Series Saturday Audiobook Review: Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

Grave Witch 
by Kalayna Price
Series:  Alex Craft #1
Pub. Date:  Apr. 18, 2011
Publisher:  Tantor Audio
Narrator:  Emily Durante
Length:  10 hrs 3 min
Format:  Audiobook


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Grave witch Alex Craft can speak to the dead, but that doesn’t mean she likes what they have to say...

As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex Craft has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she’s on good terms with Death himself—who happens to look fantastic in a pair of jeans—nothing has prepared her for her latest case. Alex is investigating a high profile murder when she’s attacked by the ‘shade’ she’s raising, which should be impossible. To top off her day, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, but Death saves her. Guess he likes having her around... 

To solve this case Alex will have to team up with tough homicide detective Falin Andrews. Falin seems to be hiding something—though it’s certainly not his dislike of Alex—but Alex knows she needs his help to navigate the tangled webs of mortal and paranormal politics, and to track down a killer wielding a magic so malevolent, it may cost Alex her life... and her soul. 

I first read this series back in the first half of 2013, and I really enjoyed it. Then we have had to wait a couple years for the latest book (Grave Visions) to come out, which is finally happening on Feb. 2, 2016. Because I have not reviewed this series for the blog, and I am not very good at remembering what I read so long ago, I thought I would re-read the series in audiobook leading up to the new release.

Freebie Friday Review: Beg by C.D. Reiss

Beg 
by C.D. Reiss
Serial:  Songs of Submission #1
Pub. Date:  Jan. 16, 2013
Free Date:  Jan. 27, 2015
Publisher:  Flip City Media
Pages:  102


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Jonathan Drazen is a known womanizer and a gorgeous piece of man I'm not letting into my heart. Ever. 

Yeah, he's rich, beautiful, charming as hell, and he has a wit as sharp as a double-edged razor... but he's made it perfectly clear that this is a short-term fuck. Three nights, tops, then we part like sexually satisfied grown-ups. 

I believe him when he says he can't love me. I'm not trying to fall in love, either. 

We get in. Get it on. Get the hell out. Done. 

Right? 

Right. 

This is a short and quick review for a short and quick first episode of the Songs of Submission serial.

Review: The Infamous Heir by Elizabeth Michels

The Infamous Heir 
by Elizabeth Michels
Series:  Spare Heirs #1
Pub. Date:  March 1, 2016
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Casablanca
Pages:  352
Format:  eARC
Source:  NetGalley


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

The Spare Heirs Society Cordially Invites You to Meet Ethan Moore: The Scoundrel

Lady Roselyn Grey’s debut has finally arrived, and of course, she has every flounce and flutter planned to perfection…that is, if the brother of the man she intends to marry doesn’t ruin everything first. 

Ethan Moore is a prizefighting second son, and that’s all he ever should have been. But in an instant, his brother’s noble title is his, the eyes of the ton are upon him, and the lady he’s loved for years would rather meet him in the boxing ring than the ballroom. 

He’s faced worse. With the help of the Spare Heirs Society, Ethan’s certain he can get to the bottom of his brother’s unexpected demise and win the impossible lady who has haunted his dreams for as long as he can remember…

This is a Victorian Era romance that revolves around the Whitby jet mining/trade.  For those unfamiliar with jet, it became popular when Queen Victoria wore the jet jewelry to mourn the passing of Albert. This story has made me want my very own jet jewelry from Whitby! The jet in the Whitby mines is said to date back to the Jurassic period and is over 182 Million years old. I think it would be a great conversation piece so it's going on my Christmas list! (P.S. Thanks to Wikipedia on the jet education)

Thrifty Thursday: Pre-Order Sale on Debt by Rachel Dunning

99c Pre-Order Sale
Over 400 Pages
Standalone Novel
New-Adult Romance / Sports Romance

DEBT

By Rachel Dunning

Expected Release Date:

March 2016

What’s it about?

The Debt Collector

 I pay my debts, and I expect others to.

I was raised in the slums of London, I knew nothing of privilege. My father was murdered when I was seventeen. Morty figured my father's passing meant I would automatically take on dad's debts. I refused.

And I paid for that refusal.

So did my sister.

So now I fight. All I know how to do is fight. The best cash is in the states, so that's where I am now. A big fish called Vito came along offering me a "favor" when I arrived.

Another debt.

I paid for that one too.

I knew Kyla Hensley would be trouble when I met her. But I wanted her. I could see through the falsehood of her wannabe-slutty clothes and her sexy legs. So I chased her.

Besides, trouble is my middle name.

Review: The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

The Passenger 
by Lisa Lutz
Pub. Date:  March 1, 2016
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Pages:  320
Format:  eARC
Source:  NetGalley


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Spellman Files series, Lisa Lutz’s latest blistering thriller is about a woman who creates and sheds new identities as she crisscrosses the country to escape her past: you’ll want to buckle up for the ride!

In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it...

Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It’s not the first time.

She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born.

It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret…can she outrun her past?

With heart-stopping escapes and devious deceptions, The Passenger is an amazing psychological thriller about defining yourself while you pursue your path to survival. One thing is certain: the ride will leave you breathless.

Oh man this is a hard book to review. So let me start out by saying - I liked it! It was definitely outside my normal romance-genre reads. Sometimes I step outside my fantasy world looking for a palette cleanser, and its always nice to find one like The Passenger. Lisa Lutz is new-to-me as an author, but I hope she keeps writing books in this genre because I will be a fan. I may even give her Spellman series a shot if I get in the mystery mood.

New Release: The Rogue by Katharine Ashe

Enter to Win a Katharine Ashe

Print Bundle (U.S. Only)

THE ROGUE

Devil's Duke #1

Katharine Ashe

Releasing February 23rd, 2016

Avon Books

In the first book in Katharine Ashe’s stunning new historical series, to capture a duke, a lady must first seduce a rogue. 

Review: Lions in the Garden by Chelsea Luna

Lions in the Garden 
by Chelsea Luna
Series:  The Uprising #1
Pub. Date:  March 1, 2016
Publisher:  Kensington
Pages:  236
Format:  eARC
Source:  NetGalley


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Prague, 1610

Ludmila Novakova--Mila--has barely set foot outside Prague Castle in her seventeen years. But with the choice between braving the bandits and wolves of Bohemia's uneasy roads or being married off to a disgusting old baron, she's taken what she can carry and fled. 

Escape won't be easy. Even Mila has heard the rumors of a rebellion coming against the court. The peasants are hungry. The king hasn't been seen in months. Mila's father, the High Chancellor, is well known and well hated. 

But Mila can't sit behind a stone wall and let fear force her into a life of silk gowns and certain misery. Her mother's death has taught her that much. She has one ally: Marc, the son of the blacksmith. A commoner, a Protestant--and perhaps a traitor, too. But the farther she gets from the castle, the more lies she uncovers, unraveling everything she thought she knew. And the harder it is to tell friend from enemy--and wrong from right . . .

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I loved that the setting was Prague/Bohemia as it gave me a nice change of pace from the more prevalent England/Scotland settings. I would also say this one focuses a tad more on the historical fiction side than historical romance - but there is still some (clean) romance in there for those that need it in their stories. This was also one of those books that had me googling things as I read. I don't recall learning much about Prague in school, so it made me curious about its history and the people featured in the story.