salythereader
An awesome start to a new series by Larissa
The first book of a series always has growing pains, you need to introduce the world, its rules, the characters for the book and for the future books but keeping all this in mind, the start of Larissa Ione's new book based in the Vampire world blew me away.
The premise was pretty interesting, a world where Vampires are the hunted and human beings enslaving them and the book begins with a revolt with the heroine an eight year old and the vampire servants turning against her family and attacking them. The hero is a vampire warrior and we are made aware of his hatred for humans especially the heroine's family since his mate was the heroine's nanny.
Now, the book is quinessential Larissa, full of sexual tension, conflict, love-hate and was full on awesome. Nicole the heroine came across a very insipid at first, she was dumb in my book not opening herself up to the reality around her but then she is kidnapped by the hero's clan and she really comes into her own then.
All in all I do not want to give away the plot and world much but will say I am looking forward to the next book badly.
Driving Her Wild
This book was certainly very different and I would rate it 3.25 stars. The heroine was an ex-MMA fighter and the alpha in the relationship which I found unusual. She has just retired and is about to turn 30 and wants a family and a guy that is miles apart from the one's she met on the road, so she signs up for Spark (the dating service of the heroine from the first book).
The hero Patrick is working as an electrician (a very inept one) at the gym she has started work at and was a very, sweet clumsy guy who was insecure because of his divorce and so willing to put himself on the line even when the heroine made it very clear that she wanted someone financially stable and not him.
The heroine didn't work for me many times, she seemed kind of like a user to me though she was upfront about the fact that it was just physical and not something that could work in the long run. This book ends on a HFN and not a HEA, with both of them agreeing to give them a shot.
I am like a broken record with JS books, they are just so freaking amazing but this time I'll be honest that there was one factor that annoyed me to no end in this book, Jack and Leah were apart most of the book and were seldom together on page. I mean there are these two awesome characters who know each other so well, have awesome chemistry and they hardly spend time together, that was just plain mean. Jack is a fire-fighter who followed in his hero father's footsteps. He is a stand-up guy and a ladies man, a fact his mother takes the blame for because she fell apart after her husband's death and believes that is the cause for Jack's commitment free ways.
Leah grew up with a father that constantly berated her, chipping away at her self-esteem and Jack was always there for her, wiping her tears, cheering her up and there was a brief time they could have been more, but afraid she ran away and now she's back to take care of her grandmother, when she tells Jack's sick mother a big fib, she and Jack are together. I liked the whole Lucky Harbor rumor mill going crazy after this news but felt the book tried to do much, they threw in an arson plot and made Jack spend more time at the fire-station than was needed.
The book also set up Jack's cousin Ben and Aubrey who we met in Ali's book here. Overall I love JS and this book is all kinds of sweet and sexy. Recommended!
Rating 3.25 starsThis book was just decent, that's all I can say. The characters were not bad but they weren't memorable either. The hero was wrongly convicted at the age of 22 and got out eight years later, he is wary and closed off and adrift when he rescues the heroine who is depressed and lifeless. The book is about these two broken people coming alive, becoming lovers to actually living and loving life.
TROUBLE IN TRIPLICATE (Loveswept, No 142)
A nice book like all books by BB usually are. The heroine is a triplet and the hero and the heroine's siblings broke up a month back because of what turns out to be a misunderstanding and in trying to get them together, they end up falling for each other. The romance moves fast defying believability but it's so sweet that you buy into it.
Rating 3.5 starsThis one was nice and sweet with an adorable child. The heroine has spent her life pleasing her father while the hero has done the opposite. These two have ignored each other despite being neighbours for two years but it changes when the hero finds a little girl sleeping in the alley. They get closer because of Becky and fall for each other. The book brought a smile to my face and I wanna read the sequel.
I really enjoyed this one, Sid was great, still brash and rude but awesome as always. Lucas well could be dense but was sexy. The ending was a bit abrupt for me but I am hopeful that Will will get a book and I have feeling that she will be paired with someone we have met often.
Rating 3.5 starsThis is the third book in the immensely satisfying Bagram series and takes us right back into the world of hot PJs, military service-men and women and terrorists.
The suspense plot and villain is carried over from the last book and for those who don't like it be warned that this book has a lot of graphic violence and that aspect made me uncomfortable but I fell in love with our hero, sexy, sweet, awesome Jackson Thatcher, who can sing, wants to be a doctor and actually respects women.
Security Forces Lieutenant Maya Lopez is one tough woman, she had to be, to survive the horror of her childhood and before things go to hell, gives Jackson one hell of a ride but keeps herself in check, because that is who she is with men.
Then, their life changes when both of them along with the Secretary of Defense are taken captive and undergo torture. This aspect of the book was too long for me but it was trying to be realistic I get that, doesn't mean I have to like it.
The romance was nice despite it not being front and centre. All in all I would recommend this series.
ARC provided by publisher through Netgalley.
Well the first book in this series didn't work for me for several reasons so I was a bit wary going into this one, but my fears were unfounded because I ended up loving this one, even staying up late to finish it.In the last book we were introduced to Shane and Izzy's relationship and also her desire to end it. Well in this book she is still trying to end it but to no avail, because she loves him and because Shane won't take no for an answer.
The book and the journey to being happy wasn't a simple one here, Shane loves Izzy and she loves him but things aren't that simple because there are issues at play, hidden truths. Shane is the guy always up for a good time, making people laugh and Izzy loves doing that and keeping him happy but she also likes quiet, being alone and because of her diagnosis needs it.
When Izzy tells Shane the truth he feels hurt because of her deception and it is also a lot to process because since he was a little boy it became his identity to make things better with his humour but he can't do that now. In this book I really didn't know how these two would work things out but they did, with great difficulty and love and in this process made this book a good read.
Crash and Burn (Moreno & Hart Mysteries #1)
Rating 3.25 starsTwo small novella's written by two different authors slated to be a series and my impression was mostly positive.
Crash by Allison Brennan was about Scarlet who doesn't like being a PI and is trying to find out who tried to set her up to die three years ago. We are introduced to someone that could be a possible love interest.
Burn is by Laura Griffin and about Krista, Scarlet's partner. I liked Krista a bit more, she was a bit more open I guess. Here too we are introduced to RJ, a possible love interest.
Overall I am curious to see what the other books will bring because the short novellas were good enough to get my interest up.
When I started this book I wasn't sure I would like it because the heroine Marnie in the past few books has come across as sanctimonious, the perfect judgy Southern belle but as I came to know her in this book I liked her, she had changed and knew that she had been wrong before and hadn't even forgiven herself for what went wrong with her friends a decade back.Marnie grew up in an extremely conservative house-hold but she broke free after a lot of mistakes and then at her friend's Cassie's wedding she got some knocks, she lost her job, found out her brother has been seeing Gina again and that she is the reason why her friends split up and the pain Gina went through in part because of Marnie, so she is feeling blue and she gets drinking with Dylan, Reese's ex from the first book.
One thing leads to another and they have really hot sex and Marnie has regrets in the morning, because he is Reese's ex and Reese helped her get back on her feet when she came running from Savannah and also because Dylan is the last thing she wants and what she ran away from. He is rich and all about appearances.
I liked how Dylan was shown as a calm, logical man but with Marnie he wasn't, something he didn't understand because after growing up with parents who were so cold to each other, the last thing he wanted was passion or drama but that didn't stop him from having sex in his office with Marnie, or continuing to do so, even when she gets hired at their foundation.
I also liked seeing Marnie grow up, face her relationship with Gina and her brother and attempt to act grown-up. The romance was nice, especially seeing Dylan throw his ideas to the wind and taking a chance at being confrontational instead of always being logical.
All in all I enjoyed this series, a job well done by all the authors involved.