Archives for March 2015

Swan Deception: A Psychological Thriller by Gledé Browne Kabongo

March 30, 2015 By Leave a Comment

SWAN
Swan Deception: A Psychological Thriller by Gledé Browne Kabongo
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (448 Pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Cyclamen

Liar, killer, victim or martyr? Who is the real Shelby Cooper?

Dr. Shelby Cooper is a brilliant research scientist with a past steeped in secrets and lies—lies about her true identity, her family, and the tragic consequences of a regrettable mistake she made as a teenager. But Shelby is a survivor and now lives the life she only dreamed of with her powerful executive husband, and two perfect kids in a picturesque New England town.
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When her ex-lover is discovered shot to death in the trunk of her car, overwhelming evidence points to Shelby as the killer, and to the police it’s an open-and-shut case. For the Cooper family, it’s the beginning of a terrifying nightmare where nothing is as it seems. Who is Shelby Cooper? And why does the psychopath stalking her teenage daughter Abbie insist she has done bad things?

To unmask a killer and rescue his wife from a possible murder conviction, Jason Cooper must unravel the mystery of Shelby’s past. As the clock ticks, a series of shocking revelations threaten to destroy the Coopers for good. But nothing can prepare them for the mother of all deception — a truth so horrifying, it may leave them shattered forever.

Dr. Shelby Cooper, a brilliant research scientist, has a good life, with a wealthy husband and two wonderful children. But all of that starts to come apart and the lies about her true identity and her past start to surface. She is being stalked and worse yet for her, her children, especially her teenage daughter, are also being stalked. The stalker frames her for the murder of her ex-lover, and it is up to Jason, Shelby’s husband, to find the truth.

This is a spell-binding thriller that hooks the reader in the very beginning, building tension and suspense on every page. The unraveling of Shelby’s life is frightening and the more the reader learns the harder it is to decide whether Shelby is a liar or a killer, a victim or the true culprit.

This is a novel which is not easily put aside, and it’s also not one that I would want to read late at night. The terror is so vivid and the suspense so great that it’s a novel best read in the daylight when you have plenty of time. That being said, my only real disappointment with this otherwise spellbinding novel is that it ends rather too quickly and abruptly. Everything just gets resolved in a blink of an eye so to speak and that doesn’t fit with the rest of the pacing. For instance, we don’t really learn how Shelby figures out who her stalker is and when she and Jason make their plan to bring the stalker down.

The writing is vivid and intense, drawing the reader right into each and every scene. There are many twists and turns in the plot so that I was kept guessing about who the stalker really was. Readers of mystery thrillers are in for a real treat with Swan Deception.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

A Fireproof Home for the Bride by Amy Scheibe

March 30, 2015 By Leave a Comment

BRIDE
A Fireproof Home for the Bride by Amy Scheibe
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (384 pgs)
Rated: 3 stars
Reviewed by Snapdragon
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Emmaline Nelson and her sister Birdie grow up in the hard, cold rural Lutheran world of strict parents, strict milking times, and strict morals. Marriage is preordained, the groom practically predestined. Though it’s 1958, southern Minnesota did not see changing roles for women on the horizon. Caught in a time bubble between a world war and the ferment of the 1960’s, Emmy doesn’t see that she has any say in her life, any choices at all. Only when Emmy’s fiancé shows his true colors and forces himself on her does she find the courage to act—falling instead for a forbidden Catholic boy, a boy whose family seems warm and encouraging after the sere Nelson farm life. Not only moving to town and breaking free from her engagement but getting a job on the local newspaper begins to open Emmy’s eyes. She discovers that the KKK is not only active in the Midwest but that her family is involved, and her sense of the firm rules she grew up under—and their effect—changes completely.

Set in Minnesota mid twentieth century, A Fireproof Home for the Bride is a dark, reflective novel of one woman’s struggle to … evolve, I guess… past her upbringing. This isn’t so much coming of age as it is the escape from a lifestyle. The worst of it isn’t that there is rife racism and sexism, it is that it is so much the norm. Although hate-driven action is there, the everyday hate, seeing it simply as ‘the way it was,’ seems somehow very much worse.

Emmaline Nelson grows up in this world that makes the modern reader cringe, then very nearly squirm. We wonder if it could have been true, and how any person could even hope become a ‘someone else,’ a person with a different outlook, coming from such origins. The story does provoke thought, along with the unease. However, the writing is rather wordy, and if literary equals boring, then many a whole passage is very, very literary. However, characters are well-developed and incredibly diverse. There is hatred, expectations; a whole life planned and caged and the people around Emmy are all part of it. Yet, some of those people have a surprising side: a secret, or are simply more sympathetic side than we first suspect. The quality of characters, or of our main character’s development, is certainly excellent. The overall style of writing is top-notch as well.

A Fireproof Home for the Bride is certainly more reflective than gripping. Sadness pervades the story, and ultimately, it is disturbing. It is a valuable read, but I cannot say it was entirely enjoyable.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Sweet Jazz by Ursula Renee

March 30, 2015 By Leave a Comment

 

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Sweet Jazz by Ursula Renee
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press Inc
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (400 pgs)
Heat level: Spicy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Ginger

The Big House’s “Coloreds Only” policy makes the club popular with Harlem residents. The same policy makes it harder for the owners to find and retain musicians. After four weeks of listening to saxophonists with bigger dreams than talent, the owners are ready to hire the first person who walks in and plays “one good note.” Their words come back to haunt them when Randy Jones auditions.

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As their relationship develops, life at the club for Randy becomes complicated when he has to fight both Cass’s fear of opening her heart and those who want to keep them apart.

When Randy Jones stepped into The Big House, a jazz club in Harlem, to audition for an opening for a saxophone player he is not only breaking color barriers he catches the eye of sassy songstress Cass Porter. Will their hot performances trickle off stage and start to form a more serious relationship that they may not be ready to handle?

Sweet Jazz is a slow romance that took time to evolve the relationship between Cass and Randy. The plot is a refreshing read and also well written. It was nice to read about a couple actually taking their time to go out dancing, talking and discussing issues from their past, mainly growing and building a connection. I thought the book to be stretched out quite a bit with 400 pages of the same equable tone. It just didn’t have any real action for me to have kept the story going on and on. I am trying not to sound contradicting, yes I enjoyed the story but some parts could have been eliminated or shorten.

I like how Cass and Randy took up for each other. I get the feeling Cass could relate to Randy, being they both have been discriminated against; that could be a reason they were drawn to each other. Cass found Randy as someone she could trust to talk to and open up about her past. Randy as well was able to talk with ease to Cass about how he came about playing the saxophone. Each had a story to tell and in some sort of way grew from their past. Well Cass’s growth needed some work and hopefully with patience Randy will be the man to show her what real love can feel like.

The author tells the story in such detail, and depth a reader can’t help but picture the characters in motion, the unlikeable characters as well as the likable. The story is one of hope, determination and passion for the love of song, music and finding love when it’s least expected. I am sure Randy could have given up, packed up his sax and moved on, but he found something worth staying for and very well something worth standing up for…that speaks volumes.

Sweet Jazz is just as the title states. It is a sweet romantic story that like jazz, has propulsive rhythms played out in harmonic freedom. If you enjoy the laid back sounds of smooth jazz, this is a melodic story that you would want to add to your reading list.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

Clockwork Pirate by Lyn Gala

March 30, 2015 By Leave a Comment

IRATE
Clockwork Pirate by Lyn Gala
Publisher: Loose Id
Genre: Steampunk, Historical, Action/Adventure
Length: Full Length (308 pages)
Other: M/M, Frottage
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Lilac

Alex hid his unnatural attraction to men for many years. That changes when the pirate Beche takes Alex after capturing his ship. At first Alex believes his fate is death and the only question a matter of how he might die. However, the longer he is on the ship, the more he realizes that Beche hates the world because it is unfair in ways Alex never understood. As Alex begins to respect this strong, independent man, Alex’s dormant desires begin to reassert themselves.

Beche hates the titled classes and their government enforcers. They might have outlawed slavery on paper, but they never came to the islands to free him or his family. Since his skin is black, society has little respect for him. Beche expects no more of this latest captive, but soon Beche begins to realize that Alex is a naïve and beautiful man who values family and struggles with his own place in society. That poses an even larger problem because Beche does not want to send Alex back to a world that will mistreat him, but he has no place for a lord on a ship full of pirates.

A young lordling on a trading voyage gets captured by pirates and learns that sometimes pirates can be more dangerous and yet more honorable than the so-called civilized nobility.
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This is a captivating tale. It took me in directions I hadn’t anticipated. If you’re looking for a simple sex romp between a nobleman and a pirate, you’re looking in the wrong place. If you want a fascinating steampunk pirate story that challenges the way you think, then you’ve struck gold.

First of all, there’s the characterization. Alex has a curious duality about him, shy and quiet one moment, strong and opinionated the next. His father did horrible things to him when he learned of Alex’s homosexual tendencies, and the doctors involved told him terrible outright lies. As a result, he has no idea how to deal with his mixed feelings about Beche, the leader of the pirates. For him, learning about his true self and evolving his relationship with Beche are inextricably linked. Alex learns more about bravery in a short period of time than most men do in their entire lives.

Beche, on the other hand, is a former slave who endured heinous brutalities at the hands of his… shall we say, master. I’ll let you figure out another word for that evil man. With the help of other slaves and a guard, he freed himself. But for a black man with scars on his face he wasn’t exactly swamped with alternative lifestyle choices or employment. What’s most intriguing about him are his beliefs concerning Alex, whom he sees as a gentler soul than is natural for a man. In essence, Beche thinks Alex has the soul of a woman in a man’s body, which is how he explains his own attraction to the defiant lordling. Heady stuff.

At first the plot moves slowly as Alex gets used to his new life on board the pirate ship. In fact, the majority of this book is filled with dialogue and long conversations about the nature of human beings, sexuality, sexual identity, ethics, morality, honor, law, truth, lies—everything under the sun. It raises a simple tale of a lordling and a pirate meeting into an almost social narrative, giving this tale great depth and this alternate steampunk historical world context and foundation. Sure, at times the words these people used seemed too civilized and educated to fit their roles and lives in those times. There was even the word “online” embedded there once, but it was a minor oversight.

As far as the sex goes, this rates mainly as sweet romance rather than full on erotic. There’s only a couple of sex scenes, and there’s no anal sex or penetration whatsoever. For such a long story I admit I was expecting the sensual content to be greater. Most of the tale is full of action and adventure when Beche is caught by soldiers, taken to a fort, and has to be rescued with the collaboration and help of the pirates and Alex’s warrior-like sister, Philla, and his inventor sister, Aster. The other main side characters, Fabrice and Manuel, offer true insight into hard men who’ve lived through horrors but still retained their humanity by forming a bond as brothers and maintaining a dry sense of humor about the world.

All in all, this story has a lot of offer. The steampunk element isn’t as overpowering as it might, focusing on steam tech inventions more than the subculture of it, but in my opinion this is still a steampunk story with airships and Tesla gaslights. While I would have personally wished for more sensuality in Beche and Alex’s relationship, it was the slow-building of their trust and respect for one another that made the book so strong. While this tale finishes with a somewhat open-ended conclusion, I can foresee a happy future ahead for our heroes. I recommend this to all lovers of intricate slow-built stories with great depth, plenty of delicious, multilayered dialogue, and lots of action.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Duke’s Disaster by Grace Burrowes

March 27, 2015 By 2 Comments

DUKES
The Duke’s Disaster by Grace Burrowes
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (384 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Bluet

Noah Winters, Earl of Anselm, spent months sorting and courting the year’s crop of debutantes in search of an ideal bride. When the sweet, biddable young thing he selected accepts another’s proposal, Noah decides to court her companion instead.

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Noah Winters, the Duke of Anselm, needs a wife. It’s time to fulfill his ducal duty and produce the required heir. Being the sensible gentleman that he is, he prepares a list of candidates, then culls the list down to one, and proceeds to court her.

After a few weeks, Noah learns that his potential bride is about to become engaged to a mere baron. Rather than being heartbroken, Noah is just annoyed at the time he’s wasted. Her companion, Araminthea (Thea) Collins should fill the bill nicely. She’s an earl’s daughter, sensible, attractive, and surely will jump at the chance to be a duchess. NOT!

Thea is content with her life as a paid companion. While she must give serious consideration to the duke’s proposal, she can’t see any great advantage in accepting. That is, until the duke agrees to let Thea’s younger sister live with them, and be launched into society. This proves too much of an inducement, so Thea accepts. But, still, there is something she needs to tell Noah before the marriage, a secret that he has to know. Fate seems to be plotting against her, and Thea can’t find an opportunity to talk to Noah alone. Before she knows it, she is married, and she’s facing her new husband on their wedding night. The circumstances that Thea wanted Noah to know about before the wedding are now revealed, and Noah feels betrayed. He makes the decision that they will have to wait for any sexual intimacy, and he will decide whether to put Thea aside or stay married.

I felt for Thea, as we learn later that she was truly a victim. She’s a kind person, who took her job seriously and didn’t bemoan her fate. I do think she should have insisted on finding a moment alone with Noah before their marriage, but can’t we all relate to putting off an uncomfortable situation? After the marriage, she did her best to be the kind of duchess Noah needed, while she waited to see what her fate would be. Noah describes himself as not a nice person, but I have to disagree. While he did make a few cutting remarks at first, he came around to treating Thea as his wife, giving her every courtesy. Soon, the two are growing closer, and coming to like each other very much. They begin touching each other, even sleeping together, but not sexually. Before the issue of the marriage is resolved, it turns out that Noah has a secret of his own, something major that he should have told Thea before the wedding. As Thea steps up, and takes this in stride, my admiration for her only grew.

Finally, they come together as husband and wife. Their amazing chemistry draws them closer together, not only in the bedroom, but in all facets of their life. As it looks like their happy ever after is assured, the past intrudes, and it hits close to home. Noah and Thea are going to have to be strong and remain united in facing new threats and past demons. Grace Burrowes excels in her character development, and her ability to turn the ordinary into something intimate and special. Sharing a cup of tea, or a meal becomes so much more. One scene in particular had the tears flowing. This book is warm, touching, emotional, sexy, and had me staying up reading into the wee hours. Most highly recommended

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

A Game of Greed and Deception by John Matthews

March 27, 2015 By Leave a Comment

GREED
A Game of Greed and Deception by John Matthews
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Suspense/Mystery, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (186 pgs)
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Orchid

She is young and beautiful, and recently married to a very wealthy middle-aged man who considers her to be the ultimate woman for him and holds her out as a model for his beloved 10-year-old daughter. They travel to a mountain hideaway to celebrate their first year together as a family when things begin to unravel. Her husband goes missing after a treacherous car accident, and the wife and daughter seem trapped and isolated, and stalked from both inside and outside the cabin.

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Greed is the main theme of this novel with violence and confusion to help it along its way.

From the first it is obvious the wife has married for money and to get everything she plans a murder. I read on eager to see if she succeeded in her aim, or her tricks were discovered before she could kill her husband.

Tammy, Stephen and Maria, Stephen’s ten year-old daughter, travel to a remote cabin in snow covered mountains where the husband disappears leaving Tammy to pretend she’s frantic with worry. She also has to convince Maria her only worry is Stephen has become lost in the snowstorm. Strange happenings convince her that Stephen is still alive and trying to frighten her, while Maria tries to discover where her father is.

The concept of this story is excellent, and intriguing for suspense and mystery buffs. Unfortunately my eagerness to read the book faded as the story jolted from one point of view to another creating confusion and interrupting the flow to a point where II therefore found it difficult to get involved in the storyline.

Gore, suspense and mystery are all present in this book, and with a polish it would be a very good book.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin

March 27, 2015 By Leave a Comment

ALPHA
Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin
Publisher: Ink Monster, LLC
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Paranormal
Length: Full Length (276 pgs)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

Tessa McCaide has a unique talent for getting into trouble. Then again, it isn’t easy for a girl with visions to ignore what she sees. Luckily Tessa and her family are leaving California and moving halfway across the country, giving her the perfect opportunity to leave her reputation as “Freaky Tessa” behind.

But Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could land her in far more trouble than she ever imagined. Like being forced to attend St. Ailbe’s Academy, a secret boarding school for werewolves.

Even if the wrong guy did accidentally turn her into one of “them” and doom her to attending the weirdest high school ever, Tessa can’t help her growing attraction to the mysterious Dastien Laurent.

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Team Jacob, move on over. There’s a better werewolf in town, Dastien, and he’s an alpha with a capital A. Tessa is the heroine who makes a lot of sense and I enjoyed watching her come to grips with the new crazy that has become her life.

The best thing I liked about Tessa is her personality. She’s always been an outsider because of her gifts and she’s been shunned, bullied and ignored. There’s a saying, “that which doesn’t kills us, makes us stronger” and it’s appropriate for Tessa. I totally understood her character. When a kid has to deal with bullies, and survives, there can be a strength that is born, a maturity that is beyond their chronological age because they survived adversity. They end up being able to handle the trash that life throws at them much better than their peers who have had it easy or were the “popular” crowd. When things don’t go their way, prima donnas lose their cool but survivors, like Tessa, shine and can handle crisis much better. That’s how I saw the heroine. Her tough life prepared her for not only the wild adversity and craziness of the world she was thrust into, but in the middle of all that insane change, she found her stride, friends and her first boyfriend. Good things can and do happen, but for Tessa, well, there’s a huge price to pay. She’s not the only one who pays it either.

For the first book in the series, it does a wonderful job of setting the stage, introducing the main characters and antagonists and the emotional hoops Tessa is going to face. The story is told in first person point of view which usually bugs me. Not this time. It’s perfect for the story and the author never slipped once. I loved the author’s voice, Tessa’s attitude, and the descriptions throughout the story were spot on. Once the heroine got bit and all the weird stuff started happening – the revelations, the action, the twists and turns she has to navigate as she is introduced to a new school and new classmates, the snide and jealous girls and the snarky comments – I could not stop reading. It was like a compulsion; I had to turn the pages, keep reading, find out what happens next, and what happened after that. It’s a very busy, action filled book mixed with realistic dialogue, secrets, intrigue and tension from the simmering violence. And through it all, I liked Tessa’s character more and more.

Dastien, he’s a different matter. I liked him and the author’s description of him was yummy. But he sure came across as a waffle – he couldn’t make up his mind. Thank goodness the author had him explaining why he was that way. The reason made me like him all the more. I liked when he growled and when he calmed Tessa down. He has a lot of wonderful characteristics that appealed to me.

As for kissing, well, there certainly was some and it briefly got a bit steamy–they are wolves after all. But that was as far as it went. I’d call it sweet, but with a hint of hot sauce.

The small core group of friends that Tessa gathers around her throughout the course of the story were awesome and a great supporting cast I liked them all. As for the bad guys, if I wasn’t supposed to like them, the author made sure I didn’t – but there is a twist at the end. Another reason why I liked Tessa so much.

Becoming Alpha is awesome. It’s way better than the book with the sparkly vampire guy and this heroine is spunky, extremely likable and has a good head on her shoulders. What’s even better, this is a series with a couple more books already out and a brand new one coming out later this year. I’m going to be budgeting to buy all of them. And, if they all are written as good as this one? Wow, am I going to be in for a treat. I can’t wait!!!

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Cowboy’s Little Surprise by Barbara White Daille

March 27, 2015 By Leave a Comment

SURPRISE
The Cowboy’s Little Surprise by Barbara White Daille
Publisher: Harlequin
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (218 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

THE LONG WAY HOME

A guy like Cole Slater is hard to forget. Tina Sanchez should know—for years since high school she’s tried to bury the pain of Cole’s cruel betrayal. But it’s impossible to ignore the man she sees reflected in her young son’s eyes now that Cole is back in her life—and about to meet the child he never knew he had.

Returning home to New Mexico, Cole is determined to put his playboy reputation to rest. Especially now that he knows there’s a little boy looking up to him. And seeing Tina again reignites all the feelings Cole ran from as a teen. Despite his fear that he can’t be the man Tina deserves, he’s determined to try. For his son’s sake—and his own.

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Cole returns to Cowboy Creek in New Mexico, a place he’d run from. The back story of why he ran and why he was, as he put it, “such a jackass” in his teens certainly helps the reader see why Tina is skittish when it comes to trusting Cole.

Tina’s back story that connects her with her Abuela and Jedediah Garland, the owner of the Hitching Post Hotel, reaches right into and squeezes the reader’s heart. Tina’s self-esteem is fragile and she guards it well. The very presence of Cole, the love of her life, tries her resolve to the limit.

One of the best parts of the story is little Robbie and the way he sees the world. How he influences the actions of adults is delightful.

The secondary characters like Tina’s cousins Andi and Jane; Cole’s sister Layne and her little son Scott add facets to the story that augment the concept of coping and overcoming heartbreaks. Also, Tina’s Abuela and Jedediah, even though getting on in years, still guard secrets well and manipulate with expert skill, yet with a love that is undeniable.

The Cowboy’s Little Surprise entertains while it makes a strong statement about not letting the past control the future. Redemption and happiness can be realized.

Barbara White Daille’s smooth writing style eases the reader away from the mundane, then into the lives of the characters and a quagmire of emotions.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

Bite at First Sight by Brooklyn Ann

March 26, 2015 By 4 Comments

BITE
Bite at First Sight by Brooklyn Ann
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Historical, Paranormal
Length: Full Length (366 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

When Rafael Villar, Lord Vampire of London, stumbles upon a woman in the cemetery, he believes he’s found a vampire hunter—not the beautiful, intelligent stranger she proves to be.

Cassandra Burton is enthralled by the scarred, disfigured vampire who took her prisoner. The aspiring physician was robbing graves to pursue her studies—and he might turn out to be her greatest subject yet. So they form a bargain: one kiss for every experiment. As their passion grows and Rafe begins to heal, only one question remains: can Cassandra see the man beyond the monster?

I’ve been waiting for Rafe’s story and I was not disappointed. This book was fun!

Penegra is an ED drug which helps to cure all sexual and health disorders as you pfizer viagra canada grow older. So the viagra cheap is cheap. Listed cheap cialis overnight below are some important guidelines which have preventive benefits and can play an important role in sex life. Side Effects The most common side effects associated with the improper amount of blood present in this organ, it causes the failure of men for achieving the hard erection of the penile region during making love.The pill contains subtle characteristics & is composed of an active ingredient Sildenafil citrate. see for source on line cialis I liked Cassandra immensely. I enjoyed her determination, spunk and sass. I got a kick out of her refusal to be cowed and her fascination about vampires, once she’s accepted that they’re real, and everything else that may or may not come along from the knowing. If anything thwarted her, she didn’t let it block her for long. Her uniqueness is what drew me but her personality kept me. I can see why she drove Rafe, the hero, nuts.

In the previous books, Rafe was very gruff, standoffish, opinionated and a man of few words. I wasn’t sure how in the world Ms. Ann was going to present him as a believable hero, but she did it. He never let his disability slow him down but it did affect his emotions and how he approached things in his life, like his romantic entanglements. The author garnered sympathy and interest from me for her hero and it all worked out.

I think the only thing that rang a sour note in the book was Rafe’s cluelessness about the villain. It’s mentioned he was suspicious, but he was So observant and sneaky and effective in the preceding book. His strength of character seemed a bit diluted in this one. Then again, he wasn’t in love, or fighting falling in love, in the other story either. Perhaps that explains it?

This is the third book in the series and as is true for the second, it’s true for Bite at First Sight – this is a standalone read. It’s easy to enjoy even if this tale is being read out of sequence. The author kept the story focused on Rafe and Cassandra, so a reader shouldn’t get lost. Some references are made to other characters from past books but they don’t play any significant roles except token appearances after all is said and done. However, there is a very believable and solid hook presented in this novel that truly has me wondering. I’m thinking they’ll be a good match based on their first meeting but how is the author going to navigate the emotional landmines laid down in this book for the next? I can’t wait to find out.

I enjoyed it when Cassandra and Rafe finally do get to explore the physical sides of their natures. It was especially entertaining when the heroine figured out what the fuss was all about. Her enthusiasm is delightful and very much appreciated by the hero.

Of course, there is suspense and drama injected into the romance by a very twisted, jealous and unprincipled vampire. Just when I thought the villain was going to get away with his plot, the author pleased me with her course of action. I’m glad everything turned out okay for the doctors. The scenes were tremendously well written and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Bite at First Sight is a great addition to the series and is a story easy to recommend to other paranormal romance fans. This novel is fun, addictive and wickedly entertaining. I couldn’t ask for a better happy ever after for Cassandra and Rafe – it was perfect for their characters and positions in life – or unlife. Ms. Ann certainly has a fan in me.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Lillian on Life by Alison Jean Lester

March 26, 2015 By Leave a Comment

 

LIFE
Lillian on Life by Alison Jean Lester
Publisher: John Murray
Genre: Mainstream Women’s Fiction
Length: Full Length (218 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

This is the story of Lillian, a single woman reflecting on her choices and imagining her future. Born in the Midwest in the 1930s; Lillian lives, loves, and works in Europe in the fifties and early sixties; she settles in New York and pursues the great love of her life in the sixties and seventies. Now it’s the early nineties, and she’s taking stock. Throughout her life, walking the unpaved road between traditional and modern choices for women, Lillian grapples with parental disappointment and societal expectations, wins and loses in love, and develops her own brand of wisdom. Lillian on Life lifts the skin off the beautiful, stylish product of an era to reveal the confused, hot-blooded woman underneath.

Lillian’s life was not the ordinary for a woman in the last half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. Her observations, inner feelings, outer actions, indiscretions, and hard-won wisdom make compelling reading.
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Lillian On Life is thought-provoking and best when read in short segments, with time between to think about what Lillian learned, and how she handled it in respect to what she wanted and what was expected of her. As a single woman making her way in the world from Missouri to Paris, London, and New York, she struggles with self-esteem issues, unresolved parental issues, and relationship issues.

She learns early that “male pride” is like an electric fence—not to be touched. Each man she has a relationship with reinforces this belief. As spinsterhood sets in, she makes peace with her place in the life of the man she is seeing—whether he is married or single.

Alison Jean Lester’s seemingly simple, understated writing style immerses the reader’s senses into the monotony of life, the glamour of life, the characters’ personal secrets, and the emotions or lack of emotions in relationships that may linger but never last.

The tangled webs woven in Lillian’s life and how she either lives with them or moves on reveals much about humanity and the defense mechanisms used to survive and find peace with decisions made, whether good or bad.

A memorable bit of wisdom offered in the book is: Speak for yourself. Don’t let anyone else speak for you, because they only see what you DO, not what you WANT TO DO.

Lillian On Life is unusual story and gives the reader pause for thought on how his or her own life is playing out.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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