Deeply In You

Deeply In You by Sharon Page

Publisher: Aphrodisia

June 2014

ISBN: 978-1-61773-092-4

Pages: 384

Historical, Erotic Romance

England

Helena Winsome is determined to save her brother from debtor’s prison.  With that in mind Helena agrees to find proof that the Duke of Greybrooke is a traitor.  Knowing full well of his wicked ways she takes on the guise of governess.  He overwhelms her with his smoldering sensuality and so does his vow to make her his lover.  A promise that is scandalous and leaves her weak with desire.

The Duke of Greybrooke is dark, handsome and powerfully seductive.  He is also a man of deep passion.  Grey takes up the challenge when Helena turns down his offer to become his mistress.  He is determined to expose her to the erotic thrill of carnal pleasure that will tease her senses until she is begging for more.

This is the start of a series that if the other books are similar to this one is going to be very hot and steamy and have readers reaching for the nearest glass of ice water.  The suspense builds very well and keeps going until the very end.  The characters have pasts that they need to overcome to find the happiness that they deserve and want.  This one pulls readers in emotionally and doesn’t let them go until the very end.  While there are some dark subjects touched on in this book they are handled in a way that is sensitive and not too heavy.  This should prove to be a series that will have readers eagerly awaiting each and every book just to see who will be the next hero and who his heroine will be.  It will also have readers wanting to revisit the characters over and over.  Readers that enjoy erotic romances with a happily ever after will want to try this series.  Just be sure to keep the ice water handy.

I give this one 5 red roses

LRH

Falling for Fortune

Falling for Fortune by Nancy Robards Thompson

Publisher: Harlequin

May 2014

ISBN: 978-0-373-65812-1

Pages: 217

Contemporary, Romance

Texas

Christopher Fortune Jones has left Horseback Hollow and the past behind him as far as he is concerned.  The way he sees it people don’t need to know that he grew up on a ranch with no money or that his father sees him as a disappointment.  Now that he is in Red Rock he wants people to see him as successful, rich, powerful Christopher Fortune. 

Kinsley Aaron has secrets and one of them is that she has a crush on her new boss.  She thinks the feeling might be returned.  The problem is that he never talks about himself and keeps her at a distance.  Can she dream about a future with a man that doesn’t seem to have a past? Or is she just fooling herself.  What can Christopher Fortune possibly be hiding?

This is a start of a series that should prove to be fun to read.  It has emotional ups and downs that get the readers invested in the characters.  The plot is interesting and makes for a book that is a good read.  It is relatively a quick read but it doesn’t feel like that as the reader gets father into the story.  It will have readers wanting to read more about the characters and places.  With some of the scenes it will have reader hungry and wanting what the characters have.  The characters are complex and interesting and keep the story line moving.  This is one worth checking out.

I give this one 4 red roses

LRH

Eden Forest

Eden Forest by Aoife Marie Sheridan

Publisher: SynergEbooks

December 2013

Pages: 175

Contemporary, Fantasy

Saskia & Ireland

Sarajane Anderson is a normal 21-year-old with her family, friends and job.  What she doesn’t know is that she is the only person that can save a parallel world to earth, the world of Saskia.  She soon finds a world she could never imagine was real when she is taken there.  She steps into a world that everyone possesses magical abilities.  She also finds a father that she never knew existed.  If that wasn’t bad enough she is in a world that is beyond her belief with a darkness that wants to take it and a guardian that captures her heart.  As she journeys through this new world she discovers her own magical powers and finds that they come with a price.  Sarajane is tested when those that she loves are put at risk.  She is also forced to answer a question she never wanted asked the ultimate question of who lives and who dies.

This is a wonderful start to a trilogy that pulls the reader into another world.  A world with some things that are things that are the same as this world but the majority of the world is different.  A world that comes to life as the reader learns more and more about this different world.  It has action, suspense and some romance that makes for a very good read and will leave readers wanting more.  While the story at times changes characters and places the reader is never left wonder what is happening when because each change is done in a way that moves well from character to character.  The world building is interesting and at the same time it doesn’t leave the reader wondering what is what.  This is a fantasy book that any reader would enjoy. 

I give this one 4-1/2 red roses

LRH

Airel: The Awakening

Airel: The Awakening by Aaron Patterson

Publisher: Stonehouse Ink

May 2014 (3^rd Edition)

Pages: 186

Contemporary, Fallen Angels, Young Adult

Boise, Idaho

Airel is a 17-year-old that just wants to be normal.  Living in the small city of Boise she seems like just any other average teenager.  But soon those days are gone as she undergoes a change so drastic that she has to wonder if she didn’t just imagine it happening.  Airel soon has to learn to fight for her life as she is being pursued by an ancient enemy.  An enemy that will pursue her relentlessly in the deepest darkness.  Simply because of her lineage and who she is.  Now she will never have what she wanted most of all to be normal.

This book starts the series off with a bang.  The suspense builds throughout the story and draws the reader in until they have to keep reading just to see what is actually happening and why it is happening.  As this story doesn’t give all the answers it will have readers wanting to read the next book just to see what happens next.  With every piece that is revealed it leads to more questions that make for a book that is a page turner.  The characters are very interesting and complex.  The story is almost two stories in one as it also gives the story of what has happened in the past while telling the story that is happening in the current time.  The two periods are woven together seamlessly so that the reader is never at a lost as to what is happening.  If the other books continue like the first this is going to be an explosive series.  It does leave a cliffhanger at the end that hopefully picks up in the next book.

I give this one 4-1/2 red roses

LRH

Wedding at Cardwell Ranch

Wedding at Cardwell Ranch by B.J. Daniels

Publisher: Harlequin

June 2014

ISBN: 978-0-373-69770-0

Pages: 224

Contemporary, Suspense, Romance

Big Sky, Montana

Jackson Cardwell isn’t looking for love and most definitely isn’t looking to be anyone’s hero.  Being a single father visiting from Texas is enough for him until he meets a beautiful lady in distress.  Someone is determined to convince Allie Taylor that she is losing her mind.  Jackson is just as determined to unmask the perp behind what is happening.  He is also going to guard the widowed wedding planner and her daughter no matter what.

Allie has no idea who would want to take her daughter away or even harm her.  Allie’s past is stalking her at the Cardwell Ranch.  The sexy cowboy that has awakened a passion in her may not be able to save her from a shocking truth and a killer with a chilling agenda.

This is proving to be a wonderful series with some great characters.  The suspense keeps building until the very end with a showdown that is sure to keep readers glued to the pages until the very last clue is revealed.  With all the suspects and motives in this book it is sure to keep readers guessing until the final reveal.  It is full of action and suspense that keeps twisting and turning until the reader is never sure exactly which way is up. This is proving to be one series that readers are sure to love and enjoy revisiting the different characters again and again.

I give this on 4-1/2 red roses

LRH

Once Tasted

Once Tasted by Laura Moore

Publisher: Ballantine Books

June 2014

ISBN: 978-0-345-53700-3

Pages: 348

Contemporary, Romance

California

Reid Knowles is the middle son of a California ranching family and for him everything has come easily.  When his good friend and neighbor asks him to help his niece, Mia Bodell, run the family winery, everything suddenly gets complicated for Reid.  Reid’s charmed life is now in the past and nothing is the same.  Mia is in charge of the winery even with Reid’s help and she has made it abundantly clear that she doesn’t trust Reid at all.  She would much rather be roped to a steer than deal with Reid.  Reid is determined to overcome the challenge that has suddenly been placed in front of him and earn Mia’s trust. No matter what he as to do.

Mia’s life has never been easy and has been marked more by loss than anything else.  She knows nothing comes easy not even love.  When she was in high school she had a crush on Reid only to have him break her heart.  Even after all these years the hurt still lingers.  She is also very aware that the teenage heartthrob he was then is now a devastatingly handsome playboy. Mia is determined to not let down her guard.  Then they both get a taste of passion and nothing is the same.  From the first intoxicating kiss she receives from Reid to his tender seduction Mia is pulled into an affair that could either tear her heart apart worse than before or give her everything she has always dreamed of.

This is a wonderful book that takes place in wine country that brings the area to life.  The story gives some details on how wine is made and at the same times give the story some great depth that brings it all to life.  The story has a little bit of suspense woven through the plot that makes for a great book.  The characters are complex and make for an engaging read.  The book is part of a trilogy but can easily be read as a standalone.  Though once readers read just one of the books they will be looking for the others so that they can again visit a very nice small town that comes to life as they read.  Readers also will never look at wine country the same again.

I give this one 4 red roses

LRH

Marked by the Vampire

Marked by the Vampire by Cynthia Eden

Publisher: Cynthia Eden

June 2014

Pages: 196

Contemporary, Paranormal, Washington State

Shane August is an FBI Agent that is also a very powerful vampire with a dark past.  He is sent to a prison for an undercover assignment.  It is his job to infiltrate the vampire clan any way he can.  It’s his job to stop the monsters that live among the humans.  There are deadly forces working within Purgatory, the only prison in the U.S. that is made to keep the paranormals confined.

Dr. Olivia Maddox is determined to find out why some paranormals go bad and others keep control.  Why some vampires are pushed over the edge and why some werewolves turn savage.  Olivia thinks she can help them if she can just understand them.  When she is given permission to enter Purgatory she thinks she is getting the opportunity of a lifetime.  What she doesn’t know that she is actually walking straight into hell.

Shane and Olivia’s only chance at survival is to depend on each other.  Olivia’s only chance at surviving the prisoners that have broken loose is one vampire.  Shane is the only one that can protect her.  While they fight the enemies surrounding them a dangerous passion comes to life between them.  Shane realizes that there is more to the doctor than he first thought.  She is a woman with powerful sinful secrets that she has been is carrying around.  Secrets that a man will kill to possess. 

Olivia soon realizes that sometimes you can’t control the beast inside you.  No matter how hard you try.  There are some passions that can push you to the limits of your control.  The lust she feels growing inside her for her vampire is sending her straight into a deadly storm of desire.

This is proving to be an excellent series.  The characters are complex and intriguing and pull the reader right into the story.  While so far the stories prove to hold up on their own they are much better read as a series as things that happen in the first book show up in the second and the reader has a better understanding of what is happening in the series by reading all the books.  This one wraps up nicely but leaves enough to easily have more books in the series.  The world building is great and will have readers wishing that this world was real.   It is dark and edgy and full of action.  With enough suspense woven into it that it will keep readers guessing as to what the characters secrets are and just what will happen next.  It is also a relatively quick read that makes for a wonderful break from the real world.

I give this one 5 red roses 

Divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

February 2012

ISBN: 978-0-06-202403-9

Pages: 487

Futuristic, Young Adult, Dystopian Chicago

Beatrice Prior lives in a world where society is divided into five factions.  Each dedicated to a particular virtue.  Candor is honesty, Abnegation is selflessness, Dauntless is bravery, Amity is peaceful and Erudite is intelligence.  Once a year on an appointed day all the sixteen-year-olds must select the faction that they will belong to for the rest of their lives.  Beatrice’s decision comes down to being with her family or being who she truly is.  She can’t have both though.  She makes a choice that no one saw coming not even herself.

While Beatrice goes through the highly competitive initiation she renames herself Tris and struggles to figure just exactly who her friends are and who is not. Tris also has a secret that she has to keep to herself or as she has been warned will mean her death.  She then discovers a conflict that is growing and threatens the seemingly perfect society that she lives in, threatening to unravel everything.  She also discovers that her secret just might be the very thing she needs to save those she loves if it doesn’t destroy her instead. 

This is an excellent book that comes to life with every word that is read.  It is similar to some books and yet it is very different and proves to be a book that will be one that will be hard to forget even after the very last page is read.  Reading how Tris grows and overcomes the obstacles placed in her path is interesting and will hold the reader captive until the very end.  This book starts the trilogy off with a bang that will have readers wanting to see just where this is headed and how it will turn out for the characters.  It is easy to see why this one was turned into a movie. 

I give this one 4-1/2 red roses

LRH

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Publisher: Little, Brown

September 2013

ISBN: 978-0-316-21310-3

Pages: 419

Contemporary, Paranormal, Young Adult

Tana’s life consists of walled cities called Coldtowns.  They exist for the quarantined monsters and the humans that mingle with them.  It is a decadently bloody place that mixes predator and prey.  Once you pass through Coldtown’s gates you can never leave. 

One morning Tana wakes from a perfectly ordinary party to be surrounded by corpses.  The only other survivors of the massacre are a mysterious boy with a terrible secret and her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend.  An ex-boyfriend that is now infected and on the edge.  Tana is shaken but determined to save the three of them.  So she enters a race against a clock that is ticking by the only way she knows how.  She goes straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

This is story that puts a very interesting twist on vampires.  It isn’t like your usual vampire stories and it proves to be engage and intriguing in ways that make it hard to put is down once it is started.  The ending is such that it will have readers desperately hoping there will be more books after this one so that they can get some closure to this one.  It takes some great twists and turns so the reader never knows just will happen next.  It will definitely keep readers on their toes with this one.  The characters are interesting though some prove to be very good at being adversaries.  The story has some great tension to it that keeps the story line moving and will take readers on one very wild ride.  For those that love vampire books this is one they won’t want to miss.

I give this one 4-1/2 red roses

LRH

Unbreakable

Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Publisher: Little, Brown

October 2013

ISBN: 978-0-316-21017-1

Pages: 305

Contemporary, Paranormal, Young Adult

Kennedy Waters never believed in ghosts.  When Kennedy finds her mother dead she never thought paranormal forces were responsible.  That is until she is almost killed by a ghost but is saved in time by Jared and Lukas Lockhart, mysterious identical twin brothers.  They destroyed the spirit sent to kill her when they break into her room. 

Kennedy learns the truth about her mother, and the fact that her death was no accident.  Now Kennedy needs to take her place in the Legion of the Black Dove.  It is a society of ghost hunters that first came together to protect the world from a vengeful demon.  It is society made up of five members.  Though all the members died on the same night so now the society is in the hands of the next generation, a misfit group of five teenagers. Each with a unique set of skills.

The new members are in a race to find the only weapon that is capable of destroying the demon. They need to use their individual talents by battling pararnormal entities so that they can earn their place in the Legion.  Their rightful place.  The only exception seems to be Kennedy.

She needs to stay alive long enough to see if she is truly the missing piece of the puzzle.  But can she do it without losing her heart in the process?

This is a book that puts a unique spin on ghost stories.  The plot is very different and makes for a book that is hard to put down.  The world building is fascinating and unique.  The characters are interesting and move the story line along very well and with plenty of action it makes for a great read.  It is a young adult story that is great for readers of all ages.  It will also have readers eagerly awaiting the next book in this series.  It has a great mystery woven throughout the book.  It does leave some of the story line hanging and with a somewhat of a cliff hanger at the end it still proves to be irresistible.   If the other books prove to be this good this is going to be a series of books that will be worth taking the time out to read. 

I give this one 5 red roses

LRH