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Reviews I wrote

Review: Haunted Chemistry by Lindsey R. Loucks

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Haunted ChemistryHaunted Chemistry by Lindsey R. Loucks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

I’m really enjoying the opportunity to review for the new Entangled Ever After and Covet lines because I’m discovering so many new-to-me authors whose books I love. Lindsey R. Loucks is a name I’d never heard before, but after reading her excellently-paced “Haunted Chemistry” I’ve added her to my list of writers to keep an eye out for in the future.

When you have a limited amount of pages available to tell the story, it’s important to ensure that you’ve set up the romance in a way that keeps the reader interested without resorting to the old tropes of insta-lust / insta-love. Alexis and Ian have a past together, albeit an unrequited and truncated one, thanks to Ian never showing up for their first date. So when they find themselves both living in a low priced but seriously frightening apartment building, it’s completely understandable that the sparks between them would fly once again, especially when Ian finally gets a chance to explain to Alexis why he’d never showed up that night. Then when all hell breaks loose and both their lives are in danger, the way they first cling to and then work to save each other works beautifully to cement their rekindled attraction and ensure a Happy For Now ending that is satisfying and believable.

What’s especially great about “Haunted Chemistry” is how the author sets up the time, the place, and the two main characters (three if you count Tri, the irrepressible cat who gets everyone else in trouble). The vivid descriptions of the apartments and the dreaded laundry room made me believe I was there with Alexis and Ian every step of the way. I was able to picture exactly how frightening the long narrow cabinets would be, especially at the moment when the analogy Alexis used to describe them nearly came true, with potentially deadly consequences.

“Haunted Chemistry” is a great way to get yourself in the mood for Halloween while enjoying a fast hot romance. I can’t wait to see what this author is going to write next.

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Review: The Naughty Corner by Jasmine Haynes

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The Naughty CornerThe Naughty Corner by Jasmine Haynes

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Night Owl Reviews.

The full version of this review is available at Night Owl Reviews: The Naughty Corner by Jasmine Haynes

One of the things I love most about Jasmine Haynes’s writing is the sense of humor she brings to so many of her stories. There’s something funny about everything and everyone in “The Naughty Corner” even when Lola is dealing with what appears to be a stalker sending her threatening emails and letters. The relationship between Gray and Lola starts out as a summer fling for both of them, but as it grows into something deeper, the feelings they each deal with are handled as maturely and realistically as possible under the circumstances, with a minimum of angst and drama. And because this is Jasmine Haynes, the sex scenes are sensual and passionate without being lewd or lascivious. It’s that successful combination of hot sex, deep emotions and light humor that makes “The Naughty Corner” such a fun and satisfying read.

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Review: Man Hungry by Sabrina York

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Man HungryMan Hungry by Sabrina York

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at NightOwlReviews.com

The full text of this review is available at Night Owl Reviews: Man Hungry by Sabrina York

What I loved most about “Man Hungry” was the initial setup of how the hero and heroine met in the bar and had their preconceptions about each other blown out of the water. What I did not love was the fact that they only used a condom on their first night and never again thereafter without even any claims of being “clean” or use of an alternate method of birth control. I was also put off when Justin’s reaction to Jessica’s reassurance that this was her first one night stand was visible relief, especially when he was the one who had pushed for her to go home with him that first night. But overall I did enjoy “Man Hungry” and will definitely be reading more of Sabrina York’s work in the future.

3.5 stars

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Review: Revealing Us by Lisa Renee Jones

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Revealing Us (Inside Out #3)Revealing Us by Lisa Renee Jones

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance.

This review will contain spoilers for IF I WERE YOU and BEING ME, the previous two books in the INSIDE OUT series. REVEALING US should not be considered a stand-alone book.

If you’ve already read all the previous entries in Lisa Renee Jones’ gripping INSIDE OUT series – two full length books and five novellas at last count – you already know what happened to Rebecca, who her Master is/was, and how the delayed revelation of that secret nearly led to Sara being murdered by the woman who wanted Rebecca’s Master for herself. REVEALING US picks up right where we saw Sara last: sitting forlornly on the bed of her missing friend Ella, still recovering from both the attack on her life and the ultimatum Chris gave her before walking out the door. Chris is leaving for Paris that very night and he wants Sara to go with him. The implication is that if she chooses to stay, their relationship is over. But is going away with Chris the right decision? Sara may have been nearly killed only hours before, but she knows that she can’t let Chris go, and decides to join him on the late night flight.

Despite Chris’ assurances that their life in Paris will be wonderful, Sara finds herself in a place where she can’t speak the language, doesn’t like the food and keeps being confronted by various women still angry at being discarded by Chris in the not too distant past. It’s no wonder that Sara worries that she’s made a terrible mistake and that Chris will soon tire of her as he has with every other woman. But ever since she’s started trying to find out what happened after her friend Ella left to be married in Paris, Sara has also had the unsettling feeling that she’s being watched. When the hunt for Ella collides with the remaining secrets in Chris’ past, it’s Sara that gets caught in the crossfire, and there’s no guarantee that she or her relationship with Chris will survive.

I’m a huge fan of Lisa Renee Jones’ INSIDE OUT series and was impatiently awaiting this concluding book in what was originally announced as a trilogy. When the trilogy officially became a pentalogy (two more full length books will appear in the series after this one), I was concerned that Chris and Sara’s happy ending would be postponed even further. But the author reassured readers that although more was to come, this third book would still give them closure as a couple. Not only does REVEALING US provide a satisfying culmination for Chris and Sara, it also sheds new light on what may have happened to Ella, with plenty of details to keep us guessing until the fourth book arrives.

Nearly all of REVEALING US takes place in Paris, and although I missed Mark’s presence, it was a good way to focus the story on Chris and Sara without all the chaos of the previous events and the ongoing police investigation taking away from their story. Living with Chris in Paris, Sara had to deal with the full force of his day-to-day life as a famous artist in a way she’d never experienced back in San Francisco. Here she was just his latest girlfriend, and one that apparently nobody expected to stick around for long. It didn’t help that Chris had left so many disgruntled women in his past, and apparently every one of them wanted a piece of her. It got to where I pretty much expected someone to show up and threaten Sara every time she went to the ladies’ room alone.

The best part of REVEALING US is that Chris and Sara did begin to talk more and get to know each other better in a way that would help them handle all the obstacles put in their path during the course of this story. They both learned to trust each other in a way neither had in the previous two books, which had the added benefit of making their intimate moments even more emotionally compelling.

The problem for me in this story was when Sara kept ignoring Chris’ warnings to keep herself safe, constantly rushing headlong into yet another situation that put her in danger. All the while Chris kept saying there was one more big secret to reveal but insisting on waiting until the time was right to tell her. I was worried that the time might never be right if Sara managed to get herself arrested, kidnapped or worse before that could happen. I didn’t expect Sara to just agree to everything Chris wanted (despite their intermittent Dom/sub sexual interplay) but she seemed to lack common sense in a few key situations where I considered her exceptionally fortunate to have survived her poor choices.

This may make it sound like I did not enjoy this book, but that is far from the truth. I devoured REVEALING US in one long uninterrupted read where I simply could not put the book down and had to keep turning each page to find out what was going to happen next. I cheered when Sara followed Chris to Paris, I swooned when their trust and love for each other grew stronger and deeper, and I yelled when events (and evil ex-girlfriends) threatened to tear them apart. I loved the way Chris and Sara finally got to their happy ending (at least for this entry in the series) and I can’t wait to see what Lisa Renee Jones is going to do in the next book to bring Mark back into the story and show us what’s happened to Ella. If the next book is anything like REVEALING US, it’s going to be a heck of a ride.

Favorite Quote:

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this out loud.” I draw a breath and force my chin up. “Right or wrong, I needed her to know I could and would protect what is mine.”
Seconds tick by before he softly asks, “Which is what, Sara?”
The husky quality to his voice gives me courage. “You,” I whisper. “I needed her to know you belong to me now.”

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Review: Christmas on 4th Street by Susan Mallery

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Christmas on 4th Street (Fools Gold #13.5)
This review originally appeared at Romancing Rakes For the Love of Romance

[Michele #Review} Contemporary Romance: Christmas on 4th Street by Susan Mallery

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance.

Rating: ~4 hearts: I loved it

Review:

I discovered the Fool’s Gold series by Susan Mallery about 6 months ago, and since then, I’ve managed to glom through nearly the entire series. Although I enjoyed the full length books more than the novellas, these stories are my comfort reads where I always know what to expect with a HEA that will make me sigh. “Christmas on 4th Street” is number 12.5 in the series, and another winner in the Fool’s Gold series.

Regular Fool’s Gold readers have already met Noelle Perkins in the previous three books, as each member of her close group of best girlfriends paired off with the man of her dreams. Now all three of those girlfriends are about to get married in a mostly secret triple wedding planned as part of the big Fool’s Gold holiday festivities. Noelle has agreed to be the sole bridesmaid for all three, but part of her still mourns the wedding she never got to have before coming to town. Gabriel Boylan is the fraternal twin brother of Gideon (fiance of Noelle’s best friend Felicia) and nearly as emotionally tortured as Gideon had been when he first arrived in Fool’s Gold. Both Boylan brothers had served overseas in the military, thanks to the implacable will of their unrelenting drill sergeant father, but it was Gabriel who had been forced into the decision more than his brother. Gabriel had spent his whole childhood having his masculinity challenged by his father, and was only able to please him by becoming a trauma surgeon who spent all his time stabilizing severely injured soldiers fresh off the battlefield. But years of trying to save lives under such extreme conditions have finally taken their toll on Gabriel, and he’s forced to take holiday leave back in the US after nearly ending his career with an unsafe move during his attempt to save yet another injured comrade.

It’s inevitable that Noelle and Gabriel will meet, since her best friend is about to marry his twin brother, and this is Fool’s Gold where everybody knows everything about everybody else, and Mayor Marsha knows even more. Both Noelle and Gabriel have faced mortality head on, but each learned something completely different from the other. Noelle now believes in living life to the fullest, because you never know how long it will last. Gabriel believes that there’s no point in love and joy because everything could end in a moment. The beauty of “Christmas on 4th Street” is in seeing how they resolve their differences on the way to their own happy ending.

If you have read more than one Fool’s Gold book, you know exactly what you’re going to get in “Christmas on 4th Street.” It’s all here: the meet cute, the hero thinking the heroine deserves better than him, the heroine willing to take what she can get in the hopes of changing his mind, the supportive girlfriends bringing dessert and alcohol when the hero screws up, and at least one scene where the all-knowing, all-seeing Mayor Marsha tells the hero about some great new development in town for which he is the perfect candidate in an attempt to keep him from leaving town. But this familiarity does not breed contempt; on the contrary, it’s the tried and true elements that make this latest entry in the Fool’s Gold series just as wonderful for me to read as the rest. Just because I know that the hero is going to do something completely stupid near the end (and that the heroine’s girlfriends will immediately know and arrive with a support party) doesn’t mean that I won’t get all misty when he realizes his mistake and returns to grovel at the feet of the understanding heroine. Formula isn’t a dirty word here, and Susan Mallery’s winning formula holds true yet again for “Christmas on 4th Street.”

Favorite Quote:

“You must be exhausted,” Noelle said. “Are you going to go home and get some sleep?”
“No, I want to stay awake and experiment with the deterioration of my cognitive functions due to sleep deprivation. It should be interesting.”
Noelle patted her back. “You really do need to take up a hobby.”

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Review: Covet by Tracey Garvis-Graves

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Covet

This review originally appeared at Seductive Musings

Review: Covet by Tracey Garvis-Graves

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at SeductiveMusings.blogspot.com.

I was a big fan of Tracey Garvis-Graves’ debut romance On The Island so when I saw she was writing a new book that wasn’t strictly romance, I wondered if it would be just as good a read. The first chapter of Covet was included as a bonus in Uncharted, the follow-up novella to On The Island, and from the moment I read the first page, I was hooked. But I could not have anticipated just how much of an emotional read Covet would be once I had the opportunity to read the whole book.

I’m not ashamed to admit it: Covet didn’t just make me cry, it made me weep so uncontrollably that my husband kept trying to comfort me as I continued to read. Even now, it’s been weeks since I finished reading it, and I’m still starting to get all welled up again. This doesn’t mean that Covet will or should affect anyone else like that, but I’m telling you so you know what you might expect if the story of Claire and the two men she loves gets to you in the same way.

Claire Canton had a marriage and family so picture perfect that even their closest friends were envious. But now she is clinging to that life by her fingernails as the weight of her loneliness drags her ever downward. Her husband, Chris, had his whole identity wrapped up in being the family provider and as long as he was working, they were happy. When the bad economy finally reached his company and he spent the next 18 months unemployed, it was only by Claire’s determination and love that they managed to keep the family together and solvent, while she begged and threatened Chris in an attempt to pull him out of his dark emotional hole. Antidepressants are finally starting to make a real difference, but Chris’ desperation to get another job in his field leads him to accept the worst possible solution – a job that keeps him away from Claire and their children for days and weeks at a time.

After Daniel pulls Claire over for a burned out taillight, neither of them are able to forget the seemingly innocuous encounter. Daniel is initially drawn to Claire because she looks so much like the ex-wife who left him after an unspeakable tragedy. Claire is attracted to Daniel not only because he is “ridiculously good looking” but also because he gives her more attention in that one traffic stop than she’s gotten from her husband in months. As they are thrown together more and more, the physical attraction deepens into something they don’t know how to handle, and that’s when Covet becomes the story of how love can be both the best and worst thing ever.

What happens to Claire and Daniel and Chris is not particularly unique, but the way Tracey Garvis-Graves presents it with the thoughts and emotions of each character provides the compelling sense of psychological tragedy as Claire comes to love both men and Daniel struggles between what he wants and what is right. The series of events that lead up to the final denouement are shocking but not out of place, given what we’ve been shown all along the way, and the ending made sense, even if it wasn’t what I might have wanted. But above all, I was and am Team Claire, and she’s why Covet affected me so strongly and why it’s now the number one candidate for the best book I’ve read this year.

Ratings:

Overall: 5
Sensuality level: 3

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Review: Body of Work by Karla Doyle

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Body of WorkBody of Work by Karla Doyle

The complete version of this review can be found at Night Owl Reviews

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at NightOwlReviews.com.

“Body of Work” is a wonderful story about how two people wary of trusting the wrong person again can’t help but keep coming back to each other, first for lust and then for love. The scenes between Cassie and Brian are easily the best part of this book, and their relationship is both touching and believable.

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Review: Bind and Keep Me by Cari Silverwood

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Bind and Keep Me (Pierced Hearts, #2)Bind and Keep Me by Cari Silverwood

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was purchased by me for my own enjoyment.

THIS BOOK IS SO NOT FOR EVERYONE. But if this is the sort of book you’d like, you’re probably going to love it.

I think the last time I felt this compelled to finish a book was when I read the first book in this incredible Pierced Hearts series. I’m not normally a big fan of MFF menage, as some part of me subconsciously sees it as a betrayal of the original pair-bond. (Yes, I know that’s irrational when I love reading MFM and MMF, but there it is nonetheless.) But I stuck with it and was rewarded by a plot and character development that not only got past my innate discomfort but made me enjoy every moment of how the new member is subsumed into the undeniable love between Klaus and Jodie. And the ending, which I thought I could predict, went off into such a perfect alternative to my guess that I’m just as mad to read the next book as I was to read this after completing the first one. My hat’s off to you, Cari Silverwood. Well done.

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Review: Deceiving the Witch Next Door by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez

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Deceiving the Witch Next DoorDeceiving the Witch Next Door by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher for an honest review.

Melissa Bourbon Ramirez is a new author for me and although I have previously enjoyed many paranormal romance novels, I haven’t read many of late, so I went into this book with no expectations other to be entertained. And entertained I most definitely was! I was pulled all the way through this relatively short but densely packed plot wondering exactly how the author was going to manage to resolve all the dilemmas swirling around their romance without ruining my enjoyment of the story as a whole. Because make no mistake, Storie Bell has had a lot to deal with since she’s returned to town after her departure eight years before. She’s trying to fend off Reid Malone’s advances at the same time she’s trying to reimagine her late father’s decrepit gas station as a combination bookstore/coffee shop, secretly leveraging her magic powers where she can, even as they are inexplicably starting to wane. Meanwhile, Reid can’t forget how he and Storie had nearly come together on that day she left town (a scene we see only part of in the memorable prologue) but he’s sure that all he really wants is what he thinks is hidden somewhere in the building her daddy left her.

The interaction between Storie and Reid is what made this story a compelling read for me, and the way Reid worms his way into Storie’s life despite both of them insisting that there isn’t anything real between them. Storie knew that there was something Reid wasn’t telling her, but with so many other fires to fight all in the short time before the scheduled opening day for her Storiebook Cafe, she was only able to keep at arm’s length for so long before the electricity between them ignited into something more. I loved how completely obvious he was in his machinations, in spite of whether either of them thought that was a good idea or not.

I haven’t always had good luck with books being able to successfully incorporate paranormal elements into a believable contemporary setting, but Deceiving the Witch Next Door manages to stay on track with both the magical and non-magical parts of the story. The way everything comes together in the final chapters was as believable as could be expected, considering Storie is a witch and all. My only quibble was with the loose threads left after Storie’s final confrontation with why her powers had been waning, but I’m hoping that means we’ll be getting another book following up on what was left unresolved. I quite enjoyed reading Deceiving The Witch Next Door, and I’ll definitely be seeking out more of this author’s backlist.

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Review: Too Hot to Touch by Samantha Cayto

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The full version of this review can be found at Night Owl Reviews:

Review: Too Hot to Touch by Samantha Cayto

Zoe needs to hire a temporary dishwasher for her Greek diner until her regular guy recovers from a broken arm. Sean needs a temporary job until he begins professional training for a full-time career as a truck mechanic. “Too Hot to Touch” is a short but thoroughly enjoyable story about how these two people discover first lust, then love, in each other’s arms.