Tag: Paranormal Romance

Review: Impulse by Moira Rogers

On By MikaelaIn Paranormal Romance

The Particulars: Paranormal Romance, Samhain, available as e-book

The Source: ARC from the Author
The Grade: B-
The Blurb:Sera Sinclaire is a New Orleans rarity: a submissive coyote trapped in a town overrun by dominant shapeshifters. Worse, she lacks the willpower to deny the alphas-in-shining-armor who need her soothing presence, even when their protectiveness threatens to crush her hard-won self-reliance. The only shifter she doesn’t want to push away is Julio Mendoza, a wolf so dominant he’s earned a place on the Southeast council.

Julio doesn’t have the luxury of indulging in the vacation his psychic shrink insists he needs. He can’t turn his back on responsibilities he’s beginning to wish he’d never shouldered. When an obsessive ex endangers Sera, though, instinct drives him to get her out of town. Watching her come to life outside the city makes him feel like he’s finally done something right, and her touch ignites desire he doesn’t want to ignore.
But soon, lighthearted flirting becomes a dangerous game of seduction, where every day spent falling into each other is another day avoiding the truth. Sera’s ex isn’t the only one who’d disapprove of their relationship. There are wolves who would kill to get Sera out of Julio’s life—starting with his own blood kin.
Warning: Contains endless summer road trips, family drama, redneck werewolves, sexual power games and a taboo love affair between a submissive coyote who’s among the last of her kind and a dominant wolf who loves his heroine’s ass. Literally.

The Review:
I requested the ARC of this book, read it and decided that I wanted to re-read it later. And then life happended, and my laptop crashed so it took a bit longer for me to read it again.
But, I finally go around to re-read it, and I am glad I did.
This book had a just the right mix of sizzling sexual tension, and touching moments for me.  Unlike the previous books, this one mostly took place outside The sexual tension between Julio and Sera crackled, from page one to the end.  Both of them are scarred by the past, yet they do the best their to remain strong.   My heart ached for Sera, and the other coyotes
 My heart ached for Sera and the other coyotes over the fact that their population is dwindling. And for how it affect their lives.But Julio and his family proves that money doesn’t solve anything. Let me tell you, I wanted to shake Diego and Cesar for being pompous jerks.
 
The setting of this novel was a refreshing change from the previous books. The previous books in the series are centered around New Orleans. While the other books have portions set in other cities, this is the first book where the journey is a central part of the plot. It was fascinating to see how the poor packs lived, and just how much the Conclave’s tithes affect their lives.

.So for the thing that I didn’t love: I was jarred out from the story half way through. One moment they are on holiday. The next… they aren’t. And after that the story didn’t suck me back in.

ARC review: Silver Mine by Vivian Arend

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations, Paranormal Romance, reviews

The Particulars: Paranormal Romance, Samhain Publishing, available as e-book.
The Source: ARC from the author
The Grade: A
The Blurb: Life in isolation is the safest place for Chase Johnson, a crossbreed who doesn’t know which form he’ll assume next-cougar or wolf. Once a year, his unelected position as spokesman for the Yukon outcasts forces him to visit civilization. This time he runs across someone unexpected. She’s not his mate, but she pushes all the right buttons.
It’s taken years for Shelley Bradley to gather the courage to return to her home pack. In spite of being the lowest of the low-a shifter who can’t shift-she’s determined to make a place for herself as the Whitehorse locals’ new vet-slash-doctor.

There’s definite electricity between her and Chase, but sex with fellow shifters and the inherent mind games got old a long time ago. Ignoring him seems best. When he shows up at her office with a wound that won’t heal, she’s stuck-yet drawn to solve this medical mystery.

As they journey deep into outcast territory in search of answers, their powerful sexual attraction crumbles her resistance. But time is of the essence. If a cure can’t be found before his human and cougar succumb to his injury, he-and others like him-will die.

Warning: Contains a silver-tongued, hairy-chested, lean-muscled Alpha who’s got what it takes to lead in the wilderness and in the bedroom. Yeah, I know…not really much of a deterrent, is it? Throw in continuing territorial wars and a domestic cat. Stir and enjoy the chaos.

The Review:
I jumped on the chance to read an ARC of Silver Mine when Vivian Arend posted about the opportunity on her blog. And I am glad I did. This book was Vivian Arend at her best.
This book took place in Whitehorse and in the wilderness in Yukon. I loved the tiny details in small town life. From how everyone knows everyone, to the layer of secrets that existed beneath the surface. But, I loved the descriptions of the wilderness more. It tugged at something within me, and made me long to walk along the path that led to Chase cabin.
When it comes to the characters, I loved how Chase and Shelley reflected each other. They were both outcasts, but it very different ways. Shelley’s wariness towards re-joining the Takihini pack made sense. Sometimes, I wanted to smack the old Takihini Alpha. This also affected their relationship. The attraction was there, but Shelley fought it. It was nice to meet the Takhini wolves again, but my favorite characters were the outcasts. They were grumpy, and had their bad sides, but all of them had a heart of gold.
But what made the book for me was how it showed that shifters isn’t perfect. When Chase got wounded he shrugged it off, but the tension and worry gradually increased when his wound didn’t heal. More, I liked how it was gradually revealed that the infection didn’t just affect him, but it threatended all shifters. And that it affected shifters differently. Some it affected mentally, and some it affected physically.   
I cannot say that there was anything glaring that I disliked with this books, just a few typos.

Review: Wolf Line by Vivian Arend

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations, Paranormal Romance, reviews

Wolf LineThe Particulars:  Paranormal Romance, Samhain, available as e-book
The Source: Purchased at Books on board
The Grade: A

 The Blurb:

Jared’s not sure how his quiet morning coffee near the harbour ended with him on a cruise ship impersonating one of his pack mates. Well, it might have something to do with a woman, but who can blame him? The female of the species was made to love, and he’s more than willing to share his considerable skills in that area. Especially since he figures the chances of meeting his own one-and-only are slim.
Keri Smith is positive the last-minute recruit sneaking aboard the Arctic Wolf Cruise Lines tour is her mate. Ix-nay on confirming that, though, at least for the next ten days. She’s promised her best friend to be overall troubleshooter for the shifter-only cruise. Getting tangled up in mating lust would reduce her skills to nil. Avoidance of the sexy wolf for the duration of the cruise, followed by jumping his bones, seems the logical solution.
But when libidos are on the line, “logic” and “wolves” don’t go together. Throw in suspicions of wrongdoing, and these two virtual strangers will need a lot more than luck to find their way through to forever.

Warning: Really? You need to be warned about the hot nookie and sarcasm? Yeah, it’s in here. Also colourful cat shifters, lupine royalty, and wild adventures in cabins like you’ve never seen before.


The Review: 

I pre-ordered this one, but for a number of reasons I never got around to read it until now.   And I am glad I read it.

It was nice to re-visit the Granite Lake wolves, and get another insight into the world that Ms Arend has created.  Unlike the previous books, which took place in and around Haines (mostly), this book took place at a cruise ship.  Which has its problems.  I loved how the demands from the passengers and the unexpected problems affected Jared’s and Keri’s relationship.

At first glance, Keri and Jared felt like an odd couple but as the story went on, I started to see that they weren’t an odd couple. In fact, they match each other quite well.  I had a blast following them, from the bumpy start  to their HEA. 

One thing that I loved was the mix of romance and.  I especially liked how intergral the  mystery that was to the story.  ( Sometimes a mystery subplot feels tacked on to add length, but not this time.)  The search for the thief kept throwing wrenches into the relationship.  I loved how they thrusted each other, and worked out their problems. 

The only thing that I didn’t like was Jared’s secrets. Yes, I can understand the wish for him to live a quiet life, but  as his secrets was revealed, I couldn’t help wondering how the rest of the Granite Lake Pack will react when they finds out.

Book recommendation: Silver Mine by Vivian Arend

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations, Paranormal Romance, reviews


 

Life in isolation is the safest place for Chase Johnson, a crossbreed who doesn’t know which form he’ll assume next—cougar or wolf. Once a year, his unelected position as spokesman for the Yukon outcasts forces him to visit civilization. This time he runs across someone unexpected. She’s not his mate, but she pushes all the right buttons.

It’s taken years for Shelley Bradley to gather the courage to return to her home pack. In spite of being the lowest of the low—a shifter who can’t shift—she’s determined to make a place for herself as the Whitehorse locals’ new vet-slash-doctor.

There’s definite electricity between her and Chase, but sex with fellow shifters and the inherent mind games got old a long time ago. Ignoring him seems best. When he shows up at her office with a wound that won’t heal, she’s stuck—yet drawn to solve this medical mystery.

As they journey deep into outcast territory in search of answers, their powerful sexual attraction crumbles her resistance. But time is of the essence. If a cure can’t be found before his human and cougar succumb to his injury, he—and others like him—will die.

I read the first one, and felt meh, but the blurb is intriguing and I liked the excerpt that Vivian Arend posted awhile ago. So I’ll buy it.

Review: Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh

On By MikaelaIn Paranormal Romance1 Comment

The Particulars: Paranormal Romance, Berkley, available in print and as e-book.
The Source: Purchased at Kobo
The Grade: B
The blurb:

Clay Bennett is a powerful DarkRiver sentinel, but he grew up in the slums with his human mother, never knowing his changeling father. As a young boy without the bonds of Pack, he tried to stifle his animal nature. He failed…and committed the most extreme act of violence, killing a man and losing his best friend, Talin, in the bloody aftermath. Everything good in him died the day he was told that she, too, was dead.
Talin McKade barely survived a childhood drenched in bloodshed and terror. Now a new nightmare is stalking her life–the street children she works to protect are disappearing and turning up dead. Determined to keep them safe, she unlocks the darkest secret in her heart and returns to ask the help of the strongest man she knows…
Clay lost Talin once. He will not let her go again, his hunger to possess her, a clawing need born of the leopard within. As they race to save the innocent, Clay and Talin must face the violent truths of their past…or lose everything that ever mattered.

The Review:
This book hooked me from the start. I couldn’t stop reading it. I had to find out what happend.
It crackled with tension from the start. I loved the fact that both Clay and Talin had scars from their childhood. I could almost touch Talin’s hesitation over how Clay would react to seeing her again.
A lot of the tension in this book came from their past, and the struggle to move past it. But, that is not all that is going on.Amidst all this, they are running against the clock to find Talin’s missing charges.
I could almost touch Talin’s worry. Worry over her health, worry over if they would find the children.
I loved how Nalini Singh revealed yet another layer of the world in this book, revealing just how debated the Silence had been when it was introduced 100 years earlier.
So, What I didn’t like. I didn’t like the POV’s from Ashaya and Jon. Yes, I know that they were necessary, and that they set up for the next book, but I was so focused on Talin’s and Clay’s story that it just annoyed me.

Review: Strange Neighbors by Ashlyn Chase

On By MikaelaIn Paranormal Romance

The Particulars: Paranormal Romance, Sourcebooks, available in print and as e-book.
The Source: Purchased at Allromance
The Grade: C+
The Blurb:

He’s looking for peace, quiet, and a little romance…
There’s never a dull moment when hunky all-star pitcher and shapeshifter Jason Falco invests in an old Boston brownstone apartment building full of supernatural creatures. But when Merry MacKenzie moves into the ground floor apartment, the playboy pitcher decides he might just be done playing the field…
A girl just wants to have fun…
Sexy Jason seems like the perfect fling, but newly independent nurse Merry’s not sure she’s ready to trust him with her heart…especially when the tabloids start trumpeting his playboy lifestyle.
Then pandemonium breaks loose and Merry and Jason will never get it together without a little help from the vampire who lives in the basement and the werewolf from upstairs…

The Review:

This is another unread book that I decided to read on a whim. I am glad I did. This wasn’t a perfect romance, far from it, but it made me laugh and smile.
  In many ways, this book felt like I was dropped into the house, and could follow Merry’s life there. From the moment she met Jason, to the first tentiative steps through their romance.  Their arguments, their first kiss. Her interactions with the odd neighbors.  Dealing with what it meant to be dating a celebrity.    
Merry wasn’t the only one struggling. Jason had his own reasons to worry.  He knew that if she reacted badly, he would be in a lot of trouble.

And then there are the neighbors. I loved the neighbors.  From the snarky ghost, to the phone sex actress witches, the vampire squatting in the cellar.  Oh, and did I mention the Werewolf in the cellar? 

One important subplot in the book was the search for the ghost’s murderer. I loved how all the tenants tried to help and solve it, in the best way they could.

The biggest problem I had with this book was ironically enough with the romance.   I never doubted their HEA, no matter what life tossed at them.  And it tossed a lot of them.  Jason’s secrets, nosy paparazzis, nosy family.  And honestly, a part of a good romance is the feeling of satisfaction, that despite everything they end up together.

Review: Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh

On By MikaelaIn Paranormal Romance

The particulars: Paranormal Romance, Berkley, available as print and e-book
The Source: Purchased at Kobo
The Grade: B
The Blurb:
Used to cold silence, Faith NightStar is suddenly being tormented by dark visions of blood and murder. A bad sign for anyone, but worse for Faith, an F-Psy with the highly sought after ability to predict the future. Then the visions show her something even more dangerous – aching need… exquisite pleasure. But so powerful is her sight, so fragile the state of her mind, that the very emotions she yearns to embrace could be the end of her.

Changeling Vaughn D’Angelo can take either man or jaguar form, but it is his animal side that is overwhelmingly drawn to Faith. The jaguar’s instinct is to claim this woman it finds so utterly fascinating, and the man has no argument. But while Vaughn craves sensation and hungers to pleasure Faith in every way, desire is a danger that could snap the last threads of her sanity. And there are Psy who need Faith’s sight for their own purposes. They must keep her silenced – and keep her from Vaughn…

The Review:
What I like most about Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series isn’t the romance. No, it is the world. ( Ok, I might be exagerating a bit). The world she has created is detailed, and varied. There is the cold emotionless Psy that governs the world. The territorial changelings, that craves touch. And humans of course. Together they create a world that is stratified with Psy on top and the changelings and humans beneath., At least if you ask the Psy. Tossed into the world is memorable characters. 
This book is no different.  The picture that she painted of Faith’s life before she met Vaughn gave me goosebumps.   My heart went out to Faith when she fretted about wheter or not she would go insane.
As a changeling, Vaughn is Faith’s total opposite. He craves touch, he is violent.
That said, I loved the way he patiently coaxed Faith out of her shell, and helped her grow into the woman she should have been.
So to the weak spots.
It might be because of me, but the sexual tension I felt… flickered. Most of the time it was hidden in the tension to reach the end. I also didn’t like how she treated the mating bond. It felt as if she realised that they needed to be mates, and added the discovery.
Also, the book felt… unbalanced.  I felt that the only one that changed in the book was Faith. Vaughn was the same person at the end of the book as he was at the beginning.  

Book recommendation: Oracle’s Moon by Thea Harrison

On By MikaelaIn Paranormal Romance

Oracle’s Moon

As a second daughter, Grace Andreas never had to worry about the intrigues of the Elder Races. But when her sister, Petra, and Petra’s husband are both killed, Grace inherits the Power and responsibilities of the Oracle of Louisville, as well as her sister’s two young children – neither of which she is prepared for.
Yet, she is not alone. Khalil, Demonkind and Djinn prince of House Marid – driven by his genuine caring for the children – has decided to make himself a part of the household both as their guardian and as an exasperating counterpoint to Grace’s impudence toward the Elder Races.
But when an attempt is made on Grace’s life, she realizes that Khalil is the only one who can protect her – and offer her more than a mortal man…
Release date: March 6th.  Which feels so far away right now. sigh. I love, love Thea Harrison’s books, and this one is definitely on the to buy list.

Review: Mating Call by Emily Ryan-Davis

On By MikaelaIn Paranormal Romance

The Particulars: Paranormal Romance, Freya’s Bower, ebook
The Grade: B-
Source: Purchased at Fictionwise
The Blurb
Cora Phillips has witchcraft in her blood, but she’s convinced she inherited the recessive rather than the dominant trait. Her mother and sister are the real heiresses to the Lune tradition; Cora has neither the interest nor the inclination to take up the Dragonkeeper mantle. Years ago, she left the New York City Witch lifestyle to the other women in her family, and said goodbye to all the velvet and lace. However, during a moment of insomnia-induced insanity, she agrees to come back to celebrate Christmas/Winter Solstice with her family.

It comes as a shock to all three women when Cora, through clumsy fumblings to “get in touch with her goddess” at her sister’s urging, calls a pair of ancient dragons into her meditation circle.

Cora swears it’s a mistake. Her mother swears it’s the correct course of events. Eventually, every Dragonkeeper issues the call to mate. Problem is, nobody expected Cora to summon even a single dragon, let alone two.

Before long, the dragons’ guardians come knocking, literally, and ruin any hope of politely apologizing and returning the creatures.


The review:
This is another book that I have wanted to read for years, but never got around to. I purchased it at Fictionwise a couple of months ago.
I enjoyed the story. It was interesting to read about Cora and her adamant disbelief in magic, while her mother and sister didn’t hide the fact that they are witches. It took a couple of pages before the story hooked me, but once I was hooked I kept on reading. The worldbuilding was intriguing, with witches and Dragons and Shamans. I liked the characters. From Cora’s skepticism, to Diane’s cheerfulness. I smiled when Diane told Cora to stay away from Salim, but didn’t explain why. I liked the way the hints to the characters secrets were scattered through the story.
I felt that the story had a lot of potential, but that due its length, it felt a bit short. Maybe it was because of the length, but I didn’t feel that the characters grew emotionally. A bit more worrying was the fact that I didn’t feel that there was an romantic subplot until the end of the book. This might be because of the fact it is the first book in a triology, though.
Will I get the rest of the books in the series?
Probably. I think the story would have benefitted from being published in an omnibus with the other stories.

Review: The Highwayman by Michele Hauf

On By MikaelaIn Paranormal Romance

The particulars: Paranormal Romance, Silhouette Nocturne, available as e-book and in print
Source: The Library
The Grade: B
The Blurb:

Max Fitzroy, the legendary Highwayman, has slain scores of demons with a razor-lined whip and a burning need for revenge. Now, to rid himself of the demon shadow inside him—who has cursed him with immortality and stole all sensual pleasures—Max needs a witch’s familiar, the one creature he’s made a career of killing.

But the Highwayman isn’t prepared for the familiar named Aby. The sleek and sexy conduit to the demon realm sees past his nightmarish shadow as easily as he scales the walls she’s erected to protect herself. Max needs Aby to grant him his freedom, and then he needs to slay her. But how can he destroy the only creature he’s desired in centuries?


The Review:
What I liked:
I loved that the main characters wasn’t one of the standard vampire/witch/ werewolf.  I am a bit tired of those.  Instead, Aby is a cat Familiar and  determined to keep her new won independent.  Max is equally determined to make change her mind.  Both positions made sense, but it was fun to follow their struggle with the attraction. There were a couple of testosterone laden meetings between Max and Severo that was fun to read. 
I liked how Ms Hauf used the belief that cat’s have nine lives in the story. The flashback fitted nicely into the plot, and gave a glimpse in what had happened when Max got his demon.  Normally I don’t like flashbacks, since when they are done wrong they often drag down the plot. In general, the plot was focused on Max and his search to get rid of the demon.  The twists took me by surprise, but they made sense.    

What I didn’t like:
This might be picky, but I didn’t like Aby’s name.  I wanted to add a b while I read.  On the other hand, she shifts into an Abyssinian cat.

Summary:
This was a wellwritten novel, set in an intresting world. It is a bit short, but perfect when you want something to read during a lazy day.