focus of this plot. The protection detail obviously brings the pair closer together, but Terak fights his feelings for a good portion of the book. It's not quite a forbidden romance... but more like Terak is trying to follow his clan traditions rather than go with what his heart wants.

I liked Terak - he was a stoic and honorable lead who was all about the good of his clan. He was a tad broody and alpha (always good), but he wasn't a lady killer with a wide swath of broken hearts in his wake. And you don't have to worry about those sexytime skills, for all his virginity, he has read lots of useful books! Larissa was an okay heroine for me, she was a bit too passive for my taste but she wasn't overly annoying. I am not a big fan of willful ignorance, and she definitely had her head stuck in the sand, blindly oblivious to the world around her. It was liked she lived in a bubble created by her father and brothers. She also had one big TSTL moment where I was literally yelling at her. But the romance between Terak and Larissa was sweet and built at a good pace. I hope they continue to appear in future books so we know what happens in their future relationship.

The world building was quite nice and I look forward to more stories in the New Realm. I think that if I would have had more time to dedicate to the audiobook, I would have enjoyed it more. As it was, I was listening for about an hour at a time over the course of a week. This made it hard for me to stay "in" the story, if you know what I mean. So that's no fault of the narrator or author, but more my inability to give this one my undivided attention.

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Entwined Realms

New Release: Hard Ever After by Laura Kaye

We are over the moon excited to bring you the Review & Excerpt Tour for Laura Kaye’s HARD EVER AFTER, a novella in Laura’s New York Times and USA Today bestselling Hard Ink Series releasing February 2, 2016! Grab your copy of the amazing final book in the Hard Ink Series today!

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Blurb

Justice served. Honor restored. Team reunited.

After a long battle to discover the truth, the men and women of Hard Ink have a lot to celebrate, especially the wedding of two of their own—Nick Rixey and Becca Merritt, whose hard-fought love deserves a happy ending.

As Nick and the team shift from crisis mode to building their new security consulting firm, Becca heads back to work at the ER. But amid the everyday chaos of demanding jobs and their upcoming nuptials, an old menace they thought long gone reemerges, threatening the peace they’ve only just found.

Now, for one last time, Nick and Becca must fight for their always and forever, because they know that when true love overcomes all the odds it lasts hard ever after.

About the Author

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over twenty books in contemporary and paranormal romance and romantic suspense, including the Hard Ink and upcoming Raven Riders series. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

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HARD EVER AFTER on Goodreads

Excerpt

Nick nailed Becca with a stare. As he watched, she made a valiant effort to button up just how upset she was, and that made him worry even more. He knelt down in front of her, his hands on her knees. “What’s going on?”

She shook her head, and his heart fucking broke as he saw her struggle to find her voice and hold back the tears.

Kat grasped something from Becca’s lap and held it out to him. “Someone left this in front of Becca’s locker at work today.”

Frowning, Nick accepted the small, floppy, black-and-brown stuffed animal into his hand. He guessed it was supposed to be a German shepherd, and the damn thing was missing a leg. It looked like someone had cut the back leg off and stapled the opening closed. What the hell?

“Look at the neck, Nick,” Kat said, her voice serious.

He flipped it around, and that was when he noticed that the animal was so floppy because the head was connected to the body only by a thin strip of material along the back. He might not have thought much about that if someone hadn’t gone to the trouble of spray painting the torn opening red. As if the neck had been slit. “Sonofabitch,” he said, hot prickles running down his back. “Talk to me, Sunshine.”

She heaved a deep breath. “I found it at the end of my shift,” she said. “I went to get my stuff, and this was sitting upright on the floor in front of my locker. I thought someone had left me a present until . . .”

“This is fucking twisted,” Kat bit out.

The words echoed Nick’s own thoughts. Twisted and threatening. The removed leg was clearly meant to communicate that the person knew Becca’s dog had only three legs, which made the threat personal and specific.

“Did you talk to security about this?” he asked, making sure to keep his voice even.

Becca shook her head. “I was so freaked out, I just wanted to get out of there.”

“I didn’t know about this until just now, or I would’ve brought us home earlier,” Kat said.

“I’m sorry,” Becca said, turning to Nick’s sister. “I just wanted to forget about it for a few hours.”

“I know,” Kat said. “You don’t have to apologize, but I’m worried about this.”

Nick nodded. “Can you think of anyone at the hospital who would do this? Who would have a problem with you?”