The Second Mrs. Hockaday by Susan Rivers

The Second Mrs. Hockaday: A Novel by [Rivers, Susan]

5 Stars

Publisher: Algonquin Books

Genre: Historical Fiction

Date of publication: January 17th, 2017

Where you can find The Second Mrs. Hockaday: Amazon

Book synopsis:

When Major Gryffth Hockaday is called to the front lines of the Civil War, his new bride is left to care for her husband’s three-hundred-acre farm and infant son. Placidia, a mere teenager herself living far from her family and completely unprepared to run a farm or raise a child, must endure the darkest days of the war on her own. By the time Major Hockaday returns two years later, Placidia is bound for jail, accused of having borne a child in his absence and murdering it. What really transpired in the two years he was away?

A love story, a story of racial divide, and a story of the South as it fell in the war, The Second Mrs. Hockaday reveals how this generation—and the next—began to see their world anew.

My Review:

The Second Mrs. Hockaday was a fantastic book, and I loved reading it. Told through letters and journal entries, it brings Civil War Era South to life.

I have read plenty of Civil War Era books to know when one is good or not. This book is a good one. The plot is fantastic, and for the author to use letters and journals to tell a horrendous story was beautiful. She seamlessly weaved the letters and the journal into a spellbound tale that you can’t put down.

I will say that there are several twists in this story. I called one of them, but the other one (which was told from Charlie’s perspective) surprised and haunted me after I finished reading the book.

I would give The Second Mrs. Hockaday an Adult rating. There is non-graphic sex. There is mild language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The Second Mrs. Hockaday. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

The Keeper (Crossing Realms Series: Book 1) by Rebecca E. Neely

The Keeper (Crossing Realms Book 1) by [Neely, Rebecca E.]

4 Stars

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

Date of publication: April 27th, 2016

Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Suspense

Series: Crossing Realms

The Keeper – Book 1

The Watcher – Book 2

The Betrayer—Book 3

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Nick Geary, jaded clan leader of human guardians, the Keepers, is doomed to love a human woman who’s forgotten him, time after time, for thirteen years: Libby Klink, a skittish accountant who’s as terrified of her recent and strange intuitions as she is of her mundane existence.

When Nick is ordered by the clan’s guiding force to seek Libby’s help in defending the clan against enemy Betrayers, romance sizzles as the pair forms an unlikely alliance in their desperate search to discover the key to the clan’s salvation–which Libby alone holds.

But a haunting secret could cost Nick everything, and in a race against time, both will be forced to choose between their hearts and duty. Can their love, and the clan, survive, or will the very forces that drew them together ultimately destroy them?

My review:

A mysterious group is meeting on the top of a mountain to discuss specific events. Events that could be disastrous to their people if not stopped. The only way to stop/change the events is to set in motion a series of events that could help them or could mean the end of their people.

Meanwhile

Libby Klink is stuck in the mother of all traffic jams, late for work, and about to have a massive panic attack. She has severe anxiety about driving because of the accident she was in when she was 12. That accident killed her mother. Not only that, but she is smelling different scents around people, and she is having dreams about people that she doesn’t know. She also is still recovering from the death of her father six months before. To put it mildly, she’s a mess.

As she inches along the highway, she notices a man walking down the highway, looking into cars. Looking for someone, and he is heading in her direction. When he gets to her car, not only does he know her first and last name, but he seems vaguely familiar. Lowering her passenger side window, he says that he is unarmed, and when she asks who he is, says his name is Nick Geary and that he needs to talk to her. Knowing her name freaks her out, so she lays on the horn. That attracts the attention of the guy in the truck in front of her.

While she is staring at Nick, she experiences something like a day-dream that involves her father and a fishing trip that they had taken when she was younger. She blinks, comes to the present, sends her would-be rescuer away, and lets Nick into her car.

They drive to Nick’s truck, where he tells her that he needs her help but can’t tell her what because he doesn’t know. Then he tells her to get into the car, which she refuses to do. It is when Nick tells her that her life might be in danger and explains a few things that she gets into the truck

Nick explains that he is a Keeper, and he protects humans like Libby from these evil guys called Betrayers. Betrayers feed off of human weaknesses and Keepers Vitality (a stone that they wear around their necks). He validates everything that he said by telling her of the memory of her father she had in her car. He promises to protect her; she believes him and gets into the truck.

As Nick and Libby have that conversation and Nick are taking Libby to his parent’s house, the bad guy is introduced. His name is Haenus Vickery. He is wondering why Nick was protecting Libby and wants to know what her deal is. As he walks, he remembers his mate, Genevieve, who I am going to assume died at some point in his past, and he is thinking out the details of the next step in the war against the Keepers. Haenus is hoping to overthrow them, somehow, so that fear and hopelessness reigned.

Nick explains more of what a Keeper does as they drive to his parents. He shares that his cousin and best friend, Dev, died after a Betrayer got him alone and stole his vitality, last week. Nick explains that the Watchers, beings that live in another realm parallel to the humans, send things called Compulsions to the Keepers with who they are supposed to help. He explains that Keepers live in Clans and that they are all connected.

Then a weird thing happens. Nick and Libby are hit by a car and approached by a knife-wielding woman who is screaming that they cut her off. Seeing no choice, Nick cuts across the highway median to make his getaway. As they are driving the opposite direction, Libby is full of questions about Nick, and he does his best to answer them. It was during that conversation that both get a compulsion about a woman in trouble in an alley.

On their way to help her, Nick discovers that she can smell things, like the whiskey that the woman had been drinking. She confirms that and tells him that only since her father died that she has been able to smell things. Libby tells Nick that she wants to help him, and he says no. But she doesn’t listen and is forced into a confrontation with Haenus. As he is draining Nick, she hurts Haenus, and that makes him stop. Nick, before the encounter with Haenus, kisses Libby and finds out something startling. She isn’t what she seems to be.

This book was not what I thought it was going to be. I felt that it was going to be a thriller/suspense book. Not a romance/thriller/suspense, and it took me by surprise. I loved it!!!

I could relate to Libby. As someone who has pretty severe anxiety, I liked how she was portrayed. I liked how her taking medication wasn’t used as a crutch but explained that she needed it to do daily things. She was such a strong person, and I thought the author did a great job of bringing it out.

Nick was perfect for Libby, and I sincerely wish that he existed in real life. He waited 13 years and had to deal with her forgetting him every time he helped her, which sucked because he was head over heels for her. I do think that the way that they finally met was a tad weird (hello, middle of the freeway), and maybe the love angle was rushed. But when the end of your world is about to happen, you can’t wait for months.

Haenus was a bad dude. My mental image of him was like a vampire except that he could come out during the day. I did also have a smidge of sympathy for him because his wife died, but that quickly got swept away with how evil he was to Libby.

The sex between Nick and Libby was hot, and dare I say sweet? I have never said sex was sweet before, but this was, and I might have wept a little during it because of the feeling between both of them. As I said, I wish Nick was real.

The ending was PERFECT!!! I couldn’t have ended a book any better, and the author did a great job in setting up Dev’s story.

I would give The Keeper an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The Keeper. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Alpha’s Christmas Flame (Bear Shifter Billionaire: Book 4) by A.J. Tipton

Alpha’s Christmas Flame: A BBW Paranormal Romance (Bear Shifter Billionaire Book 4) by [Tipton, AJ]

4 Stars

Publisher: Savvy Storytelling LLC

Date of publication: December 14th, 2015

Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Erotica

Series: Bear Shifter Billionaire

Alpha’s Heir – Book 1 (review here)

Alpha’s Mates – Book 2 (review here)

Alpha’s Domain – Book 3 (review here)

Alpha’s Christmas Flame – Book 4

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

A sexy fireman broken from his last rescue. A beautiful bear shifter hiding from her family’s fame. When magical secrets are discovered, will their love stand strong after the smoke clears?

Dean Michaelson loved being a firefighter until he was injured on duty. When his new job as a fire inspector takes him to the ice hotel where Donna works, he fears he’s stumbled upon a nuclear deathtrap. Suspecting the lusciously curvy manager, Donna, is hiding the truth, Dean has no choice but to investigate on his own, unaware he is entering an underworld of danger and magic. Will the attraction building between Dean and Donna be extinguished before it has a chance to spark?

The brilliant bear shifter Donna Mechka is a billionaire in hiding, working the desk at a magical ice hotel. She wants to throw aside the reputation of her wealthy family and find somebody who loves her for her mind, not her money. When a human ex-firefighter, Dean, walks into her hotel on Christmas Eve, it seems she might have found the man of her dreams. But when Dean’s investigations bring him closer to discovering the hotel’s magical secrets, Donna must decide which is more important: protecting the hotel, or her budding love.

Alpha’s Christmas Flame is a holiday, paranormal romance novella in the “Bear Shifter Billionaire” series, a set of stand-alone stories that sizzle and satisfy. If you like brave pixies, smoldering strip poker, and holiday heat, then you’ll love this breathtaking book.

My review:

Dean Michaelson hates Christmas. He was injured fighting a fire last Christmas, and his injury has landed him on a desk job. Not where he wants to be. He wants to be out there, fighting fires and not going to upscale hotels, doing annual inspections of their fire and emergency precautions. And not dealing with receptionists who are either ignoring him or buttering him up for something.

Donna Mechka is working at the front desk at the Wondernasium Hotel when this hot firefighter walks in and tells her that he needs to do an annual inspection. She tries to put him off, explaining that they are short-staffed due to the flu and a bellhop who decided to join a motorcycle club. He checks into the hotel and, when Donna is distracted, he decides to go check things out by himself.

Which ends up to be not such a smart thing. In Dean’s snooping, he opens a door called the electrical room and finds an enormous ball of light. And what does he think? He thinks that the hotel is harboring a nuclear bomb and calls his former Chief in for back up.

As he is doing that, Donna is sitting at the bar with Lola, having a drink, discussing Dean, and wondering why their regular inspector sent a human. As Lola explains that Ben has a fail-safe in place for events such as this, Dean shows up. Donna agrees to show him around, not knowing that he has snooped, and he has seen the enormous ball of light in the basement.

As he is telling her all of that, a fire alarm goes off. They get to the burning room, and Donna says that she can recruit a guest to help with the fire. She orders Dean to get everyone out, but before he could do that, they hear a woman screaming for help.

In the room, there are two people, a woman and a man. The man is hindered with the woman trying with all of her might to help him. Donna decides to get a hydra to help suck out the oxygen in the air. Dean, of course, is confused. It was at this point that the man passes out, and Dean makes the startling realization that Moe is very heavy. Heavy enough that he can’t lift him.

Donna reveals that Moe is a yeti and that the hotel is not what he thinks it should be. The crane he saw in the doorway of the hotel room ends up being an 8-foot tall lizard with 50 heads. That he saw witches pushing cauldrons in the hallway and that the woman with Moe was a pixie. He also realized that the nuclear weapon he thought he saw was magic.

But it was when Donna shifted into a bear that his mind was blown. After Moe came too and walked away with his pixie girlfriend, Donna and Dean were alone in her office. After she gets dressed, Dean demands answers. Donna counters with a game of Five Card Stud. As they play, and she answers his questions, it turns into strip Five Card Stud, and that gets interrupted by his ex-chief.

I thought that this was a great book to wrap up the Bear Shifter Billionaire Series. What better than with a hunky firefighter and a bear shifter?

Dean did bother me a bit. Usually, I like it when my hero is a bit grumpy, but he had a massive chip on his shoulder, and he was sneaky.

I did like Donna. She was dealing with an awful situation and took charge like a boss.

I had to laugh when Dean found the magic snowflake in the basement and thought it was a nuclear bomb. But, considering at that point, he did not know anything magical, I would have assumed the same thing.

I thought Dean and Donna were a cute couple and loved them when they played strip Five Card Stud. I never thought of Five Card Stud as a game for stripping, but thinking about it, it could be.

The end of the book was adorable.

I would give Alpha’s Christmas Flame an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Alpha’s Christmas Flame. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Alpha’s Domain (Bear Shifter Billionaire: Book 3) by A.J. Tipton

Alpha's Domain: A BBW Paranormal Romance (Bear Shifter Billionaire Book 3) by [Tipton, AJ]

4 Stars

Publisher: Savvy Storytelling LLC

Date of publication: April 14th, 2015

Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Erotica

Series: Bear Shifter Billionaire

Alpha’s Heir — Book 1 (Review Here)

Alpha’s Mates — Book 2 (Review Here)

Alpha’s Domain —Book 3

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

A billionaire bear shifter haunted by his past. A hyper-organized hotel manager on the cusp of a life-changing realization. Will they save each other from the past, and make their future together?

Sally is the curvy and brilliant manager of the Wondernasium Ice Hotel who thinks she has everything handled. A whole hodgepodge of supernaturals shooting fireballs in the lobby? Handled. Guests, who try to eat the other guests? No problem. But there’s one thing Sally can’t manage: her desire for her boss. When a steamy encounter in Ben’s office turns her entire world upside down, Sally has to choose if she can embrace the magic within, or flee from her true self.

Billionaire shifter Ben Broyles inherited his fortune after his clan was brutally slaughtered. He built his magical ice hotel as a sanctuary for supernaturals in a dangerous world. But when the evil goblins responsible for his family’s murder check-in, Ben must stop them from destroying all he’s created. With his hotel–and his life–on the line, Ben is forced to risk everything before it’s too late.

Alpha’s Domain is a BBW paranormal romance novella in the “Bear Shifter Billionaire” series, a set of stand-alone stories that sizzle and satisfy. If you like sexy shifters, explosive magic, and journeys for justice, then you’ll love this breathtaking book.

My review:

Sally loves her job as manager of the Wondernasium Ice Hotel (the hotel that caused Cleo to be hexed in Alpha’s Mates). It is a challenging job. She has high maintenance customers that keep her and the staff on their toes. The hotel is located next door to the Winter Wondernasium theme park, and she isn’t complaining about her hot boss.

There is one tiny problem. The hotel’s guests are all supernatural beings, and Sally has no clue. Anything that happens out of the ordinary, Sally’s brain normalizes it.

Sally is called to a disturbance at the honeymoon suite of the hotel. Mr. and Mrs. Nosferatu and their bodyguard are upset over a T-Bone steak that is barely cooked. They cornered the bellhop that delivered it. Sally sends the bellhop to her office. She attempts to smooth things over and ends up getting roughed up by the bodyguard. Scared to death (especially after the comment that Mr. Nosferatu about her being a suitable replacement for a meal), she screams and gets rescued by her boss, Ben Broyles. After being reassured that those people were going to be thrown out of the hotel, Sally goes back to work.

Ben ends up at Audrey’s to let off steam and anger after the escapes at the hotel. Ben is attracted to Sally but is afraid of telling her the truth about the hotels and its guests. He discusses with Audrey and Lola how he is going to tell Sally the truth before the conclave. Representatives from all the supernatural races will be there, and it will be pretty hard to keep Sally in the dark.

He drops a bombshell on Lola and Audrey. Arctic goblins will be attending. Arctic goblins were the cause of Ben’s clan of polar bears’ deaths. Ben was away on a supply run when someone pumped poisonous gas into the ice dwellings, killing every single man, woman, and child in there. Soon afterward, the goblins bought the land and mined it. While Ben knew that it was the goblins who killed his family, he didn’t have proof. And they were coming to the hotel.

The plan to tell Sally about the hotel backfired on Ben. Sally’s eyes were bothering her and she thinks she is getting a headache. Lola deposits her on a sofa and lays down on it. The only thing, it wasn’t a sofa. It was Ben in polar bear form. He shifts while she was having an erotic day-dream about him. She realizes that he can turn into a polar bear and freaks out. As she is freaking out, all the electronics in Ben’s office shorts out.

Ben goes to Audreys. He tells Lola and Audrey what happened, including the shorting out of the electronics. Lola and Audrey do a little research, thanks to Audrey’s Gram’s Bartender Guide, and they figure out that Sally is a witch. At that point, Ben has to go back to the hotel. Sally is still MIA after her freak out.

While dealing with unhappy guests, an emergency happens. An Ifrit had been served a magical drink, and those types of drinks injure Ifrits. In her rage and pain, the Ifrit demolished her room and melted a hole in the ceiling above her. Ben has one thought: the goblins were behind hurting the Ifrit.

Lola takes Sally away to Audreys. There, she is told that she is a lighting witch and asked about her parents (she is adopted). They then hold a swift lesson in magic and sent her back to the hotel and back to Ben.

Ben is dealing with unhappy guests and a goblin who is trying to stir up trouble. Sally finds Ben and he tells her about his family. She decides that she would help Ben try to nail the goblins for his family’s murder. She was able to go through the computers, using her newly discovered magic, and get a ton of information that the goblins stored there. Which, thinking about it, is rather stupid. Who would keep e receipts of a crime? In her search, she also finds out something else. Something huge that the supernatural conclave needs to know.

But the conclave can wait. Ben and Sally have, um, better things to do. Like getting busy on a bed made up of bear furs and ice slabs.

Will the goblins get theirs? Will Ben and Sally be together?

Another great read from A.J. Tipton. She is fast becoming one of my favorite erotica/paranormal writers. Even though this is a short story, it is written as though it is a full-length book. The storylines (main and secondary) was great and kept me engaged for the whole book.

Sally was awesome. Even after seeing Ben shift and freaking out, she came back. Her lusting after Ben was cute because you know he was doing the same thing and when they finally did have sex, it was good.

I felt awful for Ben. I couldn’t imagine knowing who killed his entire clan and not being able to do a thing about it — then having to let them stay at his hotel. It would have driven me nuts. His crush on Sally was adorable (like I said above), and I loved how he went to Lola and Audrey for advice on what to do.

The end of the book was pretty good, and I was pretty impressed with how the goblin situation was resolved.

I would give Alpha’s Domain an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Alpha’s Domain. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Alpha’s Mates (Bear Shifter Billionaire: Book 2) by A.J. Tipton

Alpha's Mates: A MFM Menage Paranormal Romance (Bear Shifter Billionaire Book 2) by [Tipton, AJ]

4 Stars

Publisher: Savvy Storytelling LLC

Date of publication: March 18th, 2015

Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Erotica

Series: Bear Shifter Millionaire

Alpha’s Heir — Book 1 (Review Here)

Alpha’s Mates — Book 2

Alpha’s Domain — Book 3

Alpha’s Christmas Flame—Book 4

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis: 

A CEO under attack by a vengeful coven. Two farmhands with a ranch in trouble. Can these three save each other?

Cleo has everything under control: she’s a wildly successful CEO, Alpha of a powerful bear shifter clan, and a total knockout. When a business deal puts her on the wrong side of powerful witches, she’s exiled to the middle of nowhere. Cursed to be unable to interact with electronics, Cleo has to trust the kindness of two handsome ranch hands to get back to her old life.

Titus, a cursed dragon shifter, and Connor, gifted with supernatural intuition, are not used to company. When their ranch–a sanctuary for magical creatures–is threatened, the men must rely on their strength and Cleo’s resourcefulness to save the day. Will Cleo be too distracted by her own plan for revenge to realize she may have found her true loves?

Alpha’s Mates is an MFM paranormal romance novella in the “Bear Shifter Billionaire” series, a set of stand-alone stories that sizzle and satisfy. If you like steamy romance, wet and wild firefighting, and a literal roll in the hay, then you’ll love this breathtaking book.

My review:

Cleo had pissed off a coven of witches by suggesting that they use magic to keep an ice hotel frozen during the summer months and, when the coven refused, offering it to another coven instead. They had been pelting her office windows with hate mail (paper mail to be exact). Cleo wasn’t backing down, no matter how sacred that the Moon Glow coven says that magic is.

She was rummaging through her purse, talking to her assistant and looking for her car keys. When she touches the door to her car, she is transported to the middle of nowhere. When she tries to use her phone, she finds out that it is hexed. She decides to shift to her bear form. While she is deciding where she should go, she finds a captivating scent and decides to follow it.

Titus and Connor are ranch hands on a ranch that is a sanctuary for magical creatures. Titus is a dragon shifter who was cursed when he was 6. When his family discovered that he couldn’t shift, they exiled him. Luckily, Connor, who can see a magical being’s true form, found him. He was able to see Titus’s true form and was able to convince his family to take him in. They have been best friends ever since.

They were alerted that something or someone was coming because the animals in the sanctuary were spooked. What they saw was Cleo running towards the ranch.

Cleo asks if she could use their phone and asks about the sanctuary. She goes into the house, shifted as a bear, and had a close encounter with Daisy, a hell-hound. After changing back to human form, Cleo uses the phone and discovers that if she touches their cell phones, she shorts them out. But if she hands them back to Titus and Connor, they become charged again. Also, if they dial the phone for her, static overtook her voice. If she went near their truck, it would stall and die but worked fine for the boys.

To ease her anger, Connor decides to give her a tour of the ranch. She is in awe seeing animals that she had thought a myth. She went over to pat the unicorns and were met by the centaurs. These centaurs were the wise centaurs that Cleo had heard about. These were, well, not smart.

That night, over dinner, Connor and Titus fill Cleo in on their backgrounds. They tell her that they barely date because they like to share their women, and they can’t find many women that are willing to be in a menage. They also tell Cleo that it is hard to keep the ranch afloat with all the expenses and debt that they have.

Later that night, the centaur and unicorn’s stable catches on fire because of a phoenix flying over. Both men had been lax in keeping track of the molting cycle, one was flying around, and it dropped one of its feathers onto the stable. Connor was able to contain the fire enough to get the unicorns out, but the centaurs were still trapped. They were calling for help (which made me so sad to read). As Titus and Cleo attempt to rescue the centaurs out, 4 of them escape, leaving one in the barn. Titus runs into the stable to save the last one, and Cleo is stunned. She forgets that he is a dragon, and he can’t get burned.

Cleo is so relieved that she decides, on the spot, to have sex with both. On the ground, while covered with soot and in front of the centaurs. That sex scene was beyond hot.

I thought Cleo to be a complete bitch at the beginning of the book. I felt that she deserved what she got when she was transported to the middle of nowhere at the beginning of the book. But then, I changed my mind. She needed a break from her hectic lifestyle, and she needed to rethink how she treated people (I know a few people who need to do that).

I liked Connor and Titus. They both had soft hearts (running a sanctuary for supernatural animals), and they both are good looking. Plus, Titus can walk through fire and not get burned.

The sex scenes, as always, were hot, hot, hot. With there being two guys and one woman, every scene was a scorcher.

The end of the book was what I expected but sweet at the same time.

I would give Alpha’s Mates an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Alphas Mates. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Alpha’s Heir (Bear Shifter Billionaire: Book 1) by A.J. Tipton

Alpha's Heir: A BBW Paranormal Romance (Bear Shifter Billionaire Book 1) by [Tipton, AJ]

4 Stars

Publisher: Savvy Storytelling LLC

Date of publication: February 12th, 2015

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Erotica

Series: Bear Shifter Billionaire

Alpha’s Heir – Book 1

Alpha’s Mates – Book 2

Alpha’s Domain – Book 3

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

A sexy billionaire controlled by his clan. A voluptuous chef who’s never felt good enough. Will they find the freedom that only love can bring?

Handsome billionaire shifter Orson has everything a man could want — money, looks, respect — except the power to control his own life. His father, the clan’s alpha, has arranged for Orson to marry a woman from another clan for strategic purposes, leaving him trapped in a life without passion. That is until he meets the curvy woman of his dreams…

Casey is a talented chef who dreams of having her own catering business. But the only real passion she’s been able to find is in giving people pleasure through the food she cooks.

When Orson invites Casey to his home, a misunderstanding gives way to a life-changing passion that could change both their lives. His freedom comes at a high price… but has Orson finally found a love that’s worth the cost?

Alpha’s Heir is a BBW paranormal romance novella in the “Bear Shifter Billionaire” series, a set of stand-alone stories that sizzle and satisfy. If you like steamy romance, drool-worthy cooking, and harrowing shifter battles, then you’ll love AJ Tipton’s breathtaking book.

My review:

Alpha’s Heir starts with Orson’s father, Nikolai, trashing his house after finding Orson in bed with a human woman. Nikolai looks down on Orson because, while he has padded the coffers for the clan. Nikolai keeps telling Orson that he had defeated the Alpha of the clan at his age and seems to think he is weak because he sells computer software. Nikolai is just waiting for the day that Orson breaks and challenges him, which Orson refuses to do.

Nikolai is also dead set on keeping the arranged marriage between Orson and Cleo, the Alpha of another clan. Both Cleo and Nikolai are dead set against marrying each other but cannot find a way out. That is until Orson meets Casey.

Casey works at a supernatural bar called Audrey’s as a waitress and has become friends with Audrey, the proprietor, and Lola, another waitress. Casey meets Orson one night after he wins the Shift Challenge (think of a Tough Mudder competition but for shifters). She talked to Lola and Audrey about the truck full of food that she has parked outside because someone canceled on her. Orson, overhearing her with his keen shifter hearing, follows her out and pays for the food.

Orson has always been attracted to Casey and was excited to find out that she doesn’t date. He starts fantasizing about her and well, starts pleasuring himself. Which is excellent but with a greasy fried chicken hand? All I can think of is the smell. Just think, cum and greasy chicken. Yum.

Anyways, Cleo walks in and talks to him about making a move on Casey and ending the engagement. Cleo thinks that he should challenge his father for Alpha, in two weeks. She also feels that he should make a move Casey.

Which he does.

The sex was hot, hot, hot. Orson and Casey were all over each other from the minute they were both undressed in Orson’s bedroom, and it just didn’t stop.

I couldn’t stand Nikolai. He came off as an abusive jerk who was a very sore loser. What I couldn’t understand was why he felt the need to trash Orson’s place every time he was there (mainly to break up sex and scare the humans). I felt, at the beginning of the book, that he was the ultimate cockblocker.

For a short story, this packed a lot of punch and I liked that there were really no other storylines except the Orson/Casey/Nikolai one. The one between Orson and Cleo was wrapped up rather early. I do have to say that I liked Cleo.

The end of the story was cute and perfect for the book.

I would give Alpha’s Heir an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Alpha’s Heir. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

The Hobgoblin Queen (Tales of Dovewood: Book 1) by Anna B. Madrise

5 Stars

Publisher: Black Quill Enterprises

Date of publication: August 21st, 2015

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Tales of Dovewood

The Hobgoblin Queen – Book 1

Wrath of the King – Book 2

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Mundane Bergamot is just a simple Kitchen Witch from Whistlestoppe Village who thinks that there is more to life than gardening and cooking up spells with her Aunt Dovie. While traveling to Bettelburghal she meets Javen, a mysterious Book Mage from Nettlespire, who gifts to her a most unusual magic book which triggers a visit from two very extraordinary adventurers. She learns from her newfound friends that they need her help to save them and their kind from a terrible fate. Through Javen’s gift, clues begin to reveal themselves that sets them on their quest. But the evil King Vezzen of New Taleggia has plans of his own for the elusive creatures that inhabit the mountains beyond Dovewood Forest. Where previous kings have failed, King Vezzen is determined to succeed and impatient for a new war that could elevate his name above all others. Now Mundane must see if she has what it takes to out-smart the wicked king, save her friends from the brink of extinction, and quite possibly lift the curse that binds them all to Dovewood Island.

My review:

The Hobgoblin Queen starts in the village of Whistlestoppe. Whistlestoppe is a village of Kitchen Witches, and the village is getting ready to celebrate Yule. They celebrated with a feast and with a bonfire in which they burn a large timber bird and call out to the four corners (North, South, East, and West). After flames consume the bird, the party begins.

At this party, Mundane Bergamot is sitting with her best friend, Absidee Valerian, and Absidee’s baby sister, Lottie. They are taking in the Yule feast and talking about crushes (mainly Absidee’s crush, Brason Vervain) and Mundane’s upcoming trip to the town of Bettelburghal to help her aunt’s friends sell their wares.

Mundane feels that something is missing from her life, and she can’t figure out what. While she loves Whistlestoppe, she is restless and wants to travel. She gets her chance when Henley and Gittel Lovage go to Bettelburghal. She would never move away from home. Her Aunt Dovie, who has raised her since she was 8, lives there plus all of her friends. Her mother died giving birth to her and her father died in a horrible accident at sea. Everything she knows and loves is in Whistlestoppe, and she could never leave for good.

The next day, she is getting ready to travel with the Lovages when Aunt Dovie gives her a beautiful green cloak for Yule. After saying goodbye to Aunt Dovie and traveling a little while, the Lovages decide to take a break and then take a different path to Bettelburghal. The way that they are going to take takes them to The Crossway (where all the roads to all the different areas meet). This is where Javen the Book Mage lives. Javen is one of the few survivors of war in the Book Mages ranks that happened at Nettlespire. That war almost wiped them out. Mundane is excited because she is going to meet a Book Mage finally.

By the time they reach The Crossway, it is night, and Javen is waiting for them. As Mundane is admiring Javen’s books, he gifts her with a blue, leather-bound book with the letter B on the cover. She doesn’t get to read right away. She fell asleep the first night, traveled through a snowstorm, and then was helping the Lovages unload their cart.

She notices chickens out at the stable and thinks that it is odd for them to be outside in a snowstorm. After a bath and her musing about how the seas around Dovewood were not allowing the residents to cross that she opened the book. And oh, boy, she was in for a surprise.

The book was full of blank pages that all of a sudden started to fill. A map of Dovewood appeared with all the cities drawn in extreme detail. Mundane is surprised to see that her treehouse is prominently featured, along with other features in other cities. On the map itself, there are X’s and arrows but no words. After taking her fill of the map, she turns the page, and a riddle appears on the next page. About the riddle, Mundane has no clue, but she does know one thing, she has a Goblin book. Goblins are creatures of myth in Dovewood, and no one in recent years has seen one.

The next day, Mundane puts in morning work. While working, she notices that the chickens from last night seem to follow her. Telling Gittel that she is tired, Mundane goes to her room to nap. As she approaches her room, the same two chickens run into her room and morph into two small men. They introduce themselves as Fickle and Frazzle, hobgoblins.

After getting over her shock of seeing hobgoblins up close, Mundane shows them the magic book that Javen gave her, and they reveal something significant. She is chosen to find the gems that were scattered by two brave hobgoblins, Guile and Grouse. She needs to put them in a necklace called the Simulacrum, and save the hobgoblins that were turned into Trow by their anger over being hunted by King Vezzen. The magic book that Javen gave Mundane was written for her and could be only for her. It is a lot for Mundane to take in, and she asks until before she leaves town to make up her mind if she is going to help them or not.

While Mundane is being told everything, King Vezzen is on an obsessive hunt to exterminate all hobgoblins and find their city. He believes that destroying the hobgoblins will lift the curse that keeps the island isolated, and he also wants the treasures that are in their mountains. He has become consumed by his obsession. He has a secret in the dungeon of his castle, a secret that could be the undoing of the hobgoblins. He also has enlisted the help of the only other Book Mage alive. That Book Mage is Lorcan, Javen’s brother.

Mundane makes up her mind to help the hobgoblins after reading a letter from her long-dead father. Her father was instrumental in making the Simulacrum and the gems that go with it.  After she arrives home, she discovers that her Aunt Dovie is also part of the plot to help the hobgoblins. Dovie sheds even more light on the hobgoblin saga. They come up with a plan to send Mundane out-of-town on an apprenticeship. That way, her going missing wouldn’t raise the suspicion of a mysterious spy in their midst.

With those plans in place, Mundane is off on her grand and dangerous adventure. Meanwhile, King Vezzen is getting more bloodthirsty and more obsessed with having enormous power over Dovewood. Will Mundane be able to gather all the gems in time? Or will King Vezzen succeed in getting what he wants?

I wasn’t expecting to like this book as much as I did. From the names (Absidee gave me a big laugh) to the people to the adventure, it sucked me in. I couldn’t read enough of it. I also love that I can be very comfortable with my 11-year-old reading it!!

I felt a connection with Mundane. I loved how she looked for the positive in everything, even when she falls out of towers. Her commitment to the hobgoblins was impressive and touching.

I also connected to Fickle and Frazzle. They were fighting for their people’s lives, and they were willing to follow Mundane on her quest and help her with it. Plus, they could shapeshift into anything.

I am still on the fence about Javen. While he is coming across as a good guy in this book, I have my doubts about how good he is and what his agenda is.

The end of the book does end in a cliffhanger, and it made me crazy. I wanted some closure on individual storylines. I guess I will have to read book 2 to find out what happens.

I would give The Hobgoblin Queen a Young Teen rating. There is no sex. There is no language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 13 read this book.

I would reread The Hobgoblin Queen. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

The Aureate Spectacles by Eliott McKay

The Aureate Spectacles: A Vampire Romance Novel by [McKay, Eliott]

4 Stars

Publisher: Inkitt

Publication date: December 31st, 2016

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Michaela was a seemingly normal high school senior, hiding behind a pair of hideous spectacles that masked her true identity. When she’s abducted by an intriguing werewolf, she learns that her father was a powerful vampire, and she has been chosen to protect his city from her predatory kin.

As the situation grows dire, the fate of the city rests in her hands, and she must choose between peace for her people or the man she’s growing to love.

My review:

Michaela has lived with her Aunt Hazel for as long as she could remember. Her parents were killed in a hiking accident when she was three years old, and Hazel had raised her since. Hazel was an icy, uncaring person who ignored Michaela unless she had to pay attention to her. It was a lonely existence made even more so because Michaela had to wear hideous, rhinestone-encrusted, yellow lens spectacles.

The glasses were a bane of her existence. The older she got, the more hideous the glasses got. She was bullied relentlessly and had no friends. By the time Michaela was almost 18, she had somewhat resigned herself to her life until she found a pocket watch with a miniature portrait of a beautiful dark-haired woman in it.

The portrait made her feel loved and filled by looking at it. During this time, she started having dreams of a mossy pond in a courtyard of stone and a voice that called her name, Kayla. She would also hear a song that she couldn’t quite catch and would hum the melody. But once she realized what she was doing, the song would disappear.

Then there came the night that Aunt Hazel woke Michaela from a nightmare. One where she was talking French and calling for Conrad. During Aunt Hazel’s interrogation, the pocket watch was discovered and Aunt Hazel went nuts.

Aunt Hazel freaked out. She fitted Michaela with what she considered a dog muzzle with straps coming out of it. That apparatus was to hold the glasses in place while Michaela slept. Aunt Hazel upped up security around the house to an almost wild pitch. She went as far as to board up Michaela’s windows, made it so the door locked from the outside only and was outfitted with a triple lock. Michaela had no idea why, but she believed that it had something to do with why she had to wear those ugly glasses all the time.

She ends up making a break for freedom after Hazel takes to locking her in her room. Getting rid of the spectacles, she is a hit at school. After school, as she is walking down the street, she runs into a mysterious young man whom Michaela feels that she knows and who knows more than he is letting on.

Returning home, she has a confrontation with Hazel that was a long time coming. She learns that her mother had sent her to Hazel. Her mother believed that she would be safer with Hazel. The man who delivered Michaela to Hazel told her that she would be safer if her eyes were hidden and faked Michaela’s death. Michaela was able to pry out her mother’s name and her father’s name from Hazel. Hazel also told her that her last name was fake. Instead of Morley, it was Mohrlock. Hazel also implies that Julian is still alive.

The next day Michaela was whisked away by a mysterious man. After being out of commission for four days, Michaela wakes up to find herself on a boat in the middle of the Black Sea. What the man tells her, stuns her.

She is the heir to a land called Mons Maledictio Ruwa (rough translation: Cursed Mountain of Thunder), and her name is Michaela Alandria de Mohrlock Comptesse. She is the daughter to Julian Philip Benoit de Mohrlock and Marguerite Emmaline Fitzwallis…both deceased.

It is after she arrives at the castle that her adventures begin. After attempting to escape the castle by climbing down the side (and getting stuck), she is put right away into intrigue. Every year, she is supposed to go to a summit with the people who live on the other side of the mountain. They are called the Sylva, and they have a shaky treaty with Michaela’s people.

Michaela was a hoot to read, and I loved her character. She was loyal, loves deeply, and is willing to do anything to protect her people from the Sylva. I loved her misadventures.

Conrad was such a mystery, and I liked how the author drew out Conrad’s secrets. He was also perfect for Michaela.

The romance between Michaela and Conrad was cute to read. Painful in some parts but very cute.

The secondary characters are what made this book. They were well written and didn’t fizzle off into the background once their storylines ended. The author kept them in the story. When the bad things happened in the book, and yes, some pretty upsetting things happened, these same secondary characters were right there with Michaela and Conrad.

The end of the book was bittersweet. I wish that there was an epilogue that followed up with the characters. Some of the storylines were not wrapped up, including the V and W storylines. I wonder if there will be a second book. I have questions about certain characters that I would like to see answered.

I would give The Aureate Spectacles an Older Teen rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

I would reread The Aureate Spectacles. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Russian Holiday (Paladine Political Thriller Series: Book 2) by Kenneth Eade

Russian Holiday, an American Assassin's story (Paladine Political Thriller Series Book 2) by [Eade, Kenneth]

4 Stars

Publisher: Times Square Publishing

Date of publication: December 17th, 2016

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Series: Paladine Political Thriller

Paladine — Book 1 (Review here)

Russian Holiday — Book 2

Traffick Stop—Book 3

Unwanted—Book 4

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Paladine, terrorism’s worst enemy, is back in this sequel to the hit political thriller.

From the best-selling & award winning author critics hail as “one of the strongest thriller writers on our scene” comes the continuation of the unforgettable story of an unlikely “anti-hero,” Robert Garcia, a dangerous and unfeeling assassin of jihadist terrorists, has been exalted by social media as “Paladine”, a living paladin whose mission is to rid the earth of evil for the betterment of mankind. In this installment of the series, Paladine crosses paths with a Russian assassin, which puts him in the middle of the controversial new cold war between the United States and Russia.

My review:

Russian Holiday starts with Robert Garcia, aka Paladine, doing a covert op mission. It is a sanctioned hit on General Abu Muslim al-Basara, a former member of Saddam Hussein’s Royal Guard and now an Isis terrorist in the city of Aleppo. The hit itself goes off without a hitch, but Robert ran into problems with getting out of there.

The pickup vehicle wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Luckily, Robert had a Plan B. A motorcycle that is stashed nearby. As Robert leaves, he is followed by a truck with terrorists hell-bent on getting to him. Desperate to escape, he shoots down a Black Hawk helicopter that was coming to get him to buy him a little time. Not that it worked, he ends up with a group of Isis militants.

After suffering a bad beating, which broke his nose, Robert is taken to their headquarters, where he is prepped for live execution. Right before his execution, the base is attacked. Robert is saved by a jeep full of Russian soldiers who were involved in the raid of the base.

After contacting his boss (who did screw up on the pick up) and informing him that he was on vacation, Robert decides to go with one of the soldiers to Moscow as part of his vacation. But, before he heads there, he goes to a bank in Iskenderun, where he maintains a safe deposit box. That box has several identities, money, phones, and a gun. Robert only takes the money, a passport, and one of the phones before going to Moscow with the soldier.

Back in the CIA headquarters, an alarm goes off, alerting Robert’s handler that Robert has gone off the grid. At the same time, the head of the CIA is getting briefed about the same situation. He is upset and worried because even though Robert was an illegal operative, he could still be tortured and could still give the Russians secret information.

While that drama is happening, Robert is having a grand old-time in Russia. He and Lyosha (the solider) are becoming good friends, well as good as a friend as he can be with a Russian. Lyosha has generously provided him with an apartment, clothes, and money. They go dancing every night, and it was at one of those dance clubs, Robert meets Svetlana (or Lana), a beautiful Russian girl. He forms an immediate connection with her.

After discovering a tail on him during a date with Lana, Robert decides that Moscow has become too hot for him and heads to Paris, where he has an apartment. His boss, the man with no name, is sitting in his apartment and has an assignment for him in Paris. Robert argues that he never does jobs where he lives. The man with no name tells him “too bad, we own you” and leaves after giving Robert the specifics on the job.

I enjoyed reading this book. It kept to its thriller roots. I liked seeing Robert being portrayed as a human being and enjoying himself while he was on vacation. He was able to relax and enjoy being with a friend. It made him more human to me. Is it wrong that when Lyosha spoke, I got the Russian accent right in my head? Not sure how it would sound if I did it in real life, though. Probably horrible.

The action in this book was great. I was kept on edge with what Robert was going to do next with his assignments, and when he executed them, it was perfect.

The ending was somewhat anticlimactic, but it wasn’t bad. Having grown up in a large Greek community and hearing malaka used all the time, I giggled when I read it. The way the book ended, I am wondering if there will be a book 3.

I would give Russian Holiday an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Russian Holiday. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Deadlight Jack (The Faceless One: Book 2) by Mark Onspaugh

Deadlight Jack (The Raven and the Canary Book 2) by [Onspaugh, Mark]

4 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Hydra, Hydra

Date of Publication: January 3rd, 2017

Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Paranormal

Series: The Faceless One

The Faceless One – Book 1

Deadlight Jack – Book 2

Where you can find this book – Amazon

Book synopsis:

Worse things than gators lurk in the Louisiana swamp. . . . The author of The Faceless One fuses the twisted imagination of Fritz Leiber with the razor-sharp plotting of Joe Hill in this rollicking horror thriller.
 
Appearances can be deceiving. Take Jimmy Kalmaku. Anyone passing him on the streets of Lake Nisqually, Washington, would merely see an elderly man. But Jimmy is actually a powerful Tlingit shaman, with a link to the god Raven and a résumé that includes saving the world.
 
Or take his friend and roommate, George Watters. Another ordinary retiree, right? Wrong. Like Jimmy, George is more than he seems to be. He too has a link to the supernatural. He too has saved the world.
 
Then there’s Professor Foxfire—also known as Deadlight Jack. Dressed in the garb of a stage magician, he seems a figure of magic and fun. But he isn’t fun at all. He isn’t even human. And his magic is of the darkest and bloodiest kind.
 
When George’s grandson vanishes on a family vacation to the Louisiana bayou, George and Jimmy fly across the country to aid in the search. Once they arrive, family feuds and buried secrets bring George face-to-face with the ghosts of a forgotten past; Jimmy finds his powers wilting under the humid Southern sun; and deep in the swamp, Deadlight Jack prepares his long-awaited revenge.

My review:

Deadlight Jack is not a book to read at night.

Repeat.

Deadlight Jack is not a book to read at night.

I generally don’t scared of books but this one, well it scared me, big time. Take the cover, for instance. The one orange eye and the salamander are creepy. Then add the swamp, and the creepiness factor goes up.

Deadlight Jack starts after the events of The Faceless One. Jimmy and George are living together, but not together if you know what I mean. After saving the world in the first book, they are expecting to be left alone and live out the rest of their lives together.

Life (and the Gods) have other plans.

Jimmy is visited by Dabo Muu, a giant albino alligator that tells Jimmy that he needs to get down to Louisiana. It was more of an order, and Jimmy feels that there is more going on than what Dabo Muu is letting on.

George gets a phone call from one of his sons. His grandson, Donny, has gone missing while on a camping trip with his moms and older brother in Louisiana. He and Jimmy decide to head on down to help and offer Mel and her wife moral support while they search for Donny.

When George tells Jimmy that Donny is missing, Jimmy immediately cancels plans that were taking him to Boston to visit his son, daughter in law and granddaughter to go with George. During the flight down to LA, George tells Jimmy about his tragic past. All about his kids, his wife, and the tragedies that happened. He warned Jimmy that his daughter, Delphine, will be there, and it will not be pleasant when she finds out George is there. Delphine is holding on to the hurt and resentment from the past, and she will make things very difficult for George.

And she does. She had to have been the most self-centered secondary character that I have ever read, and I wanted someone to put her in her place sooner than they did. I understand that she had issues with George, but there is a time and a place for everything and to be a rude asshole to him, and making an already tense situation even tenser wasn’t cool.

I loved how George had to come into his own during the book. He had to accept his past to save his grandson and the other children.

I wish that I had read the first book. That would have helped me connect with Jimmy a little more and would have helped me understand his character a bit better. I would have loved to read more about shamanism and the indigenous people of Alaska.

The paranormal/horror aspect was fantastic. Like I said above, this is a book that you really shouldn’t read at night. Not only did it feature a swamp (which is creepy in its own right), but Professor Foxfire was genuinely scary. I mean, anyone who has tattoos that come alive and off their face has a special place in the creepy hall of fame. But add that he can make children into ghosts and he kidnaps even more kids to turn them into either food/more ghost children, he is vile.

The end of the book was excellent, and I loved the showdown. I was expecting something to happen, just not on that scale. I also liked that the author set up for book 3.

I would give Deadlight Jack an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Deadlight Jack. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**