Blurb:

It’s lust at first sight when Mac sees Jason shirtless and sweating on the back of a truck.Jason is the army sergeant assigned to support the six‐week scientific expedition that Mac isparticipating in, and might just be the perfect candidate for another journey of discovery that Mac is desperate to undertake — sex.

Fraternisation between students and staff might be strictly prohibited, but everybody knows fruit always tastes better when it’s forbidden.

Review:

This book is very short, more like a novella really, so this is going to be more like a mini review. I admit it, I am a sucker for a nice chest, and it was the cover that grabbed me about this book. I have been reading a lot more military type fiction lately, basically hot men with guns and gadgets; I can’t get enough of it, the dog tags on the cover sent alarm bells ringing! I was a little bit disappointed by The Virginity Mission; it just wasn’t what I expected.

This book wasn’t all that erotic; I certainly wouldn’t class this as erotic fiction. At first I questioned myself, I wondered if my mind had been corrupted by all the filth I read, and I could no longer distinguish between what’s considered erotic and “normal” ha! There are some sexy times in this book, it’s steamy and there’s chemistry but it’s not erotic, so if erotica is your thang, then this isn’t going to be for you.

Our main character Willow or Mac is 21 and she’s a virgin, and she’s decided to step up and challenge herself. Mac has signed up for a six week science exploration in the rainforest, while getting her geek on, she sees this as the perfect opportunity to loose her V plates. At times I found Mac immature and it was a bit of a struggle to connect with her, her personality was all over the place and it didn’t quite mesh.

Jason is part of the Army crew, who are there to offer support to the students on the expedition. Mac is Jason’s forbidden fruit It’s laid out in black and white that students and the hot army guys are not to get down with the nasty, so naturally it’s gonna happen!

I really liked Jason’s character, he’s hot, sexy and brooding but not like the usual Alpha’s I read about, I missed that stronger side to his character. I really wanted to know more about Jason, I wanted to get into his head and see his side of things and I think this book really lacked that. What I did really enjoy was the descriptions of the rainforest and the actual exploration. I felt like I was really there with them, and I loved that. I did enjoy the sexual tension between Mac and Jason, the romance was cute, but there just wasn’t enough of it to pack a punch.

EXCERPT

Bang bang bang. “Dalton! Come on man, open up. I know you’re in there.”

Dalton cracked one eyelid and cast a bleary eye at the alarm clock. Seven a.m. He yanked the quilt over his head and mumbled “f*** off” to Boden Hicks, the idiot beating on his door.

“McKay. I’m not f***ing around. This is an emergency.”

That hauled Dalton’s ass out of bed. He unlatched the old-fashioned bolt and opened the door. “What’s the emergency?”

Boden hustled inside but a gust of snow followed before he slammed the heavy oak door shut. He stamped his feet. “Damn snowstorm came from out of nowhere.”

“You better not have tricked me out of bed to complain about the goddamned weather.”

Boden shuffled over to the woodstove to warm himself, but it’d been a good ten hours since Dalton had loaded it up. “It’s like a damn freezer in here.”

“That’s because I was sleeping. In my own bed, after roughing it on an elk hunt, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember. I’m just glad the hunting party made it out before this storm hit.” Boden unzipped his parka and pulled out Dalton’s cell phone, still attached to the wall charger. “Normally I could give a crap if you stay in bed a week after a hunt, but you left your phone charging at the lodge last night. The thing’s been buzzing like crazy. When I unplugged it, I noticed you’ve got twenty-seven missed calls. So it’s gotta be something important.”

Dalton’s stomach knotted. Since he had little to no cell service in the mountains, he forgot he even had a cell phone most of the time. Few people had his number—just his brothers, his mother, his cousin Sierra McKay, his accountant, his banker and his investment guys.

“Gimme that.” Dalton scrolled through the missed calls. Twelve from Brandt, twelve from Tell, three from Sierra.

Had to be bad news if his family had reached out to him.

The family he hadn’t seen in three years.

“What’s going on?”

He glanced up at Boden. “No clue. I haven’t bothered to set up my voice mail on this phone so I’ll have to call to find out.”

Boden sighed. “Speaking of…I wanted to make sure your two-way is charged. Since you have an issue with technology that allows people to get in touch with you.”

“It’s charged. I laid in a store of food before the huntin’ trip so I can ride out the storm.”

“Good. We’re supposed to get a foot of snow today and maybe more tonight.” Boden crouched in front of the woodstove and chucked kindling in the cold embers before setting the torch to the pile. “Might be a couple days before you can get out, if you need to go home.”

Home. It didn’t have the same connotation it once did. When it was all he’d known. “I’ll let you know what’s goin’ on as soon as I know.”

Boden piled several small logs in the black box before he stood. “You worried?”

Dalton shrugged.

But Boden didn’t buy his act; he never had, which was why they’d become such good friends. “You want me to stick around?”

“Nah. I’ll put on a pot of coffee before I call my brother.” He smirked. “Get on back to the lodge. Bree would jam my nuts in a vise if you got snowed in with me instead of with her.”

“Your nuts ain’t ever gonna be anywhere near my wife’s hands, McKay.”

He laughed. “I know your kink doesn’t extend to sharing.”

“Damn straight.” Boden zipped up his parka and slipped on his gloves. “You need anything, buzz us. If we don’t answer right away—”

“I’ll assume you’re tied up. Or rather, you’re tying Bree up.”

As soon as Boden left, Dalton started coffee. Then he stripped off his long johns and took a cold shower. That ensured he’d be fully awake.

The main room of the three-room cabin had warmed up by the time he’d dressed. After downing two cups of coffee, Dalton stood by the window in the kitchen and called Brandt.

His oldest brother answered on the fourth ring. “’Bout damn time, Dalton. Where the hell have you been that you can’t return a phone call?”

No doubt Brandt thought he was f***ing off someplace. Little did he know how tiring it was leading a ten-day hunting party into the mountains. But Dalton no longer explained his life choices to anyone. “What’s goin’ on? I had twenty-four missed calls in the last twelve hours.” No one knew Sierra had his number. His brothers would be pissed if they knew Dalton kept in better contact with Sierra than with them.

“Dad had a stroke.”

Silence. Finally Dalton asked, “Is he okay?”

“He’s alive, if that’s what you mean. He’s havin’ difficulties talkin’. They’re not sure if it’s permanent. They’re not too sure of anything at this point. So we—me’n Tell—are asking you to come home.”

Dalton closed his eyes. He didn’t want to play nursemaid to the man who’d made his life hell. Especially not after the last conversation they’d had, which was the biggest reason Dalton had left Sundance for good—not that he’d told his brothers or anyone else about what’d gone down. “I don’t know if I can.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?” Brandt demanded.

“Why do you want me there?”

“Hey, bro. Brandt put you on speaker phone,” Tell said. “Look, we need you to help us make some decisions about Dad’s care.”

Dalton let his forehead rest against the frosted windowpane.

“We haven’t seen you in over three years. It sucks that something like this had to happen for you to even consider comin’ home. But we do need you here.”

He pictured his brothers, Tell leaning against the window in the cab of Brandt’s truck, his restless fingers tapping on his leg. Brandt seated behind the steering wheel, his posture stiff, arms crossed over his chest.

“When did this happen?” Dalton asked.

“Brandt got a call from the hospital in Spearfish yesterday morning. They wouldn’t let us see him until late afternoon. Soon as we had some information, we tried calling you.” Tell paused. “You ain’t gotten any better at returning calls.”

“But I did return it. Not fast enough for you?” he asked sharply. Jesus. Within two minutes of talking to his brothers he’d reverted to the defensive guy he’d left behind. He exhaled slowly. “Sorry. Cell service here is spotty.”

“Where are you?”

Don’t feel guilty they don’t know. “Alder, Montana. We’re in the midst of a blizzard so it might be a couple days before I can make it out of the mountains.”

Silence.

“Has the doctor given you a time frame on how long he’ll be in the hospital?”

“No,” Brandt said. “But when Dad is discharged, it’ll be to the rehab wing in a nursing home.”

That oughta make Casper even more the patient from hell. “Sounds like it won’t matter then if I’m not there for a couple of days. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way.”

“Sure. Will you be staying with one of us?” Tell asked.

“Nah. I’ve got it covered. Thanks though.”

Neither of his brothers asked where he’d be bunking down, although he sensed they wanted to.

“Okay, then. I guess we’ll see you when we see you.”

“Yep. Later.” Dalton hung up.

He stared out the window for the longest time, even though he couldn’t see sh** through the swirling snow.

But this storm wasn’t anything compared to the one he faced in Sundance.

The blizzard lasted two days. On the morning of the third day Dalton packed up his stuff, closed up his cabin and headed down the mountain.

Once he had a clear cell signal, he gave Brandt a heads up he was on his way. Brandt said they’d moved Casper to the rehab wing and to meet them there.

Then he placed a call to Sierra.

She answered with, “I swear every time I call you and I don’t hear back I live in mortal fear that you’ve disconnected from the world completely and you’re out in the forest running naked with woodchucks and sh**.”

“Not hardly. I returned the calls in order of importance.”

“So you’ve talked to your brothers?”

“Yeah. I’m on my way to Wyoming right now.”

“They giving you grief about…well, everything?”

“They both knew it wouldn’t take much for me to refuse to come back.” He flipped on the defroster. “How’d you find out about Casper’s stroke?”

“Keely. I knew your brothers would get a hold of you first, so my call isn’t about your father.”

“Then why did you call?” Dalton heard her take a deep breath and he went on full alert.

In a rush, Sierra said, “You’ve got to promise me that you won’t get mad at me for what I’m about to tell you.”

“No conversation ever ends well that starts that way.”

“True, but I want you to remember I was only following your parameters. And I kinda hoped someone else would tell you about this, so I didn’t have to. But then, you’d have to actually talk to someone who lives there, and we both know that’s a rarity, so I guess it falls to me.”

“You been drinkin’? ’Cause you ain’t making a lick of sense. Quit dancing around the subject, college girl, and spill it.”

“Rory is back in Sundance and working for Wyoming Natural Resource Council.”

Everything switched into slow motion. Dalton couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. He had to pull onto the shoulder so he didn’t wreck his truck.

“Dalton?”

“You said Rory is livin’ in Sundance.”

“Yes.”

“With her fiancé?”

“No. She, ah, broke off the engagement.”

“When?”

“Six months ago.”

This was not happening. Sierra had not kept this information from him about Rory for half a goddamned year.

“Dalton. I know your head is about to explode—”

“Jesus, Sierra, do you f***ing think? Why are you just telling me this now?” he roared. “Do you have any f***ing idea—”

“That you’ve been holed up in the middle of freakin’ nowhere moping because Rory got engaged to someone else? Why yes, I was completely aware of that little factoid, cuz.”

Silence.

“Besides, you were doing your lumberjack gig and completely off the grid when Rory ended the engagement. I’ll remind you of your zero tolerance policy—me not talking about Rory or sharing information about Rory’s life was your edict, Dalton. I was just following your parameters. And now the parameters have changed.”

“Seriously not f***ing amused. Will you just get to the point?”

“I really have to point out that you and Rory will actually be in the same place for the first time in over three years?”

“Three years? Try ten years since she’s lived there. I’da been in Sundance six months ago if I’d known she was there without some other asshole’s ring on her finger,” he snarled.

“Whoa. Take a step back, wolverine. I’m telling you now because maybe you’re smart enough to handle it the right way this time.”

“This time?” Dalton repeated sharply. “Don’t make this out to be my fault. I offered her—”

“Don’t snap at me or interrupt me again or I will hang up, understand?”

“Yeah, yeah, keep talkin’.”

“Rory is my sister. You’re my business partner and one of the few people I trust. I hate that I’m pulled between you two. It’s time you manned up, Dalton. And don’t remind me that you did that once three years ago after you walked out on your own wedding. Even you can admit it was piss poor timing on your part.”

“But that bad timing didn’t stop her from giving me an edict, did it?”

“Like I’ve told you ten thousand times, that wasn’t an edict. Two years was a time line for Rory to finish grad school and a frame of reference for you to understand how important that was to her. You shouldn’t have taken it as gospel.”

“Then she shouldn’t have given me false hope.”

“Then you shouldn’t have turned tail and run again,” Sierra retorted. “Especially after you gave her false hope that things might finally change between you two.”

Like he needed that reminder. “Does she know about Casper?”

“Doubtful. She’s been out of town and she stays out of McKay gossip completely.”

Then Rory wouldn’t suspect Dalton was on his way back to Sundance. The element of surprise might work in his favor. “What’s the best way to approach her?”

“She bartends at the Twin Pines on the side. She’s working tonight. Anything else I can do for you besides making your day with this news?” Sierra asked sweetly.

Making his day? Hell, she’d made his life, because now he had a shot at getting the life he wanted. “Where are the keys for the house in town?”

A pause. Then, “Why?”

“I need a place to stay.”

Sierra heaved a put-upon sigh. “They’re under the back deck on a key hook. But there are two conditions before I’ll let you stay there. First, you don’t tell anyone I own it. No one.”

“Deal. And FYI, that’s why we have a silent partnership.” He’d supplied Sierra with some capital to start her own business last year and he also wanted it kept on the down low. “What’s the second condition?”

“I need a handyman to do some things. Okay, a lot of things. You’re handy, you’re there and voila—you’re selected. I’ll FedEx my repair list today but anything else you see that needs fixed just go ahead.”

“I’ll do it but I want to be reimbursed once a week for whatever I buy. You don’t get to pull that sixty day wait for payment bull crap like you money people usually do.”

She laughed. “That’s how we become money people. We hold on to money as long as possible. Be warned, some of what needs done will be major costs.”

“I ain’t a carpet installer,” he warned. “Nor will I put in windows.”

Sierra sighed again. “You are a handy handyman, right?”

“Guess you’ll have to trust me, huh?”

“I’ll be keeping tabs on you.” Another pause. “I’m sorry about your dad. If you need to talk about anything—except for Rory—call me.”

By the time Dalton crossed into Crook County hours later, he had a plan in place.

Patience. Perseverance. He would not blow this chance.

Rory Wetzler was his. His. She always had been, she always would be.

And he’d do whatever it took to prove it.

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hea’s romances with a little kick
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herding cats & burning soup
What’s On the Bookshelf
Storm Goddess Book Reviews & More
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Blackraven’s Reviews
AJ’s Reading Nook
The Readers Roundtable
Dark Divas Reviews
SnifferWalk Books
Harlie’s Books
Dear Brighton
Scorching Book Reviews
i love lady porn
My Odd Little World
Not Now…Mommy’s Reading
Readers Confession
A Little Fiction of Every Flavour
Reading, Eating & Dreaming
My Life Beyond Labels
Harlie Williams, Writer
The Risque Redhead Reads
Musings From An Addicted Reader
Reading Between the Wines
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy Too1
For The Love of Reading
Reality Bites! Let’s Get Lost!!
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Bookworm Brandee
Delighted Reader
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Simply Ali

Lorelei James is celebrating the release of REDNECK ROMEO with a SEVEN day party. SEVEN great giveaways, SEVEN different posts. Stop by all the amazing blogs participating in the party to increase your chances to win!!! Each blog will post a special REDNECK ROMEO post all seven days (no weekend posts)

Prize List:
1) Redneck Romeo charm bracelet
2) Kindle fire
3) Basket of goodies, including a McKay brand fleece blanket and other McKay branded stuff and conference trinkets
4) Full set of signed Rough Riders books
5) 1 of a kind handmade small Western purse
6) Arc of TURN AND BURN
7) $100 gift card to amazon.com

Blurb:
The last McKay standing is knocked to his knees…

Three years ago, Dalton McKay looked across the altar and saw the woman he knew he’d love for the rest of his life…only it wasn’t his bride. That’s when he took the McKays’ love-’em-and-leave-’em reputation to new heights—fleeing the ceremony and Wyoming.
Now a family issue has brought Dalton back to Sundance, giving him a chance to prove to everyone—especially the woman he thought he lost—that he’s a changed man.

Aurora “Rory” Wetzler has fallen for cowboy hottie Dalton’s smooth-talkin’ ways too many times. So he’s determined to convince her he’s playing for keeps this go around? Fine. She’ll call that bluff—she can’t ignore their intense chemistry or resist smokin’ hot sex, but she’s not willing to gamble her heart again.

Dalton has plenty of fences to mend with the McKays, but his biggest fear is that Rory doesn’t believe they have a future. He’ll have to pull out all the stops to show her they belong together for the long haul.
Warning: Contains a sexy cowboy who tames his sassy lady love with his romantic and his kinky side. In explicit detail.

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Buy Links

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Participating Blogs

Lorelei James
Lori Armstrong
Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
Hesperia Loves Books
Romantic Book Affairs
Tattooed Book Review
Regina May Ross’s
deal sharing aunt
Fictional Candy
Heart Breaking Reviews
Mrs Condit & Friends Read Books
Book Bitches Blog
Books Books and More Books
My Fiction Nook
Queen of the Night Reviews
hea’s romances with a little kick
Talk Supe
Seawitch Reviews
All Romance Reviews
Angie’s Dreamy Reads
Book-A-Holic Anon
The Rambling Readerista
Nightstand Novels
Shayna Renee’s Spicy Reads
Book Obsessed Chicks
herding cats & burning soup
What’s On the Bookshelf
Storm Goddess Book Reviews & More
Blackraven’s Erotic Cafe
Blackraven’s Reviews
AJ’s Reading Nook
The Readers Roundtable
Dark Divas Reviews
SnifferWalk Books
Harlie’s Books
Dear Brighton
Scorching Book Reviews
i love lady porn
My Odd Little World
Not Now…Mommy’s Reading
Readers Confession
A Little Fiction of Every Flavour
Reading, Eating & Dreaming
My Life Beyond Labels
Harlie Williams, Writer
The Risque Redhead Reads
Musings From An Addicted Reader
Reading Between the Wines
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy Too1
For The Love of Reading
Reality Bites! Let’s Get Lost!!
Read Your Writes Book Reviews
Bookworm Brandee
Delighted Reader
Books-n-Kisses
Seductive Musings
Sugar and Spice Book Reviews
Under the Covers
My Secret Romance Book Reviews
A Dream Within A Dream
Redheads Review it Better
My Life with Books and Boys
Simply Ali

A dangerous, volatile rebel, hands stained bloodred.
A woman whose very existence has been erased.
A love story so dark, it may shatter the world itself.
A deadly price that must be paid.
The day of reckoning is here.

From “the alpha author of paranormal romance” (Booklist) comes the most highly anticipated novel of her career—one that blurs the line between madness and genius, between subjugation and liberation, between the living and the dead.

Review:

Heart of Obsidian was a story of lost love, which I’ve come to realize that I very much love. If you have followed along with this series, Kaleb has been around for a while now. He is a double Cardinal TK (teleporter) which is so powerful that it’s really unheard of. Silence has helped him reel in all that power and keep it under a tight lid. He is also the protegee of serial killer, Enrique Santano.

Kaleb for the last several books has been searching for someone, although we weren’t sure who he was search for. We find out in Heart of Obsidian that he was searching for Sahara. After 7 long years he has found her. Sahara and Kaleb knew each other as children and she was Kaleb’s ONLY friend.  Throughout the series, Kaleb has been the perfect silent Psy. It’s interesting to hear his POV in this book and realize how he has never really been silent.

After 7 years of being captive Sahara was completely broken. She went from a broken shell of a woman to a very powerful woman that is her own force to be reckoned with. She is the perfect match for Kaleb. The fact that she tamed this alpha male with a heart of obsidian at the age of 7 is just short of amazing. Her powers are pretty cool and remind me of Enrique Santano’s powers, which can be used for good or for evil.

Psy and Changelings are still fighting the Pure Psy group and find themselves joining forces for the better good of the world.

This story did remind me a little but of Judd from (Caressed by Ice-book 3). Judd and Kaleb have a lot of the same qualities. Although Kaleb is certainly more extreme, I kept wishing that he’d approach Judd and ask him how he broke silence. Even though it didn’t happen I was glad there were cameo’s with Judd in the book.

Another great installment, it wasn’t my favorite but I very much enjoyed it.

Narrator- Angela Dawe was also the narrator for Tangle of Need (book 11) which I very much enjoyed. She did a good job with the narration. When she does the male voices her voice tries to go so deep that I normally have to turn the volume up because I can’t hear her that well. I did also decide to pick up the pace on the narration to 1.25x speed.

A difficult past has left Silver broken, but she is learning to trust again through Logan Cross, a Chitah who has convinced her that a dangerous man can change. Their conviction for each other will be put to the ultimate test when an old nemesis reappears and flips her world upside down. Will Logan be able to tame the animal within, or will he succumb to his impulsive nature?

The ongoing investigation into Breed experiments unveils a shocking secret about Silver’s past. Standing at a fork in the road, Silver is forced to make a decision. Each comes with consequence, and there is no turning back. 

Viviana, Enchantress of Books

Okay guys…just wanted to give a quick post, I’m trying to move the blog over the WordPress. I’m hoping this doesn’t cause too many problems, but it all goes well blog should be up shortly.

Thanks!

Hooked (Hooked #1)
by Lis Fichera
Published January 29th 2013 by Harlequin Teen

Blurb:

When Native American Fredricka ‘Fred’ Oday is invited to become the only girl on the school’s golf team, she can’t say no. This is an opportunity to shine, win a scholarship and go to university, something no one in her family has done.

But Fred’s presence on the team isn’t exactly welcome — especially not to rich golden boy Ryan Berenger, whose best friend was kicked off the team to make a spot for Fred.

But there’s no denying that things are happening between the girl with the killer swing and the boy with the killer smile…

GET HOOKED ON A GIRL NAMED FRED.

Review:

So I expected a fluffy cute novel with lots of fun banter…. that’s not what I got. No banter. AT. ALL.
Instead I got a cute novel, which touched on some surprisingly deep topics.

My biggest issues lay with the story line actually. There were to many convenient coincidences and then it all suddenly got all solved and tidied and we got a happy ending handing with a bow.

The entire book is told alternating between Fred and Ryan’s POV. The two POV sound way to similar, so similar that at times I had to go back to check who was actually saying these things… I have to say, that Ryan’s POV really saved that character. I would have simply hated him otherwise. Seen through Fred’s eyes, or more so judging him through his actions, he was a total wimp. Through out the book the both grow though, and I could relate to both of them at the end. Fichera does create some beautiful moments between them and I totally believed their connection.

While I found the MC interesting and believable, I had some issues with the support cast. I found them ALL way to cliché. I mean the chief that pops up randomly? The rich mean kids? The strained relationship between the parents… very very cliché and it took away some of the credibility of the book. BUT on the other hand, I see why Fichera has chosen them: it was to outline deeper problems, racial issues, the living situation of Native Americans, alcoholism… in fact after reading this I did Google the area it was set to find out more about the background of the characters and it definitely got me thinking.

The prose was beautiful, Fichera skillfully described the setting. My favorite bit is her descriptions about the golf. Not the golfing bits really. But how Fred felt when she did it. I don’t play golf and am not really interested in it particularly. But I have a passion/obsession for other sports and Fichera’s descriptions of Fred’s feelings while golfing hit it spot on! I think it’s the best part in the book

So overall this should have been a great book. Except it kinda wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong it was good. It had really great elements and interesting ideas. But I think it feel short, because it was neither the cute and fluffy i expect nor did it dig deep enough to actually deal with the issues it implied. I think the neither fish nor bird thing got the better of it.

Will I read the next installment of the series? YEP!

There were probably about 50 or so people there with pizza provided by Books Inc. The panel consisted of five authors. Ramsom Riggs Ransom Riggs

(Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children), Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me Series), Veronica Rossi (Under the Never Sky Series, Jandy Nelson (The Sky Is Everywhere) and Michelle Gagnon (Don’t Turn Around)

• What a fun author with so much humor. I haven’t read her Shatter Me series but Jenese is a huge fan and has raved about this series to me often. So, I bought the first book and can’t wait to get to it soon.
• She writes her male characters based off of her brothers’ personality. There are things that come out of their mouths that she writes down and hopefully will put it in her books, if she hasn’t done so already.
• She knows who the main character of Shatter Me will end up with…it’s as clear as day but she cannot reveal who
• If she had the opportunity to go back time, she’d choose to go back to Harry’s time at Hogwarts

• Great guy, funny, and talked about posting things on http://vine.com/ Vine

• She’s the main reason I went to this event. I love her Under the Never Sky series. I lost days of sleep reading her books but it was so worth it.
• Under the Never Sky is set somewhere in Central California

• Her short novella will be out in November. She didn’t reveal who the characters are but it is based around Goldilocks and the 3 Bears where the kisses are like porridge. Ummm….yes, I would like some porridge, please!
• She’s working on her next series which will be somewhat fantasy with a male’s POV

• I loved her book, The Sky is Everywhere. If you haven’t read it, you need to!
• She’s working on another book which will be out hopefully next year. She didn’t reveal what the book is about but she did research by attending a stone carving class in Oakland.
• For her writing process with the book she’s working on, she writes in a room, in the dark, with ear plugs and sound machine. It was funny listening to her describe this set up.

• I haven’t read her books but she writes adult thrillers and she debuted her YA thriller, Don’t Turn Around, last year
• She told a great story of how she met Harrison Ford

Here are few pictures of me with Veronica Rossi and Jandy Nelson.

Gaming for Keeps

by Seleste DeLaney
Published June 10th 2013 by Entangled: Ever After
Source: NetGalley

Blurb:

Pen Holloway’s done with men—in real life. Guys in game are so much less drama. But when her partner from　Heroes of Fallen Gods　invites her to the convention of the year, she panics. What if he’s another jerk? What if he’s not?Cal Burrows is living his dream of being a spy. One of TRAIT’s misfit spies, but still a spy. It’s the perfect job… until an arms dealer with a taste for blood invades his not-so-secret geek haven. All Cal wanted from ConDamned was to meet his on-line girl. Now, with the threat of mass murder looming, he’s forced to choose between keeping his mission a secret and protecting the girl of his dreams.Despite their attraction, Pen can’t help but suspect Cal’s hiding something. She also can’t shake the feeling he’s not as much of a stranger as he seems.

Review:

This was really refreshing since I have never read a contemporary romance set in the online video gaming world. I’m not a gamer so I’m not familiar with this popular world. I’m sure if I was, I would really have enjoyed the sly details of these games, avatars, guilds, etc….I’m sure I’m leaving out more lingo. I appreciate that the terminology wasn’t over bearing though so I wasn’t confused. I was still able to follow along and watch these two characters navigate their way around the gaming talk.

The romance was fun. When Pen and Cal meet, they don’t realize who the other person is. They immediately have an instant spark of attraction and it sizzles up quick. The sexiness was nice and I felt the connection screaming off the page. I really liked watching these two bond in real life just as much as they did online. I would have liked for them to have known each other’s real identity sooner but the execution of the reveal was done nicely.

Overall, this was a really fun, quick, sexy, light novella. I finished it in a couple of hours and it was just what I needed to escape from my real life for a while. There is slight suspense as well since Cal is a secret agent and it kept me entertained. I’m sure fans of contemporary romance will enjoy this.

**I received this book from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for this review**

Hello my lovelies!

 

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you might have seen that I made a very unexpected visit to south Florida this weekend. Here’s what happened…

 

Friday I had off of work but I was having a root canal done, nothing good. Finally after the numbing went away hubby and I decided to go to lunch. At lunch I’m scrolling through my phone and see this on Facebook…

 

 

Thankfully my in laws are down south too, so we took the opportunity to go see them for the weekend.

Unfortunately it wasn’t all that organized so there was going to be a Q&A but somehow it didn’t happen. I did ask a few baby questions….which probably are new to you but whateves.

• Book 3 is due out Feb 2014
• Novella 2.5 is due out December 2013
  • Yes, that’s less than 6 months away
  • When I asked who’s POV- She said she didn’t know yet. LOL She still hasn’t written it.
• She is heavy in book edits for Book 3 right now
• She said she heard of my blog (she was probably just being nice but I don’t care it made me happy!!!

Yay I got to FINALLY meet her!!!

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Of course, I’m a little awesome and got an EXTRA copy to giveaway to 1 lucky winner!! It’s the paperback copy of Shatter Me and a matching bookmark both SIGNED by Tahereh Mafi!

Be sure to fill out the form- questionnaire here.

A Cursed Embrace (Weird Girls #2)
by Cecy Robson
Expected publication: July 2nd 2013 by Signet
Source: Received by publisher in exchange for an honest review

BLURB:

Review:

What a roller coaster ride!! A Cursed Embrace begins shortly after Sealed with a Curse. All the girls are still with their perspective wolves for the most part and are all gradually falling in love.

I’m glad to say that I’m starting to get the hang of the sisters. Since Celia is the narrator, she’s a given. Upon starting the series it was kind of tough to remember who is who and which sister is with which wolf and who has what powers. Luckily I think I got it down….

This is how I remember them. I think this is right…LOL

Emme (sister that heals and is the most timid) with Liam (he’s funny and says inappropriate things sometimes)
Shayna (Calls Koda puppy, lol. Can create blade-like weapons) with Koda (big tough guy with soft gooey center, lol)
Taran (Outgoing sister, cracks lightning and fire) with Gemini (Aric’s beta, shy)

Aric and Celia! Le Sigh! These two put me through the ringer. I love and hate them both. Aric was his delicious, alpha wolf self through the whole book. He was sweet and gentle, loving and caring. Then after a serious turn in events, he was gone. These two are so great together, when they’re on, they’re on. When the lows hit, it’s like a punch to the gut. I think a lot of women can empathize with Celia. All the thoughts going through her head would be mine exactly.

Misha! Yes, he’s still in this book. Funny, Lori at Romancing the Dark Side said it best when we chatted on Twitter that this is the first time we’re going for the wolf instead of the vampire. LOL. Misha is a master vampire, smart and sexy but he’s just WRONG for Celia. Although I love the tension in love triangles, I just REALLY don’t want this to be a love triangle. Misha…GO AWAY!

Robson has one serious imagination. The creatures/villains in this book I swear are probably going to give me nightmares. Sick, nasty, vile creatures! They kept me on the edge of my seat, nervous for Celia and her crew every step of the way.

All the action seemed like a Catch 22 at times. I love the action but at the same time I wanted things to slow down a bit. Time seemed to move too quickly. The book had so much action that there wasn’t enough of just normalcy in the book. Thankfully when I was starting to feel like the back to back action was getting to be too much, the book did slow down.

The ending…gah…I hated it. Okay not like that really…I hated it b/c I’m upset about the turn of events but I didn’t REALLY hate it. I understand why Celia thinks she needs to do this but…ugh…NOT what I wanted.

Definitely looking forward to the next book. Someone better redeem themselves. Just sayin’. LOL.

AUTHOR BIO:

**I received this book from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for this review**

Faking It (Losing It #2)
by Cora Carmack
Published June 4th 2013 by William Morrow & Company

Blurb:

Mackenzie “Max” Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice, wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he’s kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they’re forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.

Review:


Carmack had me from the first word to the last. Just like Loosing It the second book of the series was a fun, cute, hot and entertaining read.

I do think that I preferred Loosing It, however. There are a couple of reasons for this: first Faking it was way more cliche.

The storyline is kinda been used loads of times. The fake boyfriend line to please a parent for whatever reason has been done tons of time. Saying that though, this is probably one of the best I read.

And it was your typical “good” and “bad” character and the ‘we too different line’ on top. I personally found Loosing It more inventive and excitingly different. 

But let’s be honest I read these kind of books for pure entertainment reasons. I want to feel the chemistry, the angst, get good dialogues and feel fuzzy happy at the very obvious happy end. And Cormack delivers more than that. I enjoy the way she writes their feelings, their insecurity and oh yes the love scenes are delicious. I enjoyed Carmack’s prose in both books, in fact I think it’s even better in Faking it. 

The character building was great. I actually got to say that I didn’t really care much for Cade in Loosing It. He was way too goody goody for my taste. So I was a bit apprehensive about Faking it. I found I changed my mind nearly immediately though. Cade’s POV was interesting to say the least, since right at the beginning he met Bliss and Garrick- and he was not goody goody at ALL. Kinda made me re-evaluate my view of him immediately. This time around I found Cade way more intriguing and fun, not half as boringly good and actually kinda sexy. Max was feisty and fun, but also rather exasperatingly inconsistent and at actually kind of a coward. But I like them both and absolutely enjoyed their banter. 
Just like in Loosing It there were really good lines and I had a rather silly smile planted on my face thought most of the book.

Faking It was actually way hotter in my opinion that Loosing It, and I didn’t mind in the least. 

A really cute and fun book, a definite must read for lovers of the genre! And I can’t wait to read Kelsey’s Story!

Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1)
by Anna Banks
Published May 1st 2012 by AudioGO
Source: Free Download via Audiobooksync.com
Narrated by Rebecca Gibel
Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins Unabridged

Blurb:

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen — literally, ouch! — both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . . 

Told from both Emma and Galen’s points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

Review:

First off, this is my first mermaid book and I LOVED IT!!! This type of book is so new to me that it kept me so intrigued throughout the whole book.  Ok, the writing was great too, of course. LOL. What really comes to mind for this story is that it’s just so CUTE! I can’t help remember The Little Mermaid, even though it was nothing like it. 

Emma has always been a little different. She has blond hair and purple eyes for starters as well as two left feet. She’s had several tragedies in her life, including one during the book. Emma is a tough cookie though. She’ll take her licks and get back up again. As the book progresses she starts coming into her own and realizes what she’s been missing all her life. 

Galen was so cute. He’s a prince of the Syrena Triton kingdom. Galen is also the human ambassador so he knows more about humans than most Syrena. He’s still adjusting to acting like a human on land though. It’s pretty funny how he kind of stumbles around sayings and trying to remember what different slang means. Galen is sweet with Emma.

Syrena in this book are more or less mermaids. although they don’t like that term. There are 2 different kingdom’s, Of Poseidon and Of Triton. We learn a little bit about both of the histories of them and why both houses are each important. 

I love their little saying like in this book, “Triton’s Trident” when they get upset. This book was also surprisingly funny. Galen’s sister and her mate were the source of several funny moments in the book. Rachel, Galen’s assistant, was also hilarious. The narrator did the best Italian New Yorker accent for her, like Fran Drescher, so funny. It really make the character more unique. 

Anyways, Of Poseidon ended with a serious cliffhanger (even though I saw it coming) and thankfully I have the next audiobook for Of Triton to continue my journey under the sea.

Narration: 

Rebecca Gibel is a new to me narrator. I thought she did an EXCELLENT job. She has multiple different voices for females and males, each total unique. Some of her male voices sound a little cheesy at first but then get better throughout the book. She did have a British accented character that she sounded GREAT in. She also whispered, shouted and even cried in this production and it all just worked so well. This audiobook I believe enhanced my reading experience. 

June is Audiobook Month!!! 

I want to share the love…even though I posted this on Twitter & Facebook I thought I would share on here as well.