Review: Fool Me Twice

December 21, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Fool Me Twice
By Beverly Rae

Jane Riggins, like all the other women working at Barton Enterprises, secretly lusts after the very sexy, very wealthy Brandon Barton, but believes she has no chance with him. When she meets cute and likable Charlie Hinderman, she sets her sights on the mediocre salesman, giving up her dreams about the debonair Brandon. But Brandon’s finally noticed her, even as her two best friends rig the charity event drawing, making sure one of them will win a date with the billionaire.

With Charlie’s help, she double crosses her friends’ scheme. But fate—or is it magic?—steps in when she wins the drawing and is whisked away on a romantic midnight date with her former fantasy man, Brandon. Jane, torn by her attraction to both Brandon and Charlie, can’t understand why the two men seem so much alike. From their smoldering eyes to the black stone necklace they wear, each man drives her crazy—emotionally and sexually. When she finds out they’re the same man, she has to decide. Does she love the illusion of Charlie more than the reality of Brandon?

What a fun romantic tangle this story turned out to be. Fool Me Twice is a delight to read and has many wonderful moments for a reader to enjoy.

Brandon is quite different from many rich guys you read about. Unlike the stereo-typical alpha billionaire that arrogantly rides roughshod over the target of his interest, be it money or women, Brandon is a softy at heart. His early experience in the African wilds permits him an unusual defense from the corporate world where it’s the women who are more fiendishly clever and aggressive than any dealings he has in the trenches of the boardroom. However, like the best heroes, he’s ripped, rich and packs a serious tool. *ahem*

Jane is a fun girl. I enjoyed reading the parts with Jane. There I was, thinking she’s a ‘good’ girl, sighing over her someday meeting her prince when I find out she’s just as comfortable taming a wild bronco as the next femme fatale. I found myself grinning a lot when I read Jane’s POV. She was down-to-earth, confident yet not, and a clever mixture of sincerity and spice. Her friends are a hoot and quite liberated in their thinking, if you know what I mean. And yet … when it comes to love, true love, Jane ends up surprising me with her truly traditional views. It was so sweet.
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When Jane and her heart’s desire get together, watch out. Sparks fly as do the cuffs. But, you have to read it to find out who cuffs who. *wink*

Then there’s Charlie. What in the world is she going to do about Charlie? Well, the reader knows. Heck, even Brandon knows. I’ve seen this ploy used before but Beverly had fun with it; pushed the envelope and created memorable characters that made it seem fresh and new.

The dialogue flowed well and the the editing seemed tight and perfect. The repartee between characters, the humor, fun and mystery – at least for Jane- as well as the HEA, all came together to present me with a wonderful story worth staying up late until I finished. The only thing I wished were different about this story would be the addition of an epilogue. I want more. I want to go to their wedding. I want Ro to get side-swiped by Stan. I want to see Mel meet a man she couldn’t wrap around her finger. I want all those nasty women in that office to get green with envy as the rest of Jane’s friends get thier HEA. That’s how fun this story is … I want to go back and visit. Isn’t that great?

Rating:

Reviewed by Xeranth

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , ,

Review: A Cry in the Night

December 19, 2007 By Leave a Comment

A Cry in the Night
by Paula Calloway

Long before man knew of their existence, a bond formed which allowed Vampires to protect the Bitten and destroy the Beast so the Were and Humans survived.

His bitten beloved turned Beast and murdered by a cold Hunter, Talen continues as a Gatherer. When a Bitten stirs his heart, moves his soul and ignites his blood, he fears a repeat of the past, but fate tightens his grip.

Liana longed for someone who would love all of her, plumpness included. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine something like the handsome boss her company stuck her with.

A Cry in the Night is an interesting bit of worldbuilding. The prologue helped me figure out what was what instead of reading it all in the story and trying to extrapolate the differences.

This story is well thought out as to character relationships, political hierarchy and how everything works within the cultures of the world that Paula has created.
Not an easy thing to do but the author has sprinkled the story with well written ‘showing’ so that the reader can easily follow the Gatherer and Hunter differences.

In this story, we first meet Talen at a much happier time in his life. There’s a bit of foreshadowing that quickly comes true and we understand his POV as he continues on with his life. He seems to be a vampire who’s only reason for living is his job – a Gatherer. A workaholic vampire. Not much of a life, is it?

His duty brings him into contact with a new Bitten, and his heart takes notice, much to his shock. Liana is a character that I enjoyed reading about. She’s on the plump side and yet she doesn’t get mired in self-destructive thinking. She has a brief visit to her own pity party but it passes because she knows her self-worth. She is just frustrated because no one seems to get it; to see HER, the woman and mind within. I thought it was adorable that Talen comes from a time when ladies like Liana were all the rage.

I noticed that Talen seems stuck in his own time – his choice of addressing Liana seemed out of sync with the current time he resides in. But then again,living as long as he, I suppose he could chose any manner of being; he’s seen enough to figure out that all modes of societal mores is fleeting. I guess being a long-lived vampire, he can be what feels right to him and to heck with everyone else. Wish I could do that.

As for Liana? I personally felt she could have put up more of a fight in accepting Talen’s explantions however, since she was HIS Happy Ever After,I wasn’t too bothered by it. It was enough to appreciate her wit (she had quite a few clever lines) and her saucy thoughts when she viewed Talen’s assets. I liked her spunk.

I will tell you that I found myself enjoying A Cry in the Night and reading about Talen and Liana’s heated romance as well as the world that Paula built for them to live in. However, I have to warn potential readers about some serious editing issues that compromised this story enough to effect my rating of it. Some terminology was repetitious and verbs tended to be in the wrong tense. If you can expect these editing burps, then the story won’t lose its impact for you. If it weren’t for the editing, this story would have been perfect.

Other than that, A Cry in the Night is well worth reading for fans of werewolf and vampire romance stories. Paula has introduced many unique elements that made this a fascinating read. She also introduced a character named Ditmyer who absolutely hooked me. I went from not liking him to being curious about him because towards the end, Paula injected Ditmyer with some intriguing personality cues. If A Cry in the Night is the first in a series then I am more than willing to visit again. The story is that good.

Rating:

Reviewed by Xeranth

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , ,

Review: An Honoured Wife

December 19, 2007 By Leave a Comment

An Honoured Wife
By Viola Grace

One male Xarit, An Honoured Wife, a death, and two new husbands? Sounds like quite a week for Emily.

Emily has been abandoned by the Alliance on a planet inhabited by a race so alien it is toxic to her. Despite their differences, she has become the honoured wife of their chief.

When a shuttle caught in a comet’s tail falls to the planet, it is up to Emily to rescue the inhabitants. Her talent for precognition is a liability as she foresees the inhabitants of that shuttle becoming her mates. Both of them.

Will she leave her status behind to become the mate of two men she doesn’t know? Or will she remain on the planet to stay An Honoured Wife?

I have to say right off that this story had a decent storyline and was entertaining. It was set in a sci-fi fantasy world where Emily is content, if not happy, in her role as Honoured Wife to the tribal chief of the Xarit. As the Xarit are not physically compatible with humans, or Terrans (they are in fact poisonous to humans) the title of Wife is in name only. Her precognitive abilities are not very strong, but they do give her glimpses enough of the future that she knows to expect the two men she knows are her true mates.

The two male characters, Tabor and Vallej, are twin brothers of a race that is compatible with Terrans, and therefore with Emily. They had been sent to rescue her, but find themselves caught in the same comet tail that originally crashed Emily’s ship. They also knew beforehand that they were destined to be mates with Emily, if they could successfully rescue her from the planet she had disappeared on. When all three meet, the bond is unmistakable, and they set out to fulfill that bond.

I did have issues with this story. I felt the writing didn’t flow as well as it could have. In some areas it seemed rather stilted, and more informational than inspired. The love scenes between the three (yes, I said three) of them were definitely hot, and read a little easier. I realize that when the story is so short it is rather hard to get enough detail and descriptive phrases in to satisfy ones creativity as well as needing to get the information across that is needed to further the story, in that aspect it was well done.

However, despite the bumps, I enjoyed this story. It was entertaining to see how Tabor and Vallej reacted to the differences between their culture and Emily’s. It was touching how the two men were willing to bend over backwards for Emily when they felt she was upset. I really loved the concept of being so attuned to someone else, as the three of them were, and that it was actually a ritual and part of their culture to bind themselves closer than just physically. All in all, I enjoyed this story and would recommend it to any lovers of paranormal romance looking for a quick, fun read.

Rating:

Reviewed by Viscaria

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Review: The Bell Curve

December 13, 2007 By Leave a Comment

The Bell Curve
By Amelia June

Jason Bell Book 2 – An author finds thrills and romance in the pages of her books, along with a sexy main character to play with.

Jen’s life has been a blast since she became the author of fictional Jason Bell’s stories. She’s gleefully tortured him both on paper and in person. But when the boundless bounty hunter goes missing, Jen begins to worry. A strange summons on her computer lands Jen in Jason’s universe, a place of danger and badly written science
fiction. Oh no!

Spider Princesses, angry revolutionaries and a ship built for sex on the run–Jason Bell’s universe is not to be trifled with. Can Jen make it out in one piece? And who will suffer the consequences of an author’s presence in her own work?

Having not read Book 1, I wasn’t too sure about jumping into Book 2, but my concerns were groundless. Not only was it was easy to figure things out after the first few paragraphs, it was actually fun to immerse myself in this wacky and fast paced world full of humor, silly sci-fi and romance.

Jason is real, yet not. Until Jen gets sucked into his world and finds out he’s more than even she imagined, I chocked Jason up to be a classic Good-Time-Charlie. I figured the story would be mostly about Jen. In a way, it is.

The thoughts that whirled through my mind as they zipped through space in adventures that left my head spinning, were of pen pals. I remember hearing about people who fell in love through their written words. When finally they meet, they marry and stay that way for fifty years.

Even though Jen wrote Jason to life, there’s the element of the creator falling in love with their creation – very Greek Myth, very classic. Like Greek myths, things don’t always end quite the way you’d expect and Amelia June threw me a curve ball. No wait… a curve BELL, lol.

The HEA wasn’t what I expected, neither was it clear cut, but if the purpose was to explore Jason a bit better in the NEXT book, then I’m all for it. Because the written Jason Bell had unexpected depths, couldn’t the real Jason have them too?
Ah! Did I say “real” Jason?

This sci-fi romp was a quick read for a snowy house-bound day. It left me smiling and liking Jen and Jason. Their sex antics were hot and super fast – kind of hard to bask in the afterglow when you keep getting interrupted. *VBG*

If you are looking for a spicy light, fluffy read with the zing of adventure, then this story is for you.

Rating:

Reviewed by Xeranth

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Review: Hunter’s Moon

December 8, 2007 By Leave a Comment

HUNTER’S MOON
By M.J. Spickett

Her pack demanded she take a wolf king. Who knew the sexiest, most
protential wolf king was already the largest part of her life. Kayla O’kqua has been a werewolf alpha – queen – for many years and has yet to take a king.
Her duty has been to protect her family, and her pack, but when her path crosses that of a sexy new wolf she may have just found her new mate. However, looks can be deceiving and this new wolf may be someone all too familiar to her.

I enjoyed this tale of the werewolf alpha who is also a wife, a mother, and some sort of cop, as well.

Kayla and Kevin, her shaman husband, show true love and real affection for each other. Kayla is a strong alpha wolf, who has duties to her pack she takes very seriously.

I was surprised at the ease with which Kayla had a sexual encounter with a stranger while being married. That bothered me, personally, even given the ending. There were also several minor editing issues that occurred that I only mention because they affected my overall rating.

Other than that, I highly enjoyed the tenderness and devotion shown by Kevin to his wife. They made a wonderful couple on the page.

Book Rating:

Reviewed by Aster

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,
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