December 20, 2017

INTO THE NIGHT BY CYNTHIA EDEN - ARC REVIEW

Two FBI agents are caught in a merciless vigilante’s crosshairs in New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden’s electric Killer Instinct series

Lives will be ravaged as two FBI agents confront a mastermind serial murderer in New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden’s new Killer Instinct novel

Sheltered in the shadows of the Smoky Mountains is the suspect who’s summoned FBI agent Macey Night’s fears to the surface. Every day that the “Profiler,” a vigilante serial killer, escapes justice is another day she’s reminded of what it is to be a ruthless predator’s prey. Capturing him is a craving deeper than anything she’s felt in a long time. But Agent Bowen Murphy, equal parts sexy and volatile, seems hell-bent on changing that. Working together—needing, living, and breathing each other—they’re entwined to distraction.

Bowen’s used to operating on impulse: act, don’t feel. Now Macey and the controlled terror behind her beautiful eyes has him rethinking everything, including his rule to never get close to a colleague. He’s willing to fight for a future with Macey, but the consequences of love could be deadly.


Romantic suspense are hard books to review. Discussing the plot can be a spoiler as a twist that seems obvious to one reader will totally surprise another and vice versa, but not discussing the plot leaves for a review in which you aren't able to say much of anything.

Macey and Bowen are partners. And, they are attracted to one another. There are some clues at the beginning to how much Bowen actually cares for Macey, but he has kept things professional and has made sure that he puts their career with the FBI first.

When Macey needs comfort as her past and her present start to connect, Bowen is there, and they make an agreement, eventually, to be professional during the day, but to reserve the night for them to be together. This works, for a little while. Until the relationship starts to bleed into the day, and they have to deal not only with a killer, but with their developing relationship.

I enjoyed this overall. There were points that I thought moved a little too quickly, and some of the relationship seemed to be skipped over. I wanted a little more of the development at the beginning, but I did enjoy it overall.

I do recommend this title.



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December 19, 2017

EDGE OF TURH BY BRYNN KELLY - ARC REVIEW

A woman searching for the truth…

Kidnapped and thrown in an underground prison, journalist Tess Newell thinks she’s a goner. Stopping the terrorists holding her hostage seems impossible—until the arrival of a mysterious prisoner whose smile masks an edge more lethal than their captors.

A soldier with the darkest of secrets…

A French Foreign Legionnaire bound to a brotherhood that is both his blessing and curse, Flynn launches a daring escape—but honor won’t allow him to abandon the brazen, alluring reporter whose prying questions could bring down his world. The only thing more dangerous than the enemy close on their tail is the searing passion threatening to detonate between them…


Tess and Flynn worked as a couple in the suspense portion of the book, the kidnapping, escaping, running and then trying to get the information to stop the terrorists...all of this was compelling and interesting.

But, I felt that there was not enough of them as a couple when no one was shooting at them.  Their first encounter is in the midst of fighting, and running, from their kidnappers and you expect this from a romantic suspense...but there also need to be interludes where the couple is together in a way that makes you think they will be able to stay together when the bullets stop flying.  This was, I thought, a little light.

Not enough to make me not able to enjoy the book, but light enough that I was left wanting a little more than I got from their relationship.  Now, what I got was hot and interesting.  I believed their romantic and personal attraction to one another and I thought his backstory was interesting.

Overall, the book was constructed well and was paced well.  The light in the "real world without bullets" romance did make this more of a "happily for now" ending for me, but as this is the 2nd book in the series, I am guessing there will be others and you will get the chance to see Tess and Flynn as a couple, at least mentioned in passing.

This was my first title by this author and I enjoyed it enough to be looking forward to her next title!



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BLOCK PARTY BY STYLO FANTOME-RELEASE BLITZ



Title: Block Party
Series: Twin Estates #3
Author: Stylo Fantôme
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 19, 2017

Blurb

Things you need for a good Block Party:

1. Awesome food

2. Great Music

3. Fun games

4. A secret spot to hook up with your even-more-secret girlfriend.

Liam Edenhoff is a simple creature. He likes women, tacos, and sex. As long as he has those in his life, everything is good. He's finally realizing maybe he's just not cut out for relationships - surely there's got to be a woman out there who'd be okay with roof top margaritas, casual sex, and no attachments.

Enter a new neighbor - one who is allergic to commitment and prefers her sex casual but frequent. She's seen him at his worst and is still willing to play his games, on three conditions - discretion is a must, casual is key, and absolutely no drama. Sounds like the perfect arrangement. What could go wrong?

Famous last words when dealing with neighbors.

This story contains scenes of a graphic sexual nature, multiple uses of coarse language, and more tacos than is healthy or sane to read about. Reader discretion is advised.

This is the third installment in the Twin Estates series



This is my first book by Stylo Fantome, and I will definitely read others. her sense of humor and her take on the different situations the characters find themselves in was interesting. I liked the characters and the writing overall, and the plot moved smoothly and was paced evenly.

This is the 3rd book in the block party series and it is focused on Liam and Ayumi. Liam seems to be the less serious of the group of friends, the one who people don't really take seriously and the one who got his heartbroken in a previous book in the series. Ayumi is serious. She takes everything seriously and lives a life that is focused mainly on her work.

The relationship between them shouldn't work, they should be too different. But, what they quickly realize is that the other is not what they thought, and they are each very different than they seem on the outside.

While it is technically a standalone, I was left feeling that I had about 75% of the book. There are crossover characters, which is fine in a standalone, but there are also references to past events. Don't get me wrong, that is fine in a standalone book that is also part of a series...but the issue for me with this is the references to the past events were used in a few places to move this story forward. When the plot hinges on knowing the details of something that happened in another book, for me, it ceases to be a standalone title.

I did enjoy this, and I do recommend it; but more for people who have read the other books in the series.




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Author Bio


Crazy woman from a remote location in Alaska (where the need for a creative mind is a necessity!), I have been writing since ... forever? Yeah, that sounds about right. I have been told that I remind people of Lucille Ball - I also see shades of Jennifer Saunders, and Denis Leary. So basically, I laugh a lot, I'm clumsy a lot, and I say the F-word A LOT.

I like dogs more than I like most people, and I don't trust anyone who doesn't drink. No, I do not live in an igloo, and no, the sun does not set for six months out of the year, there's your Alaska lesson for the day. I have mermaid hair - both a curse and a blessing - and most of the time I talk so fast, even I can't understand me.

Yeah. I think that about sums me up.

December 18, 2017

THE WAY BACK TO US BY JAMIE HOWARD - ARC REVIEW

Gavin MacCormack found the one. He fell in love. Hard. Until one night he ran out for some ice cream and came back to an empty dorm room, closets bare and nothing but a quick hand-written note saying, I’m sorry. Those two words taught Gavin the meaning of heartbreak. A feeling he never wants to encounter again. And as the lead singer of a Grammy award-winning band he's had plenty of opportunities for casual, no-strings fun, which is just the way he likes it.

Dani Winters has had more names than birthdays. On the run with her father for nearly as long as she can remember, she’s lived her life by three rules—always plan for the worst, maintain a low profile at all costs, and never let anyone get too close. Except she broke that last rule once and her heart has never forgiven her.

One chance encounter changes everything. Seeing Dani resurrects feelings in Gavin he thought were long buried, and this time he’s not letting her disappear without getting some answers. But Dani’s life is the definition of complicated and she’s playing with fire by letting Gavin back in. When the time comes to run again, Dani needs to decide if a life without love is worth living, or if it’s time to stop running and fight.


 Gavin and Dani were together years ago, and then she disappeared. No contact, no emails, nothing for years until they run into one another at an event and then at a bar.

Dani is running from somethikng, and she is not able/willing to tell Gavin what and she is afraid that being with him will get him (or her) hurt or killed.

So, there are reasons for her feeling that they should not be together.  And, Gavin doesn't care.  He wants Dani, and he really isn't all that concerned about her reasons for telling him no, and for pulling away from any sort of serious relationship with him.

I liked the set up of this title, and the idea that there was a reason that Dani was not able to stay, and, up until the end of the book, I was really on board with this.  But, I didn't really buy the resolution of the book.  I guess it could happen this way, I have little to no experience with being on the run from anyone, but it just didn't totally work for me.  Not enough for me to dislike the book as a whole, but enough for me to be pulled a little out of it right at the end.

I do recommend this title overall.



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December 16, 2017

ONE AND DONE BY MELYNDA PRICE - ARC REVIEW

When Autumn’s best friend surprises her with a girls’ getaway in Cyprus for her 30th birthday, she makes up her mind that now is her time to shine. This is exactly the fresh start she needs to put the past and a messy divorce behind her. She might have bought into the ideology of Mr. Right once, but that myth was long busted—been there, done that—and she has the broken heart to prove it.
When a family emergency causes her bestie to bail on her minutes before their flight takes off, Autumn finds herself alone and bound for the “Island of Love.” Her friend had an itinerary chock-full of girlfriend goodies planned—massages, salsa lessons, parasailing… Okay, maybe not parasailing, but this was going to be a week of fun, and now it’s a week for one. Armed with her Best Friends Guide Book for Having Fun—and no best friend—Autumn plans to check into her beachside villa with her new BFF, Captain Morgan.

Being ranked one of the top surfers in the world does have its perks, but discovering your sex-tape was released on social media? Definitely not one of them. On the heels of a scandal that has sponsors threatening to cancel his contracts, Balen Kroft has strict instructions from his publicist to lie low for the next week while this whole fiasco blows over. Seven days of incognito before hitting the surf again at the Titans of Mavericks Invitational might not be such a bad thing—rest, relaxation, and fun in the sun… Until he comes face-to-face with his own personal riptide. If he’s not careful, Autumn Harris may just pull him under.

The fiery ginger has no idea who Balen is and he’s determined to keep it that way. After the last eight months and a series of self-destructive behaviors, he’s content to let her believe he’s a homeless, beach-bumming surfer, living a carefree life one day at a time.

Autumn’s sexy vagabond is just charming enough to convince her to let him crash in the spare room of her villa. In exchange, he offers to be her new bestie for the week, taking her on all the excursions her friend had planned. It’s a tempting offer… Her own personal tour guide and the possibility of some hot, no-strings, surfer-guy sex? What woman in her right mind would turn that down? She’s a big girl who knows the score. What can possibly go wrong?


Balen and Autumn meet on an airplane.  He is headed home, and she is headed on a vacation.

I loved the connection they have with one another, and I loved that at the beginning, when you first meet Balen, he is sort of a jerk.  Well, not sort of, he is and Autumn calls him on it.

Balen is a well-known professional surfer, and it seems that the only person in the world who doesn't know who he is.  And, he likes this, the idea that the time she spends with him is because of him, and not because of who he is.

Autumn's friend Summer leaves her a book, a list of things she needs to do while on vacation.  Some of the items on the list are maybe a little less easy to pull off than the others, but Balen and Autumn work with the book and work through the list of things in the book.  It was fun to see him support her, and to see the relationship develop. 

The chemistry between them is strong through the whole book, and you feel the attraction.

I did find the end a little frustrating, as I thought the over-reaction was out of character for Autumn, but at the same time, I was able to ignore it.  Mostly.

I did enjoy this title overall.



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