Category: ARC

Sleuthing with the Enemy (Unnatural Alliances: Book 2) by Danielle Hardgrave

Sleuthing with the Enemy (Unnatural Alliances Book 2) by [Hardgrave, Danielle]

Title: Sleuthing with the Enemy

Author: Danielle Hardgrave

Publisher: Caldwell Publishing

Date of publication: June 9th, 2017

Genre: Paranormal, Romance

Number of pages: Unknown

POV: 1st person

Series: Unnatural Alliances

To Trust a Wolf – Book 1

Sleuthing with the Enemy – Book 2

Where you can find Sleuthing with the Enemy: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Somebody just stole a valuable artifact from the Helsen archives, and Annemette Helsen—a very pissed off werewolf—is going to make sure they pay for it.

There’s just one problem: Anna’s only suspect is the arrogant vampire prince, Jonas Weiss. He’s cocky, frustrating, and a little bit sexy. Okay, a lot sexy.

He also claims to be innocent, so the fact that she just broke into his home and attacked him is problematic.

And his price for keeping silent about the whole debacle? Downright devious.

Disclaimer:

The short novel you’re about to consume is quick, quirky, and delicious. Get ready to enjoy the main course of romance with a side of adventure. Buckle up, it’s about to get sassy!

Sleuthing with the Enemy can be enjoyed as part of the Unnatural Alliances series or on its own

My review:

Sleuthing with the Enemy is one of those books that would be perfect to read by the pool or on the beach. It doesn’t have a complicated plot, is a standalone book in the Unnatural Alliances series, the characters are relatable and the sex was hot.

Continue reading “Sleuthing with the Enemy (Unnatural Alliances: Book 2) by Danielle Hardgrave” →

The Party bv Robyn Harding

The Party: A Novel by [Harding, Robyn]

Title: The Party

Author: Robyn Harding

Publisher: Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books

Date of publication: June 6, 2017

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Number of pages: 352

POV: 3rd person

Where you can find The Party: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

In this stunning and provocative domestic drama about a sweet sixteen birthday party that goes horribly awry, a wealthy family in San Francisco finds their picture-perfect life unraveling, their darkest secrets revealed, and their friends turned to enemies.

One invitation. A lifetime of regrets.

Sweet sixteen. It’s an exciting coming of age, a milestone, and a rite of passage. Jeff and Kim Sanders plan on throwing a party for their daughter, Hannah—a sweet girl with good grades and nice friends. Rather than an extravagant, indulgent affair, they invite four girls over for pizza, cake, movies, and a sleepover. What could possibly go wrong?

But things do go wrong, horrifically so. After a tragic accident occurs, Jeff and Kim’s flawless life in a wealthy San Francisco suburb suddenly begins to come apart. In the ugly aftermath, friends become enemies, dark secrets are revealed in the Sanders’ marriage, and the truth about their perfect daughter, Hannah, is exposed.

Harkening to Herman Koch’s The Dinner, Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap, and Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, The Party takes us behind the façade of the picture-perfect family, exposing the lies, betrayals, and moral lapses that neighbors don’t see—and the secrets that children and parents keep from themselves and each other.

My review:

The Party is one of those books that when I finished, I exhaled and thought “What the heck did I just read”. I thought it showed perfectly how relationships can be destroyed when pressure is put on them….more so if they are already fracturing. It was an intense read and I did just sit there and think about the book for a while after I read it. It got that under my skin. As a mother of an 11-year-old girl, I often wonder how high school is going to be for her and if she is going to feel like she is going to have to be something she’s not to fit in. I will tell you this, I will not be like Kim or Lisa. Too extreme on either end. One wants to control her daughter and the other letting her daughter having too much freedom.

I am going to admit that Kim bugged the crap out of me the entire book. She was self-righteous. Everything that she did had to be better than everyone else, she was extremely condescending to her husband and kids and she basically thought that she was above everyone. She rubbed me the wrong way. Even when I was supposed to feel bad for her, I didn’t. I almost felt that she brought this on herself by being the stuck-up snob that she was. But then again, greed was a reason in the lawsuit too.

Lisa, however, I did feel bad for, at first. Her daughter was disfigured and hospitalized. But her greed started showing very early in the book and by the time they went to court, I felt disgust for her. She had convinced herself that her daughter wouldn’t be able to do anything in life because of her injury and she refused to listen to Ronni when Ronni begged her to drop the lawsuit. At that point, Lisa was out to ruin Kim and Jeff, professionally and publicly, because they didn’t offer to pay for Ronni’s hospital bills right away (which they should have done right off the bat, to be honest). Even her boyfriend got clued in when she declined a settlement….because she wanted the full amount in the lawsuit.

Honestly, in my eyes, Ronni was the only one who lost in this book. She was mercilessly bullied by people she had once considered friends and didn’t have any friends, she lost her eye and her mother had turned into someone who she didn’t even know. So when certain events happened in the book about her, I truly wasn’t surprised. I actually figured that what happened would happen and expected it to happen earlier.

I am really not going to get into the storylines because they all crisscross with each other, but I will say that I found them all very compelling. Actually, the storyline with Lauren and Jeff creeped me out….a lot. But I did think that he did the right thing in the end.

The end of the book wasn’t a happy ending. While some storylines were resolved, other’s weren’t and that is what made the ending good. I was taken by surprise by the slight twist at the end. I actually wished that there was an epilogue or something because I wanted to see what happened.

Now my questions for the book:

Why were certain events about that night not revealed until almost until the end of the book? I mean, it makes sense with what happened but I wish that the author made those characters make their scenes sooner

Why the total 180 with Lisa? I mean, I kinda liked her as the laid back, pot smoking mom. But when she morphed into Ms. Greedypants, I just lost interest and empathy for her.

Why didn’t Hannah try harder with Ronni? She went to the same school and she had to of seen her. If she missed her that much, she should have tried harder. But, then again, she is a teenager and we all know how they are.

How many stars will I give The Party: 4

Why: I really liked the story and the messages that it got across. Even with my dislike of Kim and Lisa, the story was beautifully written with compelling storylines and hot topics. I couldn’t put the book down.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language, violence. Also, triggers for bullying

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

An Unnatural Vice (Sins of the Cities: Book 2) by K.J. Charles

An Unnatural Vice (Sins of the Cities, #2)

Title: An Unnatural Vice

Author: K.J. Charles

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: June 6th, 2017

Genre: LGBTQIA, Historical Romance

Number of pages: 250

POV: 3rd person

Series: Sins of the Cities

An Unseen Attraction – Book 1 (review here)

An Unnatural Vice – Book 2

An Unsuitable Heir – Book 3 (publication date–October 3rd, 2017)

Where you can find An Unnatural Vice: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

In the sordid streets of Victorian London, unwanted desire flares between two bitter enemies brought together by a deadly secret.

Crusading journalist Nathaniel Roy is determined to expose spiritualists who exploit the grief of bereaved and vulnerable people. First on his list is the so-called Seer of London, Justin Lazarus. Nathaniel expects him to be a cheap, heartless fraud. He doesn’t expect to meet a man with a sinful smile and the eyes of a fallen angel—or that a shameless swindler will spark his desires for the first time in years.

Justin feels no remorse for the lies he spins during his séances. His gullible clients simply bore him. Hostile, disbelieving, utterly irresistible Nathaniel is a fascinating challenge. And as their battle of wills and wits heats up, Justin finds he can’t stop thinking about the man who’s determined to ruin him.

But Justin and Nathaniel are linked by more than their fast-growing obsession with one another. They are both caught up in an aristocratic family’s secrets, and Justin holds information that could be lethal. As killers, fanatics, and fog close in, Nathaniel is the only man Justin can trust—and, perhaps, the only man he could love.

My review:

An Unnatural Vice in the second book in the Sins Of The Cities series. I had previously read and reviewed An Unseen Attraction and really enjoyed that book. So when I saw that book 2 was available on NetGalley, I had to request it. I am glad I did because this book was fantastic.

I am going to come right out and say that this book is not a stand-alone. You need to read An Unseen Attraction to follow the events in An Unnatural Vice. The events in An Unnatural Vice closely intermingle with the events in An Unseen Attraction. Actually, the storyline in An Unnatural Vice is the same time as the events in An Unseen Attraction. Several scenes from An Unnatural Vice were rewritten to be from Nate and Justin’s point of view. I know it sounds confusing, reading what I wrote, but it actually worked. I got to see what was happening to Clem and Rowley from another point of view….along with Nate and Justin’s main storyline. It was different and again, like I said above, it worked.

I enjoyed reading about mediums in that time period and the length’s that they went through to convince their clients that they were actually talking to spirits. From the setup to picking their apprentices to the real senace, it just fascinated me. Justin was pretty good because he had me, a reader, convinced that there was something supernatural going on for a couple of chapters…lol.

Nate was still grieving for his lover, Tony. Tony died in a freak accident 7 years earlier and Nate was devastated, as any normal person would be after losing a loved one. So when he attends a senace to expose Justin Lazarus as a fraud, he wasn’t expecting to be attracted to him and it threw a wrench in his plans. While I felt bad for Nate, I absolutely loved seeing him come alive in this book. Not only was he hell-bent on exposing Justin as a fraud but he was working to help Clem with what I will call family issues (read the book because it is so much more). But both of those worlds collide, in a big way.

I did like Justin, even if he was a fraud. He was doing the only honest work that he knew how to do. So he is intrigued when Nate keeps coming around. I did have a giggle over how much of a foul mouth that Justin had, which again was a breath of fresh air. Also, he protected those he considered his….which meant that Sukey and Emma (a 12-year-old and a mentally challenged 15-year-old) were under his protection. It showed that under his façade of not caring, he was a very caring man. The scene where he was panicking over the girls being in the house was very telling because, at this point, the author chose to portray them as only servants/apprentices.

The romance between Justin and Nate was not a slow burn. I wouldn’t dare say that it was Instalove but it bordered on it. To be honest, it was pure lust. The first sex scene was mad sex. The men were arguing and one thing led to another. They were even arguing during sex, which did make me giggle. It was almost like they were having makeup sex while fighting. The other sex scenes were just as hot.

The storyline with Clem and the storyline with Justin did merge about halfway through the book. Like I said above, it was pretty interesting to read the events of An Unseen Attraction from another angle. It answered a lot of questions about certain events. I have a feeling that book 3 will do the same and honestly, I can’t wait to read it.

The end of the book was a HEA, for the most part. The book did wrap up, for the most part, Justin and Nate’s storyline but left Clem’s wide open. I can’t wait to see where it goes in book 3!!

How many stars will I give An Unnatural Vice: 4

Why: Great characters with a compelling storyline.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex, violence, and language

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

Mean Little People by Paige Dearth

Mean Little People

Title: Mean Little People

Author: Paige Dearth

Publisher: Fiction With Meaning LLC

Date of publication: April 2nd, 2017

Genre: Horror

Number of pages: 466

POV: 3rd person

Where you can find Mean Little People: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Seven-year-old Tony has one choice…to live or to die.

Tony Bruno just wants to fit in, but the bullies at his school are cruel and relentless. At home, he leans on his mother Teresa for strength and comfort, but she’s no match for his father, Carmen. His father, a fighter, and bully himself hates Tony. He is embarrassed by the child for not fighting back and wishes that Tony was never born.

Then as a teen, in one-act of blind courage, Tony fights back shifting the balance of power with his peers. Even after Tony sets things straight with the neighborhood boys, his father continues to terrorize him.

At school, Tony is now respected by his classmates. One day he stands up for a bullied kid named, Salvatore, and the boys become friends. One night, Salvatore commits a horrific crime and Tony suffers the consequences of his friends’ actions. Tony’s punishment changes the course of his life.

All alone and nowhere to call home, Tony sets out to find the life he longs for, one filled with love and acceptance. But nothing comes easily for him, and he is forced to draw upon strength from deep within to survive.

From the dark world, he lives in, Tony does unimaginable things to leave his unwanted life behind.

Mean Little People is a haunting story of one bullied child deprived of love and taunted by corrupt individuals along his journey. Tony’s story will make you question the balance between good and evil.

My review:

Mean Little People is not one of those books that start awful and ends up being all sunshine and flowers afterward. No, this is a story that starts off violent and stays violent the entire book. This is a story that will also break your heart because of the abuse Tony had to deal throughout his life. I will add a trigger warning to this book, so if you trigger easily, do not read the review.

Continue reading “Mean Little People by Paige Dearth” →

Take It to the Grave: Part 1 of 6 (Take it to the Grave: Book 1) by Zoe Carter

Take It to the Grave Part 1 of 6: Take It to the Grave - Sarah's Story\Take It to the Grave - Maisey's Story

Title: Take It to the Grave: Part 1 of 6

Author: Zoe Carter

Publisher: Harlequin Special Releases

Date of publication: June 1st, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Number of pages: 64

POV: Alternating 1st person

Series: Take It to the Grave

Take It to the Grave – Book 1

Take it to the Grave – Book 2

Take it to the Grave – Book 3

Take it to the Grave – Book 4

Take it to the Grave – Book 5

Take it to the Grave – Book 6

Where you can find Take it to the Grave: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

It started with an anonymous note…

Sarah Taylor-Cox has a perfect life—a gorgeous husband, a picture-perfect house in the Hampton’s and a beautiful baby, Elliot. Now, the invites are being sent out for Elliot’s christening, and the Taylor—Coxes are determined the party will be the event of the year.

There’s just one chink in Sarah’s carefully constructed calm demeanor—her sister, Maisey, will be coming. The sisters used to be close, but now their lives couldn’t be more different. Surely though, they will slip back into their old ways, and the party will go off without a hitch…

Then, Sarah’s difficult relationship with Maisey is pushed to the back of her mind when she receives a note, one which makes her whole body shake with dread: I know your secret. I’m going to tell.

Part 1 of 6: a riveting new installment in this darkly compelling psychological thriller

My review:

Serial novels are the bane of my existence. On one hand, I love them because they are short and if written right can definitely make you want to read the next book. But if written wrong, they can turn you off of serial novels. Unfortunately, Take It to the Grave is the latter.

I couldn’t get into Sarah’s story. She came across as a neurotic mess that is haunted by something in her past. There is only the barest of clues given, a memory of her and her sister with their father playing in a meadow. Again, I know this is a serial so I know that the clues to the mystery would be dragged out but I really expected more background given. The relationship with her in-laws was toxic and her husband came across as a jerk. I mean, she had to hide the fact that she wasn’t breastfeeding from her mother in law (who was the mother in law from hell) and had to deal with her **friends** making unacceptable comments about her weight.

Maisey, however, was the complete opposite, in ways. She was damaged goods like Sarah but in different ways. She has difficulty maintaining any close relationships and kept people at arm’s length. Towards the end of her story, it is told why she is the way she is but it doesn’t explain the weird flashbacks about the baby or the fact that Maisey has the compulsive need to lie to people to keep appearances up.

I will say that the author did do a great job setting up the scenario for the rest of the books but I do wish that some of the extra scenes really didn’t need to be in the book. Like the sex scene in the Porta-potty. I really could have not used to visual of Sarah getting off in one of those. I think I actually gagged while reading it.

The end was very compelling and if I liked the book, I would have loved to read the next one. But unfortunately, I will have to pass on it.

How many stars will I give Take It to the Grave: 2

Why: I couldn’t connect with Sarah or Maisey. I also thought that some of the clues that showed up in the book about what happened to Sarah and Maisey didn’t give enough information. Also, the sex scene in the Porta potty really, really grossed me out and was the final straw in me not liking the book.

Will I reread: No

Will I recommend to family and friends: No

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex and language

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

Down & Dirty by Tracy Wolff

Down & Dirty

Title: Down & Dirty

Author: Tracy Wolff

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: May 23rd, 2017

Genre: Romance

Number of pages: 203

POV: Alternating 1st person

Where you can find Down & Dirty: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

This hard-bodied football star is used to scoring. But he needs all the right moves to get past a fiery redhead’s defenses in a steamy standalone novel from the bestselling author of Ruined.

Emerson: Talk about bad first impressions. I have too much riding on this job to show up late on my first day looking like the winner of a wet T-shirt contest, all thanks to an arrogant quarterback who drives like he owns the road. Hunter Browning thinks that because he’s famous, he can fix everything with a smile and a wave of his hand. He’s too bronzed, buff, and beautiful for his own good. Or mine. I can’t let on that I’m a fan . . . no matter how much fun we’d have in the sack.

Hunter: Hitting that puddle was my best play since winning the Super Bowl with a touchdown pass. Sure, it’s not my preferred way to get a girl wet, but I’ll make an exception for Emerson Day. She’s got a sharp tongue and a red-hot temper, even with her soaking clothes plastered to her every curve. Now I know exactly what my next play will be: hire Emerson as my personal real-estate agent, save her job—and see if I can take her off the market.

My review:

Don’t let the blurb fool you, Down & Dirty is not one of those books where the main characters have sex as much as possible and there is no plot other than the sex. Nope, there is actually a plot in this book and I was completely surprised by it. So any book that takes me by surprise automatically gets an extra star rating from me…..lol.

I felt awful for Emerson at the beginning of the book. I mean, her car breaks down, her Uber driver took forever, she gets soaked to the skin by Hunter when he pulled up in his car and then, the icing on the cake, she gets her boss mad at her by unintentionally taking Hunter’s sale away from her. So I don’t blame her for being kinda of a witch with a b to Hunter when they go out looking at houses. I think I would have said worse to him, to be honest. The ice did break when they went to that house with the erotic statues in the backyard and it broke in a huge way. And when I say broke, I mean she decided to get down on her knees and copy some of the statues….haha.

Hunter came across as a complete and utter jerk at the beginning of the book. But, as the book went on, he actually came across as a very stressed out guy. His sister was dying of cancer and he was scrambling to find a house for him, her, his niece, nephew, and their nanny to live in before she passes away. He made a decision the day he met Emerson to have her show houses. Emerson’s boss, who was a witch with a b, wasn’t showing him the houses that he liked. He thought that Emerson would. What he didn’t expect was to fall hard for her.

I am going to admit that the sex scenes were kind of eh. I am not a huge fan of public sex and Emerson was being unprofessional by giving Hunter a hummer in the backyard of that house. She was on the job and those people could have come home at any minute. But, saying that, the sex they had after the gala was insanely erotic. I didn’t think that watercolors could be used like that. Honestly, I would be afraid to use any type of paints because I would be afraid of them staining my skin.

I did cry during the last half of the book. I could totally understand why Hunter did what he did and I gave mad props to Emerson for texting him every day…even when he told her to stop. This is the part of the book that I didn’t expect and I loved that the author took a step back from the sex and wrote a sweet story for the last half of the book.

I will say that the author did leave the ending open for other stories with the players from Hunter’s football team. If there is, I really can’t wait to read book 2.

How many stars will I give Down & Dirty: 4

Why: I am going to be brutally honest. This would have gotten a 3 from me until I read the last few chapters of the book. Because I got surprised and because of how the author wrote the last chapters of the book (see the review above), I bumped it up to a 4. In my opinion, the last half of the book made the entire book.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex and language

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

A Counterfeit Heart (Secrets and Spies: Book 1) by K.C. Bateman

A Counterfeit Heart (Secrets & Spies, #3)

Title: A Counterfeit Heart

Author: K.C. Bateman

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: May 23rd, 2017

Genre: Historical Romance

Number of pages: 306

POV: 3rd person

Series: Secrets and Spies

To Steal a Heart – Book 1

A Raven’s Heart – Book 2 (review here)

A Counterfeit Heart – Book 3

Where you can find A Counterfeit Heart: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

As Sabine de la Tour tosses piles of forged banknotes onto a bonfire in a Paris park, she bids a reluctant farewell to her double life as a notorious criminal. Over the course of Napoleon’s reign, her counterfeits destabilized the continent and turned scoundrels into rich men, but now she and her business partner must escape France—or face the guillotine. Her only hope of surviving in England is to strike a deal with the very spy she’s spent her career outrunning. Now after meeting the arrogant operative in the flesh, Sabine longs to throw herself upon his mercy—and into his arms.

Richard Hampden, Viscount Lovell, is prepared to take any risk to safeguard England from the horrors of the French Revolution. To lure the insurgents out from the shadows, he’s even willing to make a pact with his archenemy: Philippe Lacorte, the greatest counterfeiter in Europe. But when a cheeky, gamine-faced beauty proves herself to be Lacorte, Richard is shocked—and more than a little aroused. Unlike the debutantes who so often hurl themselves at him, this cunning minx offers a unique and irresistible challenge. Richard will help her. But in return, he wants something that even Sabine cannot fake.

My review:

I find the times around the French Revolution very fascinating.  I haven’t read a lot of books, romance and otherwise, that even touch upon it. If I do happen to read a book in that time frame, references are given but nothing is really talked about. So, when I read the blurb for A Counterfeit Heart, my attention and interest were immediately caught. I was also really happy to see that it was book 3 in the Secret and Spies series. Having read A Raven’s Heart, I was curious if Richard would get his story and who his love interest would be. I wasn’t disappointed.

The plotline of A Counterfeit Spy was surprisingly action-packed. Mostly, when I read a historical romance, it follows a set plotline and this one deviates from that. Which made it very enjoyable for me to read. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love a historical romance that is standard…meaning that the heroine is sweet but weak, the hero is strong and tortured and there is a dastardly villain that is easily defeated thrown in. With this book, though, those stereotypes are rewritten. The heroine is most definitely not weak and thinking about it, she really wasn’t sweet either…lol. The hero is strong but I wouldn’t say that he was tortured. He held guilt over several incidents in the past but, for the most part, they didn’t carry over into the present day. The villain was not easily defeated either. He was actually carried over from the 2nd book and I believe he started in the first one (didn’t read it).

Sabine, I liked. For that time, she was an anomaly, a woman who didn’t need a man to survive. She only went to Richard because she needed the money to escape to America and build a new life for herself. She was also very sassy and wasn’t afraid to put Richard in his place. She also was very secretive but she needed to be. She had some pretty powerful people who were after her alter ego, Philippe Lacorte. I thought it was pretty refreshing to read about a heroine who was a criminal and who was honest about it. I mean, she did approach Richard about working for him and had no shame about admitting about her criminal past.

I couldn’t get that into Richard at the beginning of the book. I think it was because he came across as so harsh at the beginning of the book when Sabine appeared on his doorstep. But he did grow on me as the book went on. I think the reason I didn’t really like him was that he was so intense, so focused on getting that group arrested but he wasn’t afraid to use Sabine to make that happen. But he did grow on me during the book. I could tell that he had growing feelings for Sabine and that his actions were being influenced by them.

The romance between Richard and Sabine was a slow burn. I mean, you know that it was going to happen but I love how the author chose to stretch it out. Feelings were conveyed with a look and a touch. Everything was built up so that when they finally kissed (and had sex), my pages just about combusted. And it didn’t stop with that one scene. Every scene after that was the same way and I was pretty impressed by that. It is very rare that an author can have sex scenes that are as good as the first one.

The end of the book kept me on my toes. So much went on in such a short amount of time that I did have a small issue following everything. There were a couple of plot twists. One I saw coming and one took me by surprise. But still, even with the twists, I was very happy with the ending.

How many stars will I give A Counterfeit Heart: 4

Why: A wonderfully written historical romance that had a great plotline and relatable characters.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Violence and sex

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

Wed to a Spy (An All the Queen’s Spies: Book 1) by Sharon Cullen

Wed to a Spy (An All the Queen's Spies #1)

Title: Wed to a Spy

Author: Sharon Cullen

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: May 23rd, 2017

Genre: Historical Romance

Number of pages: 259

POV: 3rd person

Series: All the Queen’s Spies

Wed to a Spy – Book 1

Where you can find Wed to a Spy: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Blistering seduction meets international intrigue in the Highlands as a veteran spy infiltrates the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. There he matches wits against a tantalizing enemy: his new wife.

Simon Marcheford wants nothing more than to settle down on the land bestowed upon him by the English crown. Queen Elizabeth, however, is not about to let her best spy retire so easily. Simon will have his reward, she decrees, after he completes one last mission in Scotland. But no sooner has he sussed out a diabolical plot up North than Queen Mary weds him to her cousin—an exquisite beauty with troubled, soulful eyes—and orders Simon to watch her every move.

Aimee de Verris is no spy. But her life may depend on becoming one. Banished from the French court by Catherine de Medici, Aimee finds herself tasked with reporting on Queen Mary’s activities in Scotland, where she’s unnerved by the frigid weather and brutish customs. Worst of all, Aimee’s been married off to a most uncouth lout. But when murder strikes, she learns to appreciate Simon’s talent for shielding her with every inch of his muscular frame. If Aimee desires her husband, perhaps she could trust him—or even love him.

My review:

It has been a long time since I have read/reviewed historical romance. I was a huge historical romance junkie when I was in high school. I always had my nose in one and I was known around school as “the girl who read the bodice-rippers”…..lol. I had a huge library of Harlequin romance novels, along with Teresa Medieros, Jule Garwood, and Judith McNaught. I do not have that library anymore, I lost the library while moving a few years back, but I have very fond memories of sitting at home, reading these book and discussing them with my friends, who read them too.

So when I saw Wed to a Spy’s description pop up on NetGalley, I had to request it. The cover, which is beautiful, took me back to the mid-’90s and being a carefree high schooler with not a worry in the world.

I loved the backdrop of the story. Tudor England and Scotland in all of its glory. I was so happy that the author chose Tudor England instead of Regency or Victorian England. Personally, which I love reading about those eras, I feel that it is overdone. I really haven’t read romances set in Tudor England and like I said above, I was really happy about it. I just wish a tad more world building was involved in the book. I would have loved to have read more background on Mary since the story is mainly set in her court. I also would have loved to see more of how the court worked and to be honest, I would have really liked to have seen more of the uprising that killed Mary’s advisor, David Rizzo.

Aimee wasn’t my favorite character in the book. She just came across as very immature for a good part of the book and she was pining after a Frenchman, Pierre. She was sent to Scotland, by her aunt Catherine de’Medici, after getting caught in a scandalous embrace with Pierre. She was also told to spy on Mary and write back with any information that she, Catherine, could do. If she did that than Catherine would let her back home. She did grow on me during her and Simon’s escape from the castle and then from Scotland but still, not my favorite character.

I did like Simon and felt bad for him when Elizabeth denied his retirement. All he wanted was to take his younger sister and go back to his house to raise her. But Elizabeth had one last mission for him to do before allowing him to retire. It was while he was undercover, doing this mission, where he met Aimee and then Mary decreed for them to marry because, in her words, “They suited each other.” Which made me laugh because they did not, at first, suit each other. Actually, Aimee made it very clear that she didn’t even want to be married to him, that she wanted Pierre. But, in those days, marriage was a sacred bond that was never broken and women were men’s property. So once they were married, they stayed married and Simon had absolute control over Aimee. I wouldn’t have been a good fit in those times.

The romance between Aimee and Simon was a very slow burn. I mean, they didn’t even kiss until almost halfway through the book (not counting their kiss when they got married) and sex happened only a few times during the book. The sex wasn’t explicit but you definitely knew what they were doing.

The intrigue and drama that start happened in the book were the best part of the book. I held my breath during Rizzo’s execution and the madness that happened during the aftermath. The escape from the castle, along with the escape from Scotland was a page turner and kept me glued to the book.

I wasn’t a fan of the ending, though. While it was a HEA, I didn’t like how it came about. Too much happened in a short amount of time and made my head spin.

How many stars will I give Wed to a Spy: 3

Why: While I liked the storylines and the backdrop of Tudor-era England, I just couldn’t get into the story. Which made me sad because I used to love these types of books when I was a teenager.

Will I reread: Maybe

Will I recommend to family and friends: Maybe

Age range: Adult

Why: Violence and sex

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

A Cunning Heist (Sloane Harper: Book 2) by Astrid Astrid Arditi

A Cunning Heist (Sloane Harper #2)

Title: A Cunning Heist

Author: Astrid Arditi

Publisher: Self Published

Date of publication: May 26th, 2017

Genre: Mystery

Number of pages: 295

POV: 1st person

Series: Sloane Harper

A Cunning Plan – Book 1 (review here)

A Cunning Heist – Book 2

Where you can find A Cunning Heist: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Sloane Harper has sworn off men—for her sanity, and her safety. But with or without men, trouble always seems to find Sloane.
When her ex’s ex-mistress comes knocking for help, Sloane does what she does best: she helps way more than she should. As she investigates London’s art scene, Sloane runs into a very handsome but very shady artist, a quirky bunch of thieves, and a cunning old flame.
Perhaps Sloane should have sworn off playing private detective instead of men.

My review:

When Astrid approached me to read/review A Cunning Heist, I jumped on it. I was a huge fan of A Cunning Plan and I couldn’t wait to get my hands the next book. I couldn’t wait to see what antics Sloane would get herself into this time and I wasn’t disappointed!! A Cunning Heist is huge on the laughs and drama as well as a small slice of romance thrown in there.

Sloane is one of my favorite literary characters out of everything that I have read recently (within the last 6 months). She is sweet, clumsy, a great mom and trying to find herself and her way after the hijinks in A Cunning Plan and her devastating divorce. She was also very forgiving and it was that forgiving nature that landed her in the middle of a mess this time. Maybe it’s because I am not a nice, forgiving person, but I couldn’t, no wouldn’t be friends with someone who broke up my marriage. The fact that she was working on herself (and her list cracked me up, btw) and trying to better herself was great.

I didn’t feel the romance between Ethan and Sloane this book. Maybe because the book was so focused on Sloane, I just didn’t connect with Ethan the way I did in the first book. Also, he came across as very jealous and almost stalkerish at the beginning of the book. I kinda laughed when he was jealous of Felix and Sloane and assumed that he was her boyfriend. I mean, hello, he didn’t contact her for months afterward, she should have moved on.

The whole art heist plotline was fantastic and the situations that Sloane got herself into made me crack up laughing when I read it. I mean, a toilet paper bra….really? And throwing Turkish Delights at kidnappers? I would go more into the art heist part of the book but I won’t. You need to read the book to find out exactly what happened. I really liked Felix. Talk about a suave guy who oozed sex appeal. There was a point where I was worried that Sloane would end up with him but well, you need to read the book to find out.

There is a small plot twist at the end of the book that took me by surprise. But, it did give the perfect clue to the next book and I can’t wait to read it!!

How many stars will I give A Cunning Heist: 4

Why: Great, snarky characters with an awesome plot line.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language, mild violence, and mild language

Surrender the Dark (The Dark: Book 1) by Tibby Armstrong

Surrender the Dark (The Dark, #1)

Title: Surrender the Dark

Author: Tibby Armstrong

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: May 23rd, 2017

Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA

Number of pages: 251

POV: 3rd person

Series: The Dark

Surrender the Dark – Book 1

Taste the Dark – Book 2 (expected publication date: December 12th, 2017)

Claim the Dark – Book 3 (expected publication date: May 8th, 2018)

Where you can find Surrender the Dark: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

As a provocative series of paranormal temptation begins, a vampire king seduces the supernaturally gifted man hunting him. But when the stakes are literally life or death, their struggle for control is no game.

Benjamin Fuller is a hunter, born and bred. Blinded as a child by the vampire who slaughtered his family, he’s blessed with a second sight that allows him to catch and kill his quarry. What his gift can’t help him see coming is his fierce, almost carnal attraction to the mystery man who claims to be a fellow hunter and whose touch triggers both lust and revulsion. When he gains the upper hand, Benjamin vows to bring his enemy to his knees.

After many years spent in exile, the only one who can help restore Tzadkiel Dragoumanos to his rightful place as War King is a blind hunter with golden curls, a lithe dancer’s physique, and distinctive facial scars—scars Tzadkiel gave him two decades ago. The mere scent of Benjamin Fuller provokes an unwelcome rush of insatiable desire. Yet to win an all-out supernatural war, Tzadkiel must resist the ravenous hunger to possess his prey—for now.

My review:

Hunter born, hunter bred

Kill the vampires or you’ll be dead

I really didn’t know what I was getting into by reading Surrender the Dark. I knew, from the blurb, that the book was going to be dark but I really wasn’t expecting how dark it got during the book. Not that I minded because that darkness made the book so good to read. Also, take a look at the cover. Normally I don’t comment on the cover of books but I had to on this one. It fits the book perfectly. The half-naked man standing, with his back to the reader, his arms out at his side and looking up at whatever is beyond the cover. Love it!!

Benjamin was a very interesting character to read. The book actually starts off with a prologue when he was 8 years old and taking “lessons” from his uncle. What lessons is he taking? How to kill vampires and these are lessons that Benjamin do not enjoy. On that particular day, his Uncle decided it was the time that Benjamin made his first kill and left him in the dungeon with an incapacitated vampire. Which was a mistake, of sorts, because Benjamin, in a moment of sympathy for the vampire, decided to give him some water and that set off a series of events that ended with his parents and uncle getting killed, Benjamin losing his eyes and the vampire escaping. So to say that he has some issues is a huge understatement.

Fast forward 20 years and Benjamin is avenging his parents and uncle’s murders by taking out vampires one by one with the help of his friends: Nyx: a half faery, half witch and in hiding from her parents, The Morgan who is the powerful head of the coven and Lady Morgana, who is the queen of the fae, and Akito: a regular human who Benjamin met while in the psych ward and who wanted to be a superhero. While Benjamin is blind (acid in the eyes can do that to you), he can see auras. Which does come in handy while fighting vampires.

Tzadkiel is the vampire who Benjamin’s parents and uncle had in their basement all those years ago. After murdering Benjamin’s parents, Tzadkiel goes into what I can only describe as hibernation mode for 20 years. The last thing that he thinks about is Benjamin and has a thirst for revenge. He finds Benjamin in a bar, drinking away the memories of his family and the vampires that he killed. His thought of revenge is put on the back burner when a greater threat is revealed that threatens every single supernatural being in Boston.

The world building and character building were fantastic. I love it when an author is able to suck me into a story right from the get go and when I finish the book, leave me wanting for more. The fact that this book is set in Boston cemented the deal for me. I grew up around Boston and it thrills me to no end when an author makes an effort to actually get the geography and the feel of a city right off the bat and this book did that. And the character building….oh my god. Each character, even the secondary ones, had layers to them and it was wonderful to see Tzadkiel and Benjamin’s layers pulled back and their true selves revealed.

Now the all-important sex scenes. The author let the sexual tension build in the book until the characters couldn’t take it anymore and then the fireworks happened. What I loved is that Tzadkiel and Benjamin had sex only a few times in the book and so much was conveyed with a look and a touch. The sex was off the pages hot. I had to fan myself after the first scene because it was so steamy. But what got me even more into it was that the feelings that both characters started having for each other. I think I fell in love with Tzadkiel before Benjamin did.

The end of the book was a bit of a surprise. I felt awful for Akito and actually can’t wait to read his story. The HEA with Tzadkiel and Benjamin was fantastic.

How many stars will I give Surrender the Dark: 4

Why: Great world and character building, great subplots and a romance that took my breath away.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language, violence, and sex. There is a pretty horrific scene where Benjamin loses his eyes.

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