Author: Jolie

I love to read. My favorite genres are women's fiction, romance, psychological thrillers, fantasy, young adult, steampunk, dystopian, LGBTQIA, and paranormal.

Cocoa Butter Skin: Irene| Episode 1 by Lizz Rouge

Cocoa Butter Skin: Episode One // Irene

Title: Cocoa Butter Skin: Episode 1| Irene

Author: Lizz Rogue

Publisher: Geniotic Lab

Date of publication: January 15th, 2017

Genre: Erotica, Lesbian, Romance

Number of pages: 54

POV: 1st person

Series: Cocoa Butter Skin

Cocoa Butter Skin: Episode 1| Irene – Book 1

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis (via Goodreads):

Irene Maria Nolan is one of the best lawyers in New York. She’s charming, intelligent, and won’t let anything stand in her way to get to the top. When her boss decides to send her to London for the International Criminal Law Congress, Irene knows this is her chance to really get ahead. Unfortunately, he’s also sending along his arrogant son, who has set his sights on Irene. She will have to muster up all of her cleverness in order to sidestep his advances and stay centered on her goals.

But when Irene faces temptation from a whole different caliber, the normally eloquent lawyer suddenly becomes tongue-tied. What happens when her infallible wit and charm suddenly fail her? Will Irene find a way to ignore this enchanting temptress and stay on task? Or will she divert from her career-minded goals to explore this new sensation?

My review:

What a steamy, sensual book with a great plot. It is pretty rare that you find an erotica that actually sticks to the plot. Not that sex from page one is a bad thing but sometimes I need a little more and I found it in this book.

Irene was at the top of her game. She had it all: a great job, looks, intelligence but she was missing that special someone. Unfortunately, her boss’s son, a fellow lawyer, has set his sights on her and is determined to get her into bed. Which isn’t going to happen.

Irene is in for a surprise when her boss sends her to London for an International Criminal Law Congress. On the plane ride there, she notices a very attractive woman accompanied by several men. Overhearing their conversation, she figures out that they are a band. What she didn’t count on was the instant attraction that she had for the woman.

After they arrive in London, she starts to run into the woman….a lot. Irene finds out her name (Kayleigh), that she sings with a jazz band, that she is staying in the same hotel as she is and that Kayleigh’s jazz band will be singing at an event that Irene will be going to with the other lawyers.

I loved the build-up that the author did with Irene’s feelings for Kayleigh. The masturbation scene with the scarf was hot and what Kayleigh says when she realizes what Irene did with it was great!!!

Speaking of the sex scenes, holy cow were they intense. The author didn’t hold back on anything. My favorite scene was the one in the shower ;).

The end was a bit of a cliffhanger. Despite my dislike of cliffhangers, I need to read the next book. I need to find out if Kayleigh and Irene will hook up again.

How many stars will I give Cocoa Butter Skin: 5

Why: For a short story (54 pages) this book packs a lot in. I really enjoyed that there was a storyline with this story and the sex was only a small part of it. The build-up to the sex was what got me!!

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Explicit sex

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

Evening’s Land by Pauline West

Evening's Land

Title: Evening’s Land

Author: Pauline West

Publisher: Self Published

Date of publication: February 20th, 2017

Genre: Gothic, Romance, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Fantasy

POV: 1st person and 3rd person

Number of pages: 376

Series: No

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

The dark elegance of Anne Rice’s THE WITCHING HOUR meets the lush parallel worlds of Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN series.

Reeling after her best friend’s suicide, Ada Walker falls under the spell of the collective subconscious, the EVENING’S LAND, searching for Faye’s soul with a rakishly hypnotic ghost named Christopher.

Richly preternatural and spine-tinglingly erotic, EVENING’S LAND is an exploration of love, loss, and loyalty that will haunt you long after the last page is turned.

My review:

This review is going to be so very hard to write. Not because the book was good, it was very good, it is because I am going to have a hard time not giving away some major that happens in the book. So I am very carefully editing what I am writing here (I have already deleted 3 starting paragraphs but will be keeping this one).

I think the author did a great job highlighting what happens after someone commits suicide. What happens to the people who are left and how it strains relationships/friendships. I really wanted to hug Ada because of that trauma. No one should find their best friend dead.

I also wanted to hug Faye. She had a crappy home life. A father who seemed to disdain her and a mother who went along with it. The whole hiking trip in the cave nailed that for me and showed me why Faye took the risks she did and why she basically clung to Ada. I think that’s why she broke when she was raped.

Not that Ada had it any better. Her mother slept around, her father was an enabler and Ada started cutting as a direct result of that. So, when she found Faye, it pushed her over the edge. I think her parents did the right thing by moving her across the country so she could heal. Too bad that they couldn’t fix their own issues.

I think if I fell into the Land like Ada did, I would have done the same thing. I would try to find Faye’s soul and try to pull her out of her Purgatory. And I think I would have been as surprised as Ada was if I met a boy in the Land and I would have been even more surprised when he appeared in my bedroom and started to seduce me.

Speaking of Christopher, I was so wrong about him. So wrong and I got so mad at myself for being wrong. I really wish that he didn’t do what he did because it really pole-axed me and definitely changed the story. Want to know what it was??? Read the book, you won’t be disappointed.

The Oliver Roamery storyline was truly scary. I got goosebumps when he appeared in the story. He is one of the most genuinely creepy characters written. Evil just poured off of the pages when he appeared.

When all 3 storylines (plus the secondary storyline with Mary and Jupiter) meet, it is explosive. Again, read the book if you want to find out how/why it was explosive.

This book was told in 1st and 3rd person but the author did a great job of distinguishing not only who was speaking but what time frame. The whole first half of the book was basically flashbacks starting 3 years previously and alternating between Ada and Faye. Once Faye commits suicide, no more flashbacks, obviously but then the author switches to 3rd person to start the Oliver Roamery storyline.

This book is erotic but I liked that the author chose not to go into the details of when people were having sex. Just flashes of memory, which actually conveyed more than a whole paragraph would. The only time she got wordy was when Ada and Christopher were making out/Mary and Oliver (belch).

The end of the book wasn’t what I expected, at all. I am still shaking my head over it.

How many stars will I give Evening’s Land: 5

Why: This is the first Gothic fantasy that I have read and I have to say, I loved it. The author has an almost lyric style of writing and she keeps you very engaged throughout the book. The story and sub-storylines were brought together with a bang and the book ended with a bang.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes but with a warning about the suicide scene and the rape scene

Age range: Adult

Why: Language, Sex (forced and consensual) and mild violence

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Push (Beat: Book 2) by Jared Garret

Displaying

Title: Push

Author: Jared Garrett

Publisher: Future House Publishing

Date of publication: Feburary 8th 2017

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Number of pages: unknown

POV: 1st person

Standalone: No

Series: Beat

Beat – Book 1 (review here)

Push – Book 2

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Two months after the attack on New Frisko, Nik Granger and the other survivors believe themselves hidden from the tyrannical rule of Prime Administrator Adam Holland. After finishing a patrol, Nik returns to camp to discover everyone was wrong. Holland and his Enforsers have killed or captured most of the survivors—including Nik’s parents.

Barely escaping with their lives, Nik and his friends Pol and Melisa race to stop Holland before he murders their friends and family. As they travel through what’s left of America, they face danger at every turn, including Ranjers who will stop at nothing to carry out Holland’s sadistic orders. With the world against them, can they make it in time to save what’s left of humanity? And when it comes to it, will Nik have what it takes to destroy Holland once and for all?

My review:

Push picks up two months after Beat ends.

Nik and his group of Pushers are living in the woods, near New Fisko, and they are battling relentless Ranjers who are determined to wipe them out of existence.

During one attack on their camp, the Ranjers kill several people and take Niks mother and father (Kayt and Bruse) hostage per the Prime Administrator. He is warned that if he goes after them to find out where they were, then he will kill Nik’s parents. Which is the wrong thing to say to Nik.

They travel to another site (where other survivors from New Frisko are). After they get there, a group of Wanderers happens to wander near the camp (which is located in a cave). The leader of the triune of Wanderers dropped a bombshell on Nik. He knows information about Holland (the Prime Administrator) and is willing to let Nik know….if Nik lets Devera, a young Wanderer girl, join his triune. After making that decision, he returns to the caves to find Dyana and Pol arguing about Nik not being the leader of the Pushers. It escalates to Dyana blaming Nik for everything that happened from the destruction of New Frisko to present day. Nik makes the announcement that he will go traveling to San Francisco to see what intel he can get on Holland.

The trip to San Francisco is pretty much drama free and the trip to find Holland’s offices are too. One of the Wanderers, Lily, was alerted to an attack being planned by the Ranjers that targeted her father and she left with Pol and James to go warn him what was happening. Leaving Melisa and Nik to search the building. What they turned up (and almost died for) was something that would rock their worlds.

From this point on, the book focuses on Nik, James, Lily, Pol and Melisa and their journey to go free Nik’s parents. It is full of action and there was a twist that I kinda saw coming and one that I didn’t see coming.

I did think that Nik must have nine lives. That boy was beaten, stabbed, impaled with metal, shot and choked. He didn’t die. I seriously was in awe over that….lol. Either he was super lucky or he was a superhuman. I am still trying to figure that one out.

The substory of the Wanderers and the Outsiders was interesting. The Outsiders fascinated me and I really wished that there was more background on them. A society of people who have piercings, tattoos and body modifications while being artistic fascinated me.

The end of the book was great. I couldn’t get a feel if there is going to be a book 3 (there is the NorthWest, SouthWest, MidWest, SouthEast and NorthEast to explore…hint, hint).

How many stars will I gave Push? 4

Why: A great 2nd book that didn’t hold back on the action.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age Range: Teen

Why: No sex (a couple of very mild kissing scenes) and no language. Lots of violence.

I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Reaper’s Claim by Simone Elise

Reaper's Claim

Title: Reaper’s Claim

Author: Simone Elise

Publisher: Inkitt

Date of publication: February 15th, 2017

Genre: Romance

POV: Alternating 1st person

Number of pages: Unknown

Series: No

Where this book can be found: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

In my motorcycle club I’ve earned the name ‘Reaper’ and now I have my claim on Abby Harrison.

Reaper:
I didn’t know what love was, but I knew what want was, and I wanted Abby. When I walked out of the club and saw her I was stone cold sober. She was quietly beautiful and unlike any other woman I’d had before. But she was the daughter of the president of Satan’s Sons MC and completely out of my reach.

Abby:
Everyone knew The Reaper and how he got his name, so I never expected him to be my salvation when my sister’s drunk boyfriend wanted to lay hands on me. I thought my innocence would be lost in that alley until he showed up and saved me. I know being with Reaper will lead to trouble, but I don’t know if I have the strength to stay away.

Being together might be dangerous, but outlaws are meant to break the rules.

My review:

What I liked about Reaper’s Claim:

  1. It was a motorcycle club book. I am slightly obsessed with them since getting an ARC last year. I don’t know why. Maybe it is the allure of a bad boy or maybe it is the romance that comes with the story. I really don’t know why I am obsessed with them.
  2. The realistic look on motorcycle clubs. I said above that I am slightly obsessed with motorcycle club books. But it doesn’t mean that I am blind to when they are being shown as bikers with hearts of gold. It might be true for some clubs but let’s face it, motorcycle clubs in real life are not all good. They actually do very bad things to people and that is what makes this book refreshing. The author didn’t hide that Reaper, Roach, Kim, Abby and the rest of the club were bad people.
  3. Reaper and Abby being portrayed as real people. What I mean by that is that they have real issues. Abby has Daddy issues (Roach wasn’t exactly father of the year), anger issues and makes some not so great decisions in her life. Reaper has anger issues and when he fights with Abby, he ends up sleeping with a club girl (a woman who lives at the clubhouse and sleeps with everyone there….aka a whore). Together they had communication and trust issues. Major trust issues. To be honest, there was a point in the book where I thought that they needed to see a therapist.

What I disliked about Reaper’s Claim:

  1. The numerous 1st person POV’s. I love reading different point of views. It adds flavor to the book to read from another perspective. But, and stress but, there is only so many POV’s that you can have in a book before it starts to get confusing. Not only did we have Abby and Reaper’s POV but we had Trigger, Kim, Roach, Brad, Vivienne and a couple of other people whose names I can’t remember. Too much, way too much. It should have just been left with Reaper and Abby. The story wouldn’t have seemed as bogged down as it is.
  2. Abby. I couldn’t stand her. She was given a rough deal in life with her mother dying at such a young age, her father being who he was and her sister sleeping around. I get it but it didn’t excuse her actions after she was forced to go live with her aunt. Honestly, she acted like a 3-year-old trying to get her father’s attention (which I really think she was). She never listened to reason. If Roach or Reaper were trying to tell her something that might save her life, she would take off. By the end of the book, I was pretty sick and tired of her.
  3.  I couldn’t tell where this book took place. I know it is a petty thing to dislike but I couldn’t flipping figure out if the book took place in Australia or the UK and it drove me absolutely crazy. I know people are going to be reading this and going “Ok”. Here’s the reason it was driving me nuts. I read with accents and I couldn’t figure out what accent to give to the characters. I know, petty and weird, but it totally threw me off stride when I couldn’t do that.

How many stars will I give Reaper’s Claim: 3

Why: I was so torn on giving this book a lower star rating. I actually liked the book and found it refreshing that it gave a pretty realistic view on what motorcycle clubs are really like. But between the multiple 1st person POV’s and a very unlikable main character, I couldn’t get into the book and that affected my rating.

Will I reread: Probably

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes but I would warn them about the sex, language, and violence in the book.

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex, violence, and language.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Suri Five by Jacob Whaler

Suri Five

Title: Suri Five

Author: Jacob Whaler

Publisher: Self-published

Date of publication: December 29th, 2016

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Cyberpunk, Dystopian

Number of pages: 310

POV: 1st person

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

A monster lurks inside Suri.
Consumed with grief and rage at the death of her mother, Suri channels her anger into a mysterious virtual reality war zone called the Game where she quickly rises to the top. A covert government unit is watching. Using a deep copy of Suri’s brain, they build Five, the ultimate artificial intelligence.
As the digital embodiment of the monster inside Suri, Five is the perfect weapon for the cyberwar with China. But when Five is unleashed online, she slips off her chains, turns against her creators and, with all of Suri’s rage boiling inside, vows to annihilate humankind.
Only Suri can stop Five.
But will she?

My review:

Suri Five is a fast-paced cyberpunk/dystopian/science fiction book about what happens when the government creates an AI who becomes self-aware and starts to wreak havoc on the world. Their only hope is the rage-filled teenager whose brain they illegally copied to make the AI.

**********************************

I am going to start by saying this had to have been one of the best cyberpunk/dystopian books that I have read to date. The book sucks you in and then takes you on a wild ride following Suri. Then it spits you out and makes you think about what you just read. Because fighting wars digitally and with AI’s are definitely in our future. As well as a world that totally relies on the Internet (known as the Mesh) for everything. If you think about it, its scary and that is what made this book so good.

I thought that the class separation (just rich and poor with no middle class) is spot on also. The middle class is quickly disappearing and unfortunately, this is something that I can see happening. And the wall, don’t even get me started on that.

What also makes this book good is that Suri is a totally unlikable character. She is a self-admitted bully with severe anger issues that started when she was 8 and her mother died of a brain tumor. The only time she was nice was when her younger brother, Tommy. Then she acted like a normal human being who wasn’t consumed by anger. To be honest, that was the only saving grace that she had in my eyes because I couldn’t stand her. I actually said out loud, and my SO just gave me this look when I said it, “Girl, you need therapy and meds”.

I liked Richard (or Dick as Suri decided to call him) a lot but I did think he was a fool to keep coming back and trying to warn Suri about The Game. She even got him expelled from school by hacking into the school’s system after he dared to try to talk to her during school. I don’t think he liked her that much but I do think that he felt that he needed to warn her about Blodgett. I mean, he was always there to save her. At one point in the book, I thought that there was going to be a romance blossoming and I was so thankful that nothing happened from it. To be honest, romance wouldn’t have fit into this book.

Blodgett was so slimy in this book. He did things so underhand, like get a copy of Suri’s brain under the guise that she had the same type of brain tumor that her mother did. What an awful, underhand thing to do to people. And all the training in The Game that he did had a double purpose too. I felt so dirty after reading the scenes with him in it that I wanted to take a shower.

Suri Five, I kinda felt bad for but at the same time, I was chilled by what I read. I mean, she didn’t ask to be brought to life,  she didn’t ask to be an exact copy of Suri and have her rage issues and she definitely didn’t ask to be a weapon of war. But however, she was self-aware and once she turned off her fail-safe, she could have made the choice to not do what she did. Instead, she turned into what Suri couldn’t be in real life, a mass murderer.

Oh and I do have to mention her name. Her same is actually Suri V. Take a good long look at it. So fitting for the book!!!

There is a huge plot twist that actually broke my heart. I did not see it coming and when it happened, I cried. It literally broke my heart. I couldn’t understand why it had to be that person but at the same time, I understood….if that makes sense.

The end of the book was actually pretty sad too. The last words of the book wrenched my heart. Arrgggh.

How many stars will I give Suri Five: 5

Why: I really enjoyed reading Suri Five. Like I stated above, it is a very fast-paced book with scenarios that could actually happen….given time. After I finished reading it, I had to stop and think about it.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Older teen

Why: Violence and some mild language.

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

Lippy Kids Volume 1. Aden Baker: Notoriety and Anonymity by Marc Cage

Lippy Kids Volume 1. Aden Baker: Notoriety and Anonymity

Title: Lippy Kids Volume 1. Aden Baker: Notoriety and Anonymity

Author: Marc Cage

Publisher: Unknown

Date of publication: December 7th, 2016

Genre: General Fiction

Number of pages: 89

POV: 3rd person, 2nd person 1st person (during the narration part of the YouTube video)

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Lippy Kids podcast host, Oscar Zurano, lays out in his YouTube ‘documentary’ the short life and violent death of Aden Oliver Baker: his murderous rampage in Manchester, New Hampshire that left 12 dead-ending by his own hand, and the manifesto he left behind detailing his thoughts and beliefs on just why he did it.

There’s no such thing as bad publicity. We’ve all heard this refrain before. The future mass murderer Aden Baker lived it from his earliest years in grade school when he coined the saying: “Notoriety is better than complete anonymity.”

Aden was born to an affluent life, with successful parents in the film industry who –he was to learn– accidentally conceived him. This unwelcome start would later aid his notion of alienation from the rest of humanity, setting him upon a fateful course. With a particular grudge against females, Baker was to overlay all his feelings of frustration and rage like a veneer upon his fellow human beings–scapegoating women for failing to recognize his self-styled ‘fabulous’ qualities. And claim his virginity.

Taking this journey into Aden Baker’s past is to witness a seemingly paradisiacal childhood mutate into a monstrous young adulthood that resulted in an actual horror story. Oscar explores, in this admonitory biography, such notions as: was Aden Baker the product of indoctrination into an American popular culture rich with guns and violence? Could the cause have been race-fated angst? Sexual denial? Or was he paupered morally…by something else?

My review:

This book scared me but intrigued me at the same time. It scared me because you know there are walking time bombs like Aden Oliver Baker walking around and you don’t know when they will go off. But, at the same time, it intrigued me because you could see the progression of his issues throughout the narration.

I really liked that the author was able to successfully blend telling Aden’s story in 1st and 2nd person. I have read a few books and I have found only one other book that was able to meld 1st and 2nd person as successfully as the author did. It gives me hope for future books!!

I am torn between thinking that Aden Oliver Baker was a product of his environment, thinking that he had something chemically wrong with him or both. I want to say both. Why both? He was beyond spoiled and beyond coddled by his parents….well his mother, his father was largely absent. I mean, he would cry, literally cry tears, and Mommy would swoop him up and fix things. But, at the same time, he was in therapy and had medication (that he refused to take). So, you can see where I am torn on it.

I also thought, along with Oscar and Navarro, that Aden was a little turd and grew into a bigger one. He blamed everyone but himself for his lack of not being able to get laid. It drove me nuts reading that. Maybe if he wasn’t such a little turd and so focused on belittling people who were supposedly popular and getting “his” girls, then maybe the magic would have happened for him.

I did think that the gaming and pornography aspects of this story were pretty valid also. Seeing that I play World of Warcraft, I can see where Aden’s stepmother put limits on it when he was over their house. That game is addicting….lol. I can easily lose 2 hours questing or running dungeons/raids. But, I know when to log off and don’t spend all of my time on there. Which is a huge difference from Aden.

What I also thought were valid points were the extremist/hate groups that Oscar named in the video. While I didn’t google (I was barely allowed to read this book by my 3-year-old….lol), I can definitely see extremist/hate groups coming out of the woodwork to comment on the video. I mean, they all do in real life so why not in a fictional story? And the reactions that Oscar describes are pretty much on par. So much hate in this world…..sigh.

I did like that the author told the story of Aden Oliver Baker as a video on Youtube….with the story being told to the reader as a narration. Very different and made it so easy to read!!

I liked Oscar and Navarro too. I do hope that there will be a second book written in this series because I am really fascinated with where the author is going to go with it.

How many stars will I give Lippy Kids: 4

Why: A very well written account of how a serial killer is made. I enjoyed reading this book because it explores all angles and doesn’t leave anything unturned. Aden was truly an unlikable character too. He gave me the heebee jeebies as I was reading the book. Like I said above, there is always someone like Aden walking around. It is just a matter of time before they break.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sexual situations, language, and violence

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

Entangled( Ages of Invention: Book 1) by S. B. K. Burns

Entangled (Ages of Invention Book 1) by [Burns, S.B.K.]

Title: Entangled

Author: S. B. K. Burns

Publisher: Self-published

Date of publication: December 6th, 2016

Genre: Paranormal, Time Travel, Science Fiction, Romance, Steampunk, Women’s Fiction

POV: 3rd person

Number of pages: 277

Series: Ages of Invention

Entangled – Book 1

Can be read out-of-order from series: Yes, the first book in series

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

She’s Hume’n, a member of the lower class, with one chance to change her life… In an alternate, twenty-first century Boston, Dawn Jamison is a hair’s breadth away from earning her doctorate—a degree that would allow her entrance into the upper class, to become the unemotional and self-disciplined Cartesian she is now only pretending to be. To reach her goal, all Dawn must do is overcome her forbidden attraction to the Olympic-class weightlifter Taylor Stephenson who’s just crashed her lectures on past life regression. She must also teach her group of misfit students how to travel back into their past lives—and, oh, of course, figure out how to save the great scientists of the early eighteenth century before they’re inextricably caught up in a time loop.

He’s Cartesian, a member of the upper class, and supposed to know better… Coerced by his politically powerful, wheelchair-bound brother into spying on Dawn’s past-life regression classes, Taylor knows better than to give in to his desire to claim Dawn as his own. But his past-life entity, eighteenth-century Colin, has no such inhibitions. When Taylor and Dawn meet up in Scotland in the 1700s, all the discipline he’s forced on his twenty-first-century self disintegrates in the past, leaving only his overwhelming lust for Dawn’s past-life double, Lily. Unable to escape their sexually obsessive past, Dawn and Taylor find themselves in a race against the clock at the epicenter of a world-altering time quake of their own making.

My review:

Entangled is a fast-paced science fiction/steampunk romance. Told in 3rd person, the reader gets to follow Dawn Jamison, a bright young woman, in the lower class caste called the Hume’n, who is on the verge of getting her doctorate degree. By getting that degree, Dawn will be allowed into the upper class, a caste called the Cartesian. Her mentor is a brilliant scientist, Richard Stephenson, who is suspicious of her caste and asks his brother, Taylor, to spy on her. Taylor, an Olympic athlete who is questioning if he really is a Cartesian, agrees….only find out that he is immensely attracted to Dawn.

But Taylor is hiding his own secret….from Dawn and his brother. See, Taylor is able to travel back in time through lucid dreaming and he always ends up in the body of Colin, a brilliant young mathematician in the 1700’s. What he doesn’t know is that Dawn is able to go back in time too and she is Lily, a young female alchemist (aka scientist) and that both he/Colin and Dawn/Lily are going to be caught up in a time vortex brought on by their time traveling….as well as other factors.

***********************************

I really enjoyed reading Entangled. It is the type of book that is slow going, and it was for the first two chapters, but once it gets going, it really captures your attention and imagination. I mean, this world is separated into two castes….the Humens and the Cartesians. The Humens are considered a lower caste, the poor, and they make their life decisions on what can be derived through their senses and emotions and not just their rational minds. Because of their beliefs, the Humens are not allowed to get advanced degrees in anything. Meanwhile, the Cartesians believe that rational thinking and stoic detachment is the only way to get ahead in life and for the most part, they are successful. They are the upper class, the higher caste.

Dawn was one of my favorite characters. She was dedicated to keeping her Cartesian disguise so she could get an advanced degree, something that Humens are not allowed to do. She is a devoted sister to her twin brother, Max and a devoted friend to Naomi, a brilliant young hacker. She also is an expert on past lives and has been chosen to teach a class about them to a bunch of students who are on the verge of failing out but what Naomi is convinced is a think tank of some sort.

Taylor, I was kinda “eh” on at first. I don’t know why I was “eh” on him but I was. It wasn’t until the scenes with his brother that I started liking him and then when he got involved with Dawn, that I really started liking him. I also like that he questioned if the caste he was born into was really for him. I mean, he was an Olympic athlete but he was questioning why he didn’t like looking at himself flexing in the mirror.

The time travel scenes were very interesting in the fact that they took over the body of the person they were supposed to be. Like Dawn was Lily, an alchemist (aka scientist) who really liked the guys and was a witch and Taylor was Colin, who was a brilliant mathematician and who had the hots for Lily. But as soon as they started interacting with other people, the timeline got screwed up…badly. To the point where certain events in history never happened and were replaced with other events….if that makes sense.

The sex scenes between Dawn and Taylor were very steamy. Of course, the first sex scene between them was a little awkward and that was only because they were in Lily and Colin’s body. The second time was the same thing except they were at Taylor’s house and they ended up breaking the sexual curse by having sex and achieving orgasm. Every time after that, though, was very hot and very steamy.

What I really liked, though, was that girl power prevailed throughout the entire book. When one of the secondary storylines went haywire (the Q computer and that’s all I am saying about it), it was Naomi and Rasana, a preteen form Dawn’s class that she was teaching, that made it right. I also like the different spin on the witch burnings and how they were “saved”. (read the book).

The storylines were all merged and ended by the end of the book. They were all pretty much ended on a good note. What I did like was that the author left the book open for book 2.

How many stars will I give Entangled: 4

Why: What I liked the most about this book was the time travel and the steampunk elements in it. The romance was pretty good too.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Explicit sex and some mild violence

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

Guarding Mr. Fine (Tough Love: Book 3) by HelenKay Dimon

Guarding Mr. Fine (Tough Love, #3)

Title: Guarding Mr. Fine

Author: HelenKay Dimon

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: February 14th, 2017

Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA

Number of pages: Unknown

POV: 1st person

Series: Tough Love

Mr. and Mr. Smith – Book 1

The Talented Mr. Rivers – Book 2

Guarding Mr. Fine – Book 3

Can be read out-of-order from series: Yes

Where you can find this book: Amazon|Barnes and Nobles

Goodreads synopsis:

In this steamy novel of seduction and international intrigue, two brave men are stripped of their defenses—and exposed to dangers and desires that simmer below the surface.

As an agent with the CIA’s special activities division, Seth Lang lives for risk—and yet he’s stuck playing bodyguard to the U.S. consul general in Munich. Although Seth’s last assignment nearly killed him, babysitting some desk jockey in a suit sounds way too easy. But when he lays eyes on the new top man, tactical expert Rick Fine, Seth’s thrilled to see just how hard this job is going to get. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Quiet have a body worth guarding—and he requires hands-on attention day and night.
 
Dispatched to a German consulate to expose the murder of his predecessor, Rick finds himself in an extremely vulnerable position. He needs a man like Seth—in so many ways. This mission will inevitably plunge them both into jeopardy, but each new threat only brings them closer. Rick just hopes that he can keep his deepest, darkest secret hidden—or else risk imperiling a relationship they’re both fighting for their lives to protect.

Fall in love with the men of HelenKay Dimon’s thrilling novels:
MR. AND MR. SMITH | THE TALENTED MR. RIVERS | GUARDING MR. FINE

Includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

My review:

For the most part, I liked this book. I liked Rick Fine, kinda like Seth Lang, like the sexual chemistry between them and loved the whodunit mystery of the diplomat who committed suicide and the shipments of vaccines being messed with. The book itself was a very quick read and the plot was fairly simple.

It’s just that, well, I wish Seth was a bit more likable. The entire book, he came across as a jerk. A huge jerk who couldn’t face his feelings for Rick until almost the end of the book. I know a lot of bad stuff happened in his life but Rick’s own early years were worse than Seth’s and he wasn’t a jerk.

Speaking of Rick, while I did like him and loved how open he was with Seth and how he didn’t flip out when Seth told him that he was bisexual, I did kinda want to kick him for keeping that huge secret from Seth. I actually sided with Seth when Seth flipped out after being told. That was a HUGE thing and forget what Helena said…Seth should have been told sooner.

The sexual chemistry was unbelievable between the two of them and it literally lit the pages on fire. I did find it kinda ironic that their first meeting turned into what was supposed to be a one night stand in a back office of a discotheque. I did giggle when they met (call me weird). Talk about an awkward first meeting. To be honest, I thought it was more awkward for Seth then it was for Rick.

I did like the mystery/action aspect of the book, even though I did figure out who was behind everything about halfway through the book. But the author did a great job of throwing several red herrings out there so I really wasn’t sure until the climax of the book.

The end of the book was your typical HEA. Well, after Seth had his freak out (which again, I don’t blame him one bit). Then it was a typical HEA.

How many stars will I give Guarding Mr. Fine? 3

Why: While I loved the story and the romance (well, I would really say it was lustmance….lol), I couldn’t get over Seth’s attitude. To be honest, it turned what could have been some sweet moments into well, him being a jerk, and that ruined the book. He needed to get rid of the chip on his shoulder sooner in the book, other than almost at the end.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age Range: Adult

Why: Explicit sex, language, and violence

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts: Book 1) by Vic James

Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts Book 1) by [James, Vic]

Title: Gilded Cage

Author: Vic James

Publisher: Random House Publishing – Ballantine

Date of publication: February 14th, 2017

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

POV: Alternate 3rd person

Number of pages: 368

Series: Dark Gifts

Gilded Cage – Book 1

Tarnished City – Book 2 (publication date not stated on Goodreads)

Bright Ruin – Book 3 (publication date not stated on Goodreads)

Standalone: Yes

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Not all are free. Not all are equal. Not all will be saved.

Our world belongs to the Equals — aristocrats with magical gifts — and all commoners must serve them for ten years. But behind the gates of England’s grandest estate lies a power that could break the world.

A girl thirsts for love and knowledge.

Abi is a servant to England’s most powerful family, but her spirit is free. So when she falls for one of the noble-born sons, Abi faces a terrible choice. Uncovering the family’s secrets might win her liberty, but will her heart pay the price?

A boy dreams of revolution.

Abi’s brother, Luke, is enslaved in a brutal factory town. Far from his family and cruelly oppressed, he makes friends whose ideals could cost him everything. Now Luke has discovered there may be a power even greater than magic: revolution.

And an aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts.

He is a shadow in the glittering world of the Equals, with mysterious powers no one else understands. But will he liberate—or destroy?

My review:

Gilded Cage starts off with a young woman, Leah, running for her life across the ground of the estate she was a slave too…Kyneston. She is hoping to make it to the wall before Gavar and Jenner do. She has her baby, Liberty (aka Libby) with her and she is hoping that Libby would be able to open the gate so they could escape. It doesn’t happen. Libby doesn’t have the Skill to open the gate. Or as Silyen, the youngest and the most Skilled of the 3 brothers said, maybe she doesn’t want to leave her family.  It doesn’t really matter anyway because before Leah could do anything else, Gavar shoots Leah. Miraculously, Libby isn’t hurt and Gavar takes her back to the house….leaving Jenner to mourn over Leah. Jenner does try to get Silyen to heal her but he won’t…saying that even he can’t bring back the dead. As they are talking, Leah dies.

A few months later, we are introduced to Abi, Luke, Daisy, and their mother and father.  Luke is the equivalent of a junior in high school and Abi, a senior. Their little sister, Daisy, is 10 years old. Luke is studying for his final exams when he notices a strange man looking at his father’s restored Austin-Healey. The man unnerves Luke, for some reason, and is quickly on his way after seeing that Daisy is celebrating her 10th birthday.

Later that night, Luke overhears something horrific. His mother and father have decided to enact their slave days. See, in this dystopian society, all commoners are supposed to serve the Equals, those who have the Skill and rule over the country, for 10 years. What is Skill….well consider it magic of a sort. The Equals can do anything with it…including healing, mind reading and building houses or maintaining a gate that only opens for the Equals. They are sent to a slave town (called Millmoor) to serve out their 10 years. After the 10 years are over, the commoners can hold certain jobs (never went into in the book), own a house and travel abroad.

So it is understandable that Luke is upset. He is losing 10 years of his life and Daisy, who is 10, will not be able to receive any education during the 10 years. Luke would be missing out on college, girls and the start of his life. I would be upset too.

But Abi had come up with a solution. She applied, for the family, at a department within the Labor Allocation Bureau called Estate Services. That is where the Equals go for their house slaves. Her application got accepted and they are being sent to serve the Jardine family on the estate of Kyneston. Seeing that Luke is under the age of 18, he goes with his family. It is the perfect solution to something that is dreaded in the lives of the common people.

Except it didn’t go that way. The day that they are being picked up by the LAB person to be driven to Kyneston, things change. The driver only has 4 names written: Mum, Dad, Daisy, and Abi. Luke, unfortunately, gets sent to Millmoor. Which is unheard of because he is a minor. The officer, who was an idiot and I didn’t like him at all, and Luke’s Dad gets into a scuffle. Dad gets a beat down and the officer, Kessler, explains that they are all nonpeople and have no rights. They all separate and then the story goes into Luke at Millmoor, Gavar at Kyneston and various areas, Silyen at Kyneston and Abi at Kyneston.

I couldn’t put my finger on how I felt about Silyen. He had an agenda and he wasn’t afraid to use people to get desired results. But I also saw glimpses of a kind person and of someone who could be more than what he was raised to be. If that makes sense.

Gavar did redeem himself in the book. I did feel bad for him because his father had an ironclad grip on him. It came out that he was in love with Leah but his father made him shoot her. Which is awful. But his father’s control over him was slipping. Gavar reminded me of an abused dog who is just waiting for its master to not be paying attention before tearing his throat out. I also feel that his fiancé will be caught up in that once Gavar snaps. But he does have a soft side. He loves his daughter and he is very taken with Daisy, who is Libby’s nurse and I believe that he would move heaven and earth to protect both of them. It is going to be very interesting to see how Silyen and Gavar’s storylines end up in the other books.

Jenner was actually my favorite brother. He is Skillless but he is an asset to the estate and runs it. He is close to Silyen (well as close as Silyen lets him be) and he is getting very close to Abi. So close that Jenner’s mother, Lady Thalia, reminds him that he is an Equal (even if he doesn’t have powers) and that she is a slave and warns him off her.

Daisy had to have been my favorite person in the book. She was so upbeat and always saw the bright side of everything. She even liked Gavar, which kinda blew my mind. To be caring for a baby at her age was amazing (now granted Gavar did most of the caring for Libby when he was home and Daisy was just there as a babysitter) but still. She matured over the course of the book and I can’t wait to see where the author takes her character in book 2

I honestly didn’t know what to think of Abi. At times I liked her, at times I wanted to tell her to shut up and at other times I was in awe over her braveness. I am very interested to see what happens to her in book 2.

I felt awful for Luke. Being ripped from his family, put into an awful slave town and being worked to the bone, no wonder he became radicalized. His friendship with Renie, a girl his sister’s age, was very cute but at the same time dangerous. The events after was reunited with his family were beyond his control. I am very interested in what happens to him. Very interested.

Lord Whittman Jaradine, Gavar, Jenner and Silyen’s father, is a bad, bad, bad man. I literally got the chills when I was reading his scenes because his evilness just came off the pages. Again, a storyline that I would be very interested in seeing where it goes. I am also interested in seeing what happens between him and Gavar.

The end of the book ends as a cliffhanger, which made me want to yell. If you have read my reviews for any length of time, then you all know how I feel about cliffhangers. But, it did get me interested in book 2 (which I didn’t know there was going to be one until I pulled Gilded Cage up on Goodreads).

How many stars will I give Gilded Cage: 4

Why: A great dystopian book. This was a quick read with complex characters. I can’t wait to read book 2!!

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age Range: Teen

Why: No sex, no language. But there is violence…including a graphic scene of a head being blown off. Also, there is a disturbing side story about a man forced to live like a dog.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Always by Sarah Jio

Always: A Novel by [Jio, Sarah]

Title: Always

Author: Sarah Jio

Publisher: Random House Publishing – Ballantine

Date of publication: February 7th, 2017

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Chick Lit

POV: 1st person

Number of pages: 289

Series: No

Where this book can be found: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

From the New York Times, bestselling author of Blackberry Winter and The Violets of March comes a gripping, poignant novel about the kind of love that never let’s go, and the heart’s capacity to remember.

While enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with her fiancé, Ryan, at one of Seattle’s chicest restaurants, Kailey Crane can’t believe her good fortune: She has a great job as a writer for the Herald and is now engaged to a guy who is perfect in nearly every way. As they leave the restaurant, Kailey spies a thin, bearded homeless man on the sidewalk. She approaches him to offer up her bag of leftovers and is stunned when their eyes meet, then stricken to her very core: The man is the love of her life, Cade McAllister.

When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense everything connected and felt “right.” But it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now the poor soul on the street is a faded version of her former beloved: His weathered and weary face is as handsome as Kailey remembers, but his mind has suffered in the intervening years. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes that she must decide exactly what and whom she wants.

Alternating between the past and the present, Always is a beautifully unfolding exploration of a woman faced with an impossible choice, a woman who discovers what she’s willing to save and what she will sacrifice for true love.

My review:

A bit of a warning, this book is a tear-jerker from the beginning. I was a bit surprised at how early the tears started in the book for me. I went into reading Always knowing that it was chick lit and chick lit always turns me into a mushy mess. I just wasn’t expecting it by Chapter 2.

While I sympathized with Kailey, I was kinda annoyed with her. She should have told Ryan what was going on with Cade from the beginning, instead of keeping secrets. I mean, her boss (who was super supportive and unlike any boss I have known) and her best friend were voices of reason. “Tell Ryan. He’ll understand.” She doesn’t and then gets upset when Ryan finds out and he gets upset. What was he supposed to be? Happy that she is devoting all her time to helping the one man who disappeared on her 8 years earlier. The fact that he was at least understanding showed what a great guy he was.

Even before she realized it, I could tell that Kailey was still in love with Cade. I mean, she went and hunted him down after she saw him outside the restaurant. She became his advocate when the hospital decided that people who had insurance and were rich had more priority over those who were poor and didn’t have insurance (which is an unfortunate reality for most people these days).

Speaking of that, the love story between Cade and Kailey took my breath away. They loved each other so much and it just came off the pages. Like any couple, they had their problems. So when he disappeared, I could see why Kailey was devastated.

But what sold me on the book was the realistic insight to homelessness. People who are homeless are treated like they are below other people. All because they don’t have the money or a place to live. People are under the incorrect assumption that most homeless people are drug addicts. Not true. A huge majority of people homeless are people who used to have a house and a job and through unfortunate events are living on the street. There are not enough shelters to keep up with a growing homeless population….which was correctly portrayed in the book also. As was people’s views of them. A little compassion can go a long way because you never know, you could be that person on the street. At the end of this review will be a link to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Click on it to learn more about how to help shelters in your community.

I did like the ending of the book and felt that the story had come full circle.

How many stars will I give Always: 5

Why: This was a genuine tear-jerker of a book. Like I said above, I started crying about the 2nd chapter and didn’t stop. The love between Cade and Kailey was so real, so raw that it came off the page.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex and language

National Coalition for the Homeless

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**