Wednesday, July 31, 2013

To the Highest Bidder by Jordan Brewer


In the faraway land of Amerito, Jonathan D'Angelo is a prince, but even a prince must yield to the king's rule. Entirely deprived of affection and loving physical contact, Jonathan spends his days on a strict regimen of study and tutelage, horse training, and weapons techniques.

Exploiting Jonathan's virginity like a bargaining chip, his scheming monarch father arranges two marriages for his son: one with the kind and beautiful prince in the prosperous kingdom of Utica, the other with a king who is a notorious sexual sadist.

After a desperate attempt to avoid the match, Jonathan meets his betrothed Prince Adrian. Immediately enraptured by the young man's beauty, Jonathan learns to fully embrace the union. Under Adrian's tender guidance, Jonathan comes to terms with his sexuality, discovers erotic pleasures, and falls in love.

When the king attempts to destroy their union, Jonathan defies his father and triggers an escalation of monarchical hostility complete with kidnapping, heinous torture, bloody battles, and revolution. Against all odds, Jonathan and Adrian must vanquish their enemies to bring peace, not only to Amerito, but to all kingdoms



This is a beautiful story. Heart wrenching, emotional, drag your heart through the gutters and then put it back together. So many times in this story did I have to pause and get a tissue. I was a mess, but as soon as I wiped my eyes and sniffed a little I dug right back in. I can't even express how touching it was. The Author did an AMAZING job writing these two, and making them human. 

A lot of times we find that our fairytales that we love to read are all insta happy and perfection. This is for sure not one of them. These two go through sooooo much to build their relationship and go from just a marriage of convenience to a solid relationship with love and hope for the future. It's hard too, not just oh we have a couple bumps in the road and we'll be find in a chapter. There's almost dying, a lot of that actually, betrayal and chaos. 

Jordan Brewer you have me hooked. I will be anxiously awaiting anything else of yours that comes out. It was a great story, one I will definitely reread. Once I stock up on some tissues :-)

5 Smooches for To the Highest Bidder! You can find it here



Monday, July 29, 2013

Dear Soldier, With Love 1 & 2


Dear Soldier, With Love...

A mysterious love letter, no name and no return address shows up in a soldier’s hands looking for her lost Beloved Soldier, unable to find him to reaches out to a soldier who perhaps no longer feels the reach of his woman hoping to touch someone that will in turn bring back her beloved.

Army Specialist Christian Brice was the first to receive the letter coming only a month after his fiancĂ© had sent him a Dear John, so moved and touched he writes her back, but unable to send it directly he shares both the letter and his correspondence with others like him and thus begins the journey of a woman’s heartfelt words across a war torn area to deliver a sweet kiss to those who need to feel it.

Word spreads of the Beloved Woman and so does the number of correspondences, some of passion and appreciation, others sharing a far more open and sensual fantasy with her, each one added to the bundle that carries her from one soldier to the next, until she lands in the hands of Airforce Senior Airman Miles Conley who comes across the man it was intended for.

This was a very hard story to read. Not because it was bad, but because it was a very emotional tale. I have a hard time with anything war related. I'm a mushy emotional person, so I get choked up pretty easy. This was for sure one of those times. It's heart wrenching to know that so many people are affected by things just like what we hear in this story. I did feel like I was waiting for it to settle on one person, which it did a little bit at the end, but you don't really get to know the characters as well as you do with a story focused on very specific people. I loved the concept though, it was an original thought, and I liked that it was something out of the norm.

3 1/2 Smooches for Dear Soldier, With Love! You can find it here!





Dear Soldier, With Love: A Lost Soldier Named Grey

Chief Warrant Officer V Grey Lawrence never once stopped to consider what he was doing or why, just being there for Nathan Blaise, a Senior Technician of Explosives Ordinance Disposal, who'd just lost his leg from a mission gone wrong, seemed to be the right thing to do. And somehow Grey found some renewing comfort of his own when he was with him. Only Nathan would be transferring home back to the state-side of the world soon, Grey still had the war's wounded to deal with here. So why was he doing this to himself? Reasons only a past Dear John letter and the restored heart he found when he read the touching words written by an anonymous woman, the soldiers had penned 'the Beloved Woman' could explain. Perhaps those two things plus the half of a wounded man who could heal Grey's own dark half would deliver him to a future he never imagined or expected for himself again.

This is the second one in the series. I have to say I liked this one a lot better than the first one. I really enjoyed the interaction between Grey and Nathan. It was a really emotional tale about two soldiers who are both having a hard time getting past the horrors they have seen and are still dealing with and how they heal each other. I can't imagine how hard it would be to be in either of their positions. This one totally made me cry as I watched (read, same thing!) Grey and Nathan work on getting past both physical and emotional pain. Good job!

I give A Lost Soldier Named Grey 4 1/2 smooches! You can find it here!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

ARC-Whiskey and Wry by Rhys Ford




We would like to add a disclaimer that we have not previously read the first book in the Sinners Series. This does not take away from the story at all! You can fully love this book without reading the first one. Now excuse us while we go read the first one :-p


Missy~ I really enjoyed this book. It was a very well written story and the Author did a great job of really getting into the characters, not just the main ones but the family members as well. I really liked that. I was also glad that this wasn't cut to a short story and Rhys really went in depth with her story. I loved the story and can't wait to see what happens next!

Jenny~ I loooooooooove this book <3!!!! I can't even express how much I enjoyed this book. Rhys is a rock star. I fell in love with Damien and Sionn as they fell in love with each other. It was so heart wrenching to see Damien's fierce need to be reunited with Miki and the struggle to get his memory back together. First, I love me some Irish! So to get engrossed in a whole family of them is awesome! Rhys really grips your heart and drives you wild. I love it! We would also like to place a disclaimer that if we don't find out about the brother soon, Missy and I will either die of deprivation or will make our way to Cali to duct tape Rhys to her chair to make her write the story for us lol. Until then we will be waiting with baited breath.

5 smooches for Whiskey and Wry!!! Thank you Rhys for letting us join you in this adventure! <3

Whiskey and Wry comes out August 19th!! Until then join us in reading book 1 in the series Sinner's Gin!!


Friday, July 19, 2013

Deception Peak by Dianne Lynn Gardner


Today I'm reviewing Deception Peak by Dianne Lynn Gardner!

The first book of a trilogy, Deception Peak is a young adult adventure fantasy about a teenager, Ian Wilson, who follows his father through a portal that magically appears on their computer screen. They travel into a deceptively beautiful Realm, where horses run free, the wind sings prophetic melodies, and their computer avatars come to life.

But when the two are separated, Ian is abducted by a tribe of dragon worshipers and is forced to find his courage. As he struggles for his freedom and embarks on a perilous search to find his father, Ian meets the true peacekeepers of the Realm. It's then that he learns there is a greater purpose for being there.

This is out of my realm of normal books read. I'm usually into romance books, even in YA novels. This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review, and I am more then happy to give it. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book. It started off a little strange. Young loner boy with his dad having nerd bonding time. Going from there to this magical land that they somehow managed to get access to from a computer program the two of them build. Everything seems cool until they go to venture further into this world to explore and get separated. I didn't think I had gotten sucked into it so bad until I ran out of book to read! I was surprised I had been so absorbed. No sappy romance to distract me, no steamy sex scenes, just pure intense plot taking me from one chapter to the next and leaving me hanging!!

I'm really glad I read this. It was a wonderful read. I will be adding the next two books to my to be read list, with pleasure!! Five smooches for an exceptional read. You can find Deception Peak here!



Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Cougar Wants by Cooper McKenzie


Cougar Wants During a weekend with her two lifelong friends, Kimber Jordan decides she wants to become a cougar. When financial difficulties arise, she chooses to rent a room rather than ask friends or family for help. When the pizza delivery guy asks to rent the room, Kimber is intrigued. He’s younger, gorgeous, and makes her dream of things she’d forgotten. Tate Pierce, a cougar shape-shifter, has worked multiple jobs for so long he doesn’t remember what free time is. When he delivers Kimber’s pizza, he realizes she is his lifemate. He doesn’t care that she is an older woman. She is sexy and beautiful and everything he wants in his mate. When work comes between them, Kimber takes drastic measures to show him there is more to life than work. Can Kimber help Tate change his life goals to include her? Will this cub be able to tame his cougar?


Book one in the Cougarlicious series. Kimber and her friends decide to become cougars. Sounds simple right? Go out, find hot young thing to bring home, have happily ever after! How do you manage to find someone though when you work out of your home, and don’t really leave much. Easy! Order pizza. J  I got the first two in this series to read at the same time, which was good because by the time I was done with the first one I was raring to go for the next. This is a steamy and sweet read that goes to show you that age doesn’t matter. No matter how old you get, you still deserve love, and some hot steamy sex.  Now I would like to know when my pizza place is going to find hot people to deliver my pizza ;-)

4 ½ Smooches!!

You can find Cougar Wants here!




Libby's Fireman by Tracey Steinbach


Libby’s Fireman is the story of a little girl, her mom and the fireman who falls in love with both of them. Libby is exuberant, outgoing and fearless. She’s also six years old. When she gets stuck in a tree, trying to get her Barbie doll to fly, Jack comes to her rescue. Jack is immediately taken with the little girl. He loves children, going out of his way to help them whenever he can. In bonding with Libby, Jack gets to know Tara, her mom. Tara melts a little each time she sees Jack with Libby. She was attracted to him but now her heart is becoming involved. Little by little, the three of them become a family.

This was a very cute but short story. I really loved the way the author wrote the little girl. As a mom of a precocious little firecracker myself, she really hit it on that one. Libby is ADORABLE! My only miff was that it was so short! It was a really cute story and a fun read, just wish it would have been longer. Would be interested to see if the author expands on this at all in a series.  ~ Jenny

I agree, I really enjoyed this story. I just wish it hadn't ended so soon. I loved the little girl, she was so sweet. I'm looking forward to reading more. ~ Missy

All in all we give Libby’s Fireman 4 smooches, on the grounds that we needed more to read.

You can find Libby's Fireman here

    


Monday, July 8, 2013

Angel's Redemption by Azalea Moone


Twenty-four-year-old Blaine Schneider is seasoned to hardship. Since the age of eight, he's experienced nothing but a swarm of bad luck: from the funny electrical fire in shop class to failing grades and relationships gone sour. He believes he'll never get past it; only his band, 'Til Dark, and their dream, keeps him going through it all.

Shortly after he mysteriously inherits a beautifully carved angel statue, Blaine also finds an apartment big enough to display the lifelike sculpture, and he thinks his luck has finally taken a turn for the better. But when he discovers the spell inscribed on the statue's base, he frees Lynsael from his stone prison, a handsome fallen angel who claims to be Blaine's former guardian angel, and then his luck really improves.

But while Blaine is falling hard for the angel's blue eyes and lively personality, in the shadows, dark forces are working to keep Blaine and Lynsael apart. It will take more than luck for the pair to come through unscathed—it'll take a miracle.



This was a good story, I really liked the interaction between Blaine and Lynsael. It wasn't an instant love at first sight story, so it had a good realistic feel to it, as opposed to sappy romance feel but it was still really sweet. It also had some really good twists that I was not expecting. Good rock story too, I had fun seeing the inner workings of the band. I'm looking forward to see future books from this author.

I give Angel's Redemption 3 1/2 smooches!

You can find Angel's Redemption here!



Friday, July 5, 2013

Dragons among us!

Today I'm reviewing the Dracones anthology. I love me some dragons. It's always interesting to see how different authors write dragons. So this was fun to have multiple stories to go off of.

Fugue in Gold and Fire by Avery Vanderlyle
Adri and Dru are waiting for the purple moon and Vesti's light which will decide who changes into an animal shape or not. This was a good story, of two men hoping that through the change they wont forget each other and their love. I'm usually a little sketchy on stories where the main characters are already in love, cause I really enjoy the whole falling in love part. This, however did a really good job of showing how much these two men love each other and the challenges they go through when one of them changes into something a little bigger than expected lol.

Teller of Tales by D.K. Jernigan
This one was a fun spin on the writing world. Tom's job is to read through stories at a publishing agency and decide what would be worth approval and what get's put in the decline pile. After reading the first chapter of an amazing story he finds the author lives in the same town as they are in and schedules to meet him. Tom soon discovers how Peter knows so much about this special world he's written. It was a fun read. I liked the publishing company side of it.

Weird Magics by E.E. Ottoman
Cyras and Daire have an odd relationship of patient and doctor. Murders start happening to other non humans they work together to not only help Daire but the others out there. Murder, suspense and dragons. Not your average tale, but it had a nice action packed ending.

Chanson Commencante de Guerre by Lor Rose
Dragons and dragon shifters don't mix. There's been a war between the two for a long time. Rayvak is a recluse dragon, banished from his kind. Stormy is a dragon shifter who was being attacked on Rayvak's land. Rayvak steps in and saves him. This story is sweet. Sometimes you have to look past what everyone else says about who you love.

Two in the Bush by E.R. Karr
David and Ferdi went camping together. Ferdie needed a chance to stretch his wings in his dragon form, but things don't go as planned. This story was really cool, and very out of the ordinary, but they were very funny together and it had a cool ending.


Finding the Rain by Tam Ames
Buwei has been selected to bring offerings to Lord Shenlong with hopes that he'll bring the rain. When he gets up to the temple he meets Tian. This story was really sweet yet sad. Great job on really catching the emotions in this story.

Lukos Heat by Megan Derr
Shifters come in all shapes and sizes. A group of shifters are on the hunt for someone accused of an attempted assassination, among them a dragon who does not like the cold. They meet up with the Lukos, large wolf shifters who are there to help. I love how the two main characters banded together and also kept each other safe. They kept the heat going. Really great read.


This was a fun read and I was not dissappointed. Still love me some dragons! You can find them here!