Shadows Of Our Past by Tanya Jean Russell

April 20, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Shadows Of Our Past by Tanya Jean Russell
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full length (214 pages)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Jackson Halland has spent ten years running from a mistake that cost him everything, including Amory Jackson, the woman he loved. With his gut wrenching response to her reappearance, he realizes that if she will forgive him, then maybe, just maybe, he can forgive himself.

After ten years of working undercover, Amory agrees to one final mission. Vowing to get justice for the woman she promised, and failed to protect, nothing will stand in her way, not the prolific criminal she’s determined to bring down and certainly not coming face to face with the man she fell in love with on her very first undercover assignment. Even if he has no idea who she really is, or the part she played in his past.

Amory is tired of undercover work and determined to move her life into a different direction. She agrees to do one more job, only this one seems like a catastrophe from the beginning. Jack Davis is her target’s brother and he could easily blow her cover – since Jack was part of Amory’s first operation and she was responsible for sending him to jail. But this job is worth the risk, but Amory doesn’t realise that her heart might be on the line too.

I really enjoyed this character-driven mystery. Amory is an interesting and quite complex character, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and watching her try to juggle all the various balls in her operation. This story had a bit of a feel of a spy-like thriller to me, Amory needing to keep a whole bunch of people, actions, reactions and counter-reactions all moving along smoothly while simultaneously trying to guess what would happen next and how best to achieve her mission. This alone meant the story was complex and rich – and to my mind made the plot interesting enough it retained my attention throughout the story. Add in the complexity of Jack turning up and being the estranged brother of the key player to Amory’s plan and that just added a delicious extra layer to this story as a whole.

I loved that the romance sub-plot was subtle. I truly feel the mystery – and complex mission – was front and centre, but having Jack around, and the memories he invoked in Amory just added that lovely simmering romantic tension that had me eagerly turning the pages, waiting to see how their reconnection (and hopefully their starting a romance up again properly as adults this time) would unfold. I was delighted to not be left disappointed. While not overly explicit, I did enjoy the steamy sex scenes which I found to be full of love and tension. Amory and Jack have chemistry in abundance – they both have their own reasons for thinking their relationship will go nowhere, but neither are able to resist the lure of love they feel for the other.

I was a little concerned that Amory’s deception to Jack for her work would either become a clichéd or over the top. I felt the author did an excellent job handling Jack finding out the truth. While he was understandably angry and felt betrayed I thought the pacing and level of drama attached to his sorting through his emotions and thoughts was handled really well. It wasn’t drawn out but neither skimmed over, and I was particularly pleased with how Amory acknowledged her part in Jack’s pain – but how she refused to take responsibility for his choices and actions.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this story, finding the plot complex and substantial and the characters vibrant, realistic and engrossing. The author has woven together a fantastic story with some sizzling chemistry and a lovely romantic sub-plot. A great read and one I shall absolutely enjoy again a number of times in the future.

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

Digging In by Loretta Nyhan

April 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Digging In by Loretta Nyhan
Publisher: Lake Union
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full length (263 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

In Loretta Nyhan’s warm and witty Amazon Charts bestselling novel, a widow discovers an unexpected chance to start over—right in her own backyard.

Paige Moresco found her true love in eighth grade—and lost him two years ago. Since his death, she’s been sleepwalking through life, barely holding on for the sake of her teenage son. Her house is a wreck, the grass is overrun with weeds, and she’s at risk of losing her job. As Paige stares at her neglected lawn, she knows she’s hit rock bottom. So she does something entirely unexpected: she begins to dig.

As the hole gets bigger, Paige decides to turn her entire yard into a vegetable garden. The neighbors in her tidy gated community are more than a little alarmed. Paige knows nothing about gardening, and she’s boldly flouting neighborhood-association bylaws. But with the help of new friends, a charming local cop, and the transformative power of the soil, Paige starts to see potential in the chaos of her life. Something big is beginning to take root—both in her garden and in herself.

This author tackles a hard subject. How do you go on when your other half dies in a freak accident? There was no warning, life isn’t the same and your helpmate is gone. It doesn’t help when your child doesn’t want to talk about it either. What makes this story even more meaningful is that the author’s own husband died while playing golf. Her story isn’t this story but it makes it even more touching.

Paige had been in love with him since the eighth grade and is trying to learn to live without him. Then her boss dies and his son takes over the company. Her home and her clothes and her life are all a mess and now she might lose her job…

It’s very easy to fall into oblivion when a major traumatic event shakes up your life. She’s emotionally unstable, is fighting with her neighbor, and the folks in the housing association think she’s losing touch with rationality. She thinks they may be right.

Ms. Nyhan takes you through Paige’s life as she fumbles around trying to put her life back together. She finds a man she likes and decides to take it slow and see how it goes. Her son rebels. She’s gardening even if she really doesn’t know how because she’s friends with a lady from the Farmer’s Market. And the road isn’t clear yet but she’s finding her direction.

The story sounds authentic and the author makes you feel her sorrow and her uncertainty. Paige can’t give up but she’d like to. Then, with the help of friends, she perks up and starts making a new life. Everyone has gone through that at some time in their life. Did you do as well as Paige?

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Divulging Secrets by Lynn Burke

April 19, 2018 By 1 Comment


Divulging Secrets by Lynn Burke
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short story (81 pages)
Other: M/F
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Candace Lake’s testimony against her father landed her in the Witness Protection program. With a new identity comes a new beginning, one based on lies and loneliness. How can she find someone to share her future with when a relationship without trust at its foundation won’t stand the storms of life?

Tom Berkley didn’t expect his new tenant to make him question his solitary lifestyle in the backwoods of Maine. He also didn’t expect to be caught up in the secrets of her past that bring his own tragic ones to the forefront of his mind.

The sizzling chemistry between them can’t be ignored, but when the threats from Candace’s turbulent past catch up with her, can she trust Tom enough to protect her from the price on her head?

After Lila had turned state’s evidence, helping put her father in jail so her own sentence would be more lenient, she’d gone into Witness Protection and left everything of meaning in her life behind. Choosing her new name and deciding to start again in Maine, Lila wasn’t keen to have the rest of her life revolve around lies, but she had no choice. Tom is an ex-SEAL and enjoys his farm and quiet life. He’s initially reluctant to have Lila – now Candace – on his property but he figures it’ll only be for a few months till she gets her feet solidly under herself and then she’ll move on. The fact she stirs his blood unlike anyone else is just a minor annoyance he needs to overcome. While their attraction grows they both have secrets and lies that become harder and harder to keep.

I found this to be an enjoyable story. Lila (who is referred to as Candace once she takes on that new identity) was a deep and complex character, which absolutely thrilled me. An only child in an exceedingly close-knit family with her mother and father I got the strong impression Lila was protected and spoiled and her life before the story was smooth, clear sailing. I was pleased she genuinely had no idea of her father’s criminal activities (I think I’d have found it vastly more difficult to enjoy or like Lila had she been a knowing participant in that) and while it was selfish of her to sell her dad and most of his partners in crime up the river to lessen her own sentence and gain access to witness protection I can certainly understand why she did it and I couldn’t fault her for her actions.

With her whole world turned upside down – and having to leave all that behind her – I actually came to really enjoy Candace. Now, obviously, Lila and Candace are the same person – just different facets of the true character/person Lila/Candace is, but Candace is someone who I can see myself being friends with – a modern woman learning her own independence, teaching herself to cook and do a grocery run, searching for a job and opening a bank account, lusting after her hot, ripped neighbor. Despite the lies surrounding Candace’s past, Candace was someone I genuinely could see myself being friendly with. Candace struck me as the quintessential girl-next-door, with a real life and real problems and plenty of secrets and a past.

I felt the pacing of the story was really good – not too fast and not too slow – but I also found the plotting exceptional. Tom’s knowing/guessing much about Candace’s past was intelligent and some exceptional writing. It also solved the problem (and my only twinge of concern when picking up the book) about how to get around Candace uttering lie after lie of her history and past. I usually am not a fan of stories where the entire relationship is built on a stack of lies (even for a good cause – like Witness Protection), but I found the author did a brilliant job of keeping the story real but also giving a fresh (to me, at least) reasoning behind why Tom wasn’t duped and went into the relationship with Candace with his eyes wide open. I *loved* this aspect of the story and it was like the final piece of the puzzle clicking into place for me, no worry and concern about Tom reacting to being duped, no guilt and baggage for Candace feeling like she had to build her relationship (as well as her new life) based on endless lies. It was glorious and I’d rate this easily the best style of story like this that I’ve read in years.

And of course the sex is steamy hot. Like any modern woman having to start again from scratch with a deliciously hot ex-SEAL literally on her doorstep, the eye candy alone would be worth the price of admission. My only tiny disappointment was that it was mostly chemistry building up between Candace and Tom throughout the story. While they both do eventually come together and cement their relationship in a sexual sense this is right at the end of the story. I loved the fact the plot, character growth and increasing tension was so well written and such a large part of the story-line, but readers looking for a strongly erotic, sexual story might find this one aspect slightly lacking. When the climax was reached, however, it made the wait – and explosive chemistry between Candace and Tom – worthwhile to my mind.

A well plotted, character-centric story with plenty of steam and chemistry, this was a great read and one I can highly recommend.

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

A Murder of Principle by Susan Coryell

April 18, 2018 By 19 Comments


A Murder of Principle by Susan Coryell
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Genre: Mystery/Suspense, Contemporary
Length: Full length (275 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Snowdrop

A new principal takes Harding High by storm, wreaking havoc with every executive order and every decision, tearing apart the stellar school tenet by tenet.

Teachers, other administrators, students, parents, and the community at large increasingly react to the tremors shaking Harding High as Principal Wendy Storme churns a destructive path through their traditions, values, and protocol. Everyone associated with Harding has a valid motive for murder.

Determined to save her school and friends, English department chair, Rose Lane, and her rookie sidekick, intern Penny Bright, vow to move the hurricane-force Storme out of Harding for good…except somebody beats them to it with the decisiveness of murder.

What mystery about a school wouldn’t have a mean old principal? This one fits the bill starting with Wendy Storme the new mean principal hired to replace the retiring one. Though she is not necessarily eager to be placed in the position of saving the school, Rose, the new English Dept Head, decides to take on the role and show that new incorrigible principal what’s what. It is such a breath of fresh air to see the teachers (or some of them) portrayed in a good light in this mystery. While they may have been somewhat impolitely vocal about well…you already know who I mean…the mean old Principal, Wendy Storme, they are for the most part eager for their school and their students to do well.

I am not always in favor of books that open with the scene of the crime and then step back in time to describe how we got to that point. I’m not crazy about it at all and I was already set not to like Susan Coryell’s book. But then, she caught my attention and I couldn’t let go or at least not until I was all the way to the very end. Her characters were very clear and her school life description very distinct. In truth, what I thought was going to be a book I would not enjoy turned out to be well-written and very readable.

In summary, Put this one on your TBR list and check out her other books too.

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

Woman Of His Dreams by Sam Crescent

April 18, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Woman Of His Dreams by Sam Crescent
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short story (41 Pages)
Other: M/F, Anal Play, Toys
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Tulip

Reese and Julia have never liked each other. From the moment they met, they clashed. She thinks he’s a man-whore, and he believes she’s an entitled bitch with her head always stuck in a book. One night, one argument, too many drinks, and those views change. Instead of being annoyed by her, Reese just wants to fuck her—and one time is never enough.

After just passing high school, and failing college, Julia is trying to pass classes at night courses, but she’s failing that, too. Coming from a family of high achievers, she hasn’t found her place in the world. But one night with Reese and her ordered world comes to a halt.

Their “sex dates” turn into something more as they share themselves and what they care about, and Reese comes to realize that Julia is the woman of his dreams. He’s willing to fight to take her as his own, but can she trust him with her heart and not just her body?

I really enjoyed this short book.

The only thing that could’ve made this book better was if it was longer. As usual, Sam Crescent almost set the pages on fire with this steamy not quite enemies to lovers romance. Reese and Julia were charming characters who had some misunderstandings to overcome in their relationship. They were more afraid to love than anything so it took a while to trust each other with their real feelings.

Sam Crescent delivered a sweet romance that flew by way too soon for this satisfied reader. I adored Reese and Julia. Their slow burn romance was wonderfully described to pull me into the story. I was more than happy at their happy ever after ending. I am already looking forward to the next Curvy Women Wanted book.

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

Cushion by Tamela Miles

April 17, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Cushion by Tamela Miles
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (119 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

Natalie Kliebert finally has the perfect life she spent years dreaming of. She’s on the fast track to her fantasy-come-true career as a therapist. If she can help pop star Billy Chambers, it will be her greatest achievement and even sweeter than earning an “A” grade.

The last thing Billy Chambers wants is anyone’s help, especially when he doesn’t see a single thing wrong with his life. When bossy Natalie becomes his court-appointed personal therapist, sparks fly from day one. Annoyance was never so arousing. Hooking up should be easy, but an undercurrent of evil is coming for Natalie, which may force her to reveal her deepest secret.

The problems of their pasts are no match for today’s demons. Natalie and Billy must come together and be the allies they were meant to be in a supernatural fight that may cost them their lives.

This is a unique second-chance story filled with spice and the supernatural. Carin Bell is a writer. Seems normal enough. Then, she gets killed in a fiery car accident, but his is not the end of the story. It’s the beginning. Her love match, Billy Chambers, is a pop star who is in trouble. Billy had made fun of Carin when she was a teenager. Now she’ll get her chance to confront him. She is gifted with a second chance at life, not exactly the typical reincarnation story. She comes back as a different adult with a new identity, not as a baby reborn.

The new Carin, now Natalie, approaches Billy, and the meeting is memorable. How will he react when he sees the new, supernatural woman in his hotel room? Something in him changes, and it is good to see.

After some time he meets her again, but she is his therapist, charged with helping him overcome alcoholism. He makes his hard journey into sobriety. The chemistry between these two is hot, and the romance develops, as one might expect. However, their’s is not the typical love story. There is more to this tale, an underlying sinister presence, seeking to destroy them and others. The tale becomes somewhat of a supernatural thriller. The suspense is created when the characters are scared by their enemy.

During these occurrences, the characters are developed well. Billy shows himself to be thoughtful and considerate. He’s so human, and we see his weaknesses and struggle as well as those of Natalie. Both have personal demons to confront as well as the literal one. Though of battling that one is terrifying. They must go to a bad place and rescue trapped souls. The stakes are very high. They could easily lose themselves and the souls depending on them.

This is a fast-paced story that takes twists and turns to keep up the suspense level. It is well worth the read.

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

Capturing Clint by Laura M. Baird

April 17, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Capturing Clint by Laura M. Baird
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short story (47 pages)
Other: M/F
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Clint let Chrissy, the adorable nerd, slip through his fingers while in college.

Ten years later, after a chance encounter, Chrissy will use her sexy confidence to ensure that doesn’t happen again. Clint is more than interested but doesn’t feel worthy, and it’ll be up to Chrissy to show him how good they can be together.

Clint’s best friend, Beth, had introduced him to Chrissy. Clint was in his last term before graduating, and he was determined to focus on his studies, but he just couldn’t manage to get Chrissy out of his head. Clint and Chrissy were thinking that things were really going somewhere when Chrissy had to leave suddenly due to a family illness. It’s years later when they finally cross paths again. Will past hurts keep them separate? Or can they finally build something beautiful together?

I found this to be an interesting and fun short story. I really liked both Clint and Chrissy’s characters – particularly Chrissy’s timidness and book-ish manner. I found it refreshing that Chrissy managed to be both a modern woman, but not overly bold or brazen. I wasn’t keen on the abruptness of the two paragraph explanation that Chrissy suddenly went home due to her mother being ill. It made the “college” section of Chrissy and Clint getting to know each other and the jump forward ten years in time to them actually starting a relationship quite jarring and I thought it derailed the smoothness of the story somewhat.

That said, I ended up kind of thinking about the book in two different parts “college time” and “grown up” life. While I wish the segue between the two had been a bit smoother and better-described, the two parts themselves were great. I found this to mostly be a character-driven storyline/plot, as in the attraction, then beginning of the relationship between Clint and Chrissy is the driving force of what the story is about. I enjoyed the secondary characters – Beth and Zac – and found them to be both interesting and multi-layered, not simply there to add the requisite “friend” to the storyline. Indeed, a part of me hopes there might be a story revolved around Beth some time in the future as there was a slight hint at her new career and “grown up” life that could prove interesting.

With a lovely happy ending and a really good, warm feeling I loved the wrap up to this story too. The sex – while hot, wasn’t envelope-pushing or extreme. I feel most romance readers who like a bit of spice in their story should find this book overall really good and happy. As a quick read it’s a great one for picking up when you don’t have a lot of time and I’d happily try more works by this author.

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

Death Al Fresco by Leslie Karst

April 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Death Al Fresco by Leslie Karst
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Full Length (320 Pgs)
Rated 4 stars
Reviewed by Snapdragon

It’s up to Sally Solari to serve up a killer before their family restaurant’s reputation goes up in smoke.

It’s early autumn in Santa Cruz and restaurateur Sally Solari decides an open-air painting class is the perfect way for her to learn more about Paul Gauguin, the inspiration for the restaurant she has recently inherited. But the beauty of the Monterey Bay coastline is shattered when Sally’s dog Buster sniffs out a corpse tangled up in kelp.

The body is identified as Gino, a local fisherman and a regular at Solaris’ until he disappeared after dining there a few nights before. Witnesses claim he left reeling drunk, but his waitress swears the old man only had two beers with is meal. And then the fingers begin to point at Sally’s dad for negligently allowing an inebriated customer to walk home alone at night.

From a long menu of suspects, including a cast of colorful characters who frequent the historic Santa Cruz fisherman’s wharf, Sally must serve up the tall order of clearing her father’s name in Death al Fresco, Leslie Karst’s third delectable Sally Solari mystery.

Another killer of a culinary cozy murder, Death Al Fresco is aptly named. Delectable dishes do take center stage, from the trendy sorts like Sesame ginger cucumber salad and Tahitian sea bass, to heartwarming faves, like absolutely anything smothered in ‘Nonni’s Sunday Gravy.

Sally is a chef, a restaurant owner, and …an accidental discoverer of an untimely death. She not only recognizes the victim, but worries about the victim’s connection to her Dad’s restaurant. She’s got enough on her plate, what with her own head chef to deal with, and Eric, who she assures herself is not a love interest, and trying to make every situation, dish and advertisement she runs into ‘politically correct.’

Still, Sally is a sleuth at heart and tackles the mystery without hesitation. Its exactly what we readers expect – with a fun twist, here and there. The political-correctness thing can get a bit tedious, but given the gorgeous setting and strong, unique characters, this really is a solid mystery. The mild (and less predictable) romantic elements add a little something too.

Fans of the genre will enjoy this, and it comes with a bonus: a small batch of recipes from the storyline wrap up the book.

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

Food of the Gods by Em Dehaney

April 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Food of the Gods by Em Dehaney
Publisher: Brave Boy Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary, Historical
Length: Short Story (133 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A perfect corpse floats forever in a watery grave.
A gang member takes a terrifying trip to the seaside.
A deserted cross-channel ferry that serves only the finest Slovakian wines.
Gods and monsters.
Mermaids and witches.
Blood and magic.
Love and death.
From the dark and decadent mind of Em Dehaney come eight tales of seafoam secrets and sweet treats.
Nothing is quite what it seems, but everything is delicious.
This is Food Of The Gods.

First impressions don’t always tell the whole story.

Framing “Here Be Monsters” as a conversation between a child and their grandmother about what Earth was like before the monsters arrived and began destroying everything was the perfect way to introduce such a grim future for humanity. Children can understand much more than adults sometimes give them credit for, and the main character of this story was no exception to that rule. They understood the drastic events that nearly caused humans to go extinct incredibly well even if they had no idea what a rainbow was or that people used to be able to grow food in places called gardens. I enjoyed figuring out what daily life must have been like for these characters as I read their conversation and slowly pieced together what must have happened in their not-so-distant past.

“Bellarmine” told the tale of an abusive marriage from the perspectives of Nathaniel and his wife and victim, Elizabeth. They lived at a time in history when there was no social support for women in this situation, so Elizabeth had to figure out how to handle her husband’s violent attacks on her own. As intrigued by I was by her predicament and the clever plot twists, the character development wasn’t strong enough for me to get to know either of them well at all. Nathaniel’s personality was particularly one-dimensional. I strongly disliked him due to all of the awful things he did to his wife, and I certainly wouldn’t expect that to change no matter what his backstory might have been. With that being said, it would have been helpful to have more details about why he behaved so horribly. This was something I noticed play out in a few other stories in this collection as well. While I adored Ms. Dehaney’s writing style overall, the character development issues did lead to me giving her book a lower rating than I would have otherwise chosen.

Mikey’s life changed forever on the day he found a baby shark in “The Mermaid’s Purse.” His childhood was full of neglect and abuse, so I was curious to see how he’d keep such an exotic pet alive despite the fact that he didn’t even have enough food or other necessities for himself. It was truly satisfying to see how hard he worked to keep him and new little friend going no matter what was going on around them. The ending was perfect. It tied together all of the loose ends of the plot nicely, and it also left me wondering what would happen to Mikey next.

Food of the Gods should be read by anyone who is in the mood for deeply creative science fiction.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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