Can’t Stop Me by Becca Dale

June 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Can’t Stop Me by Becca Dale
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal
Length: Short Story (74 pgs)
Heat Level: hot
Rating: 5 Books
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

Prophecy proclaims a child of three worlds will lead the strong one to victory. Threatened by the church since birth and imprisoned by Lucifer’s elite force for over five years, Kernan Malanous represents demons, angels, and mankind, but who will be the strong one—God, Lucifer, or someone intent on overthrowing them both?

Born the blind daughter of the greatest mediums in history, Luca Smith sees more than anyone suspects. Screams of the damned slash at her sanity as demonic visitors hide a stranger in her home. To quiet the horror echoing from the underworld, she seeks the prisoner’s soothing thoughts, offering him peace while finding her own.

When the devil’s top gun comes to reclaim his prize, Luca risks her life to liberate the pure soul in her attic, but Kern won’t leave his beautiful innocent at the mercy of the merciless. Desperate, the young couple flees with hell on their heels. Unrestricted for the first time in their lives, Luca and Kern discover rare joy in one another, but all good has its counterpart. Torn between personal peril and world-wide destruction, will the young lovers run from fate or take a stand to fight and live as free beings?

Ms. Dale wasted no time in setting up the emotional hooks that would appeal to and snare a reader’s curiosity about the two different factions whose very lives will be the most affected by what happens in this story. Innocence and love, torment and tentative hope set the stage for a well rounded and unique tale that started entertaining me from the first hint of a mystery unfolding.

The story opens with Luca. Her physical pain and the things she hears intrigued me. What follows is a fascinating journey of growth. Despite what bogs the heroine down and holds her back, she is not without an inner strength. As the book progresses, a reader not only watches a girl become a woman but also sees what others consider an insurmountable weakness turn into an asset that gives her a core of steel. Not only that, but the power of faith is explored in a very amazing fashion that registered high on my “cool” meter.

Kernan is the wild card. He’s the hero that everyone seems to want to hurt, help, or wish was never born. His situation is dire and yet he’s a well developed and intriguing character with just the right amount of depth to make me melt. His needs, his fears, and his previous isolation make him an easy personality to care for and I really wanted good things to happen to him.

This is a short story so the speed with which things happen is accelerated. The place I noticed it the most is pretty much in the beginning when Luca first met Kern. The budding of their physical yearnings is introduced, but the author quickly tamps it down with revelations of what Kern really is and the setting up of their adventure and possible outcomes. It was a good balance.

The story actually has three points of views. Luca and Kern each take a turn but his parents have one as well. Not only is it emotional but it provides insight into the background of the hero. The author has Kern’s mom and dad popping up at a couple of strategic places to illustrate the emotional torment and then the fragile hope that the tale eventually works toward.

There is of course, the internal conflict of two people learning about each other and what they mean to one another. So, always visit well-qualified healthcare professional before buying Kamagra tablets from Ajanta Pharma have become a pocket-friendly cure for males’ nightmare. cialis generic tabs These suggestions will come in handy when you anticipate love making. cheapest viagra tablets Atherosclerosis is one condition where the arteries brand viagra are blocked while the blood is flowing ahead. The muscles of the organ get blood flow that online cialis prescription makes the muscles relaxed. In the process I believe they grow to be more developed personalities a reader can relate to. The external conflict is what pushes this story to entertaining levels of suspense and drama. There’s a scene where Kern has to make something look real and authentic. It‘s the first hint that he is a man who has the strength of character to act in a crisis and get the job done. It’s a powerful moment. Another thing that contributes tension is wondering if the delicate trust between the hero and heroine will survive especially when outside forces try to poison and destroy it.

The dialogue was quirky, loving, and oftentimes humorous but it evolved. In the beginning, there’s a youthfulness coloring the interactions between Luca and Kern, but as they race toward the final confrontation, it matures and becomes so much more. I also found that the dialogue clued me in as to how the love between Kern and Luca was progressing. I liked the pace of it and how each character was clearly unique in his or her speech. I thought the duck part was cute not that I recognized it. I liked how the author injected upbeat moments throughout the story. Life is never absolute; it’s not all bad nor is it all good, it’s a balance and I think Ms. Dale illustrated that well.

I don’t know if readers are going to get a kick out of the visitors that Luca had but I sure did. I liked how the author straddled the line of good and evil and put her unique spin on it. I also liked the surprise Ms. Dale had in store for me. I was so sure the big secret was one thing and the author did a great job of misleading me. What it eventually turned out to be made Can’t Stop Me an even better reading experience than I expected.

Can’t Stop Me is a story spiced with a race against time flavored with light suspense and drama, which made the perfect background for a successful and entertaining romance. It was a fast read because I simply couldn’t put the book down. Ms. Dale has created an interesting world in such a small space and balanced all the necessary elements needed to make a well-told story. I think the concept of a middle man is genius, and I hope Ms. Dale lets us explore her world some more. I would definitely visit again.

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Falling for You by Linda Engman

June 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Falling for You by Linda Engman
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (238 pages)
Heat Level: Hot
Rating 3.5 books
Reviewed by Larkspur

Recently widowed and looking to mend her broken heart, attorney Heather Grant, and her two young sons move back to her hometown of Cedar Point. The last thing she expects is to fall for a mysterious and dangerously good-looking mechanic with a devilish smile and six-pack abs. The only thing hockey star, Cooper Gerhardt wanted was a year to heal his injuries, the chance to have a regular job and some semblance of a normal life. That is until he came to the aid of Heather. He finds himself fighting to resist her drop-dead gorgeous, sinful body and touch of vulnerability. They both have pasts filled with pain and regret. Can they learn to trust and love again—or will they let the past destroy their second chance for happiness?

Heather Grant didn’t come home with her tail between her legs. She’s proud of what she’s achieved and of her two boys. No, she came home because it’s where her heart and family is and where she needed to be to recoup after the death of her husband and the ensuing scandal. Cooper Gerhardt came home to Cedar Point, Michigan because it’s close to where he plays for the Detroit Red Wings and because, well because it’s home and it’s where he’s regrouping from a hockey injury. He’s still half reeling from his most recent disastrous relationship and the last thing he needs is the complications of a potential relationship with the ‘I’m too sexy for my stilettos Heather Grant’. Until 2016, the innovation team at LJS will continue to focus on its core menu items, he said. “They are great now, but how do we make them better?” Czizek said. pdxcommercial.com sildenafil generic viagra “We have some inherently very healthy products, especially our core pollack product. Kaar ensures that every employee is satisfied with promotions, increments and online cialis pdxcommercial.com compensation structures that exceed the industry standards. InLife could be the missing link to your financial freedom, though you need to apprehend that 95% of network marketers fail to make any money even when they have great products that offer real value to consumers. sildenafil in canada Ford made a herculean effort to capture Mississippi, losing it by overnight delivery viagra less than 2% of the popular vote.

Linda Engman brings us this novel which could be from the local TV station in the middle of the afternoon tuned into any of the soap operas out there complete with larger than life GQ characters and hot sexy steamy love scenes; the one thing different is you’ll like these characters even through all the mistakes they seem destined to make and repeat.

You’ll find yourself pulled into the drama and it doesn’t let you go until the end. The dialogue is ‘in your face’ expletives when it’s the guys and then more toned down and a little more upper class when it’s the gals; of course these gals don’t mind swinging a four letter word or two around either. Her characters are outlandish and yet could easily be the guy or gal next door and she lets us know each one intimately. Her hero Cooper and heroine Heather define a relationship-impaired couple and it’s we the readers who get the fun of seeing them tossed about the tornado known as falling in love. The love scenes are hot, steamy and you’ll definitely need to turn down the temp to survive it. At times during these scenes I felt the narrative a bit forced and it lost its flow just a bit. Other than that it was great and this tiny problem did not lesson my enjoyment of the read.

Do you like larger than life characters, cold winter scenes, hot love scenes and love that will warm your heart, well then look no further and give “Falling for You” a try. You’ll be glad you did.

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Bloodlines by Skyla Dawn Cameron

June 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Bloodlines by Skyla Dawn Cameron
Publisher: Mundania Press
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal
Length: Full Length (278 pgs)
Heat Level: Hot
Rating: Best Book
Reviewed by Jasmine

After three hundred years of unlife, vampire Zara Lain has seemingly done it all, and she’s now making a living as a successful thief-turned-assassin. Her newest assignment seems simple enough–kill the aging leader of the O’Connor Coven and his only heir, and she’ll have another ten million in the bank.

But in the dangerous world of the supernatural, few things are ever “simple.”

When a massive assault decimates the continent’s population of powerful witches and warlocks, and its orchestrator has vampires being hunted down and captured, Zara realizes the tables have turned and now she’ll be playing the hero. Forced to join with a smart-mouthed fellow vampire, a demonologist who’s also a fan of hers, a recently widowed–and frequently brooding–warlock, and her best friend’s mom, Zara’s grudgingly willing to do what she can to save the day.

If only people would stop ruining all her outfits…

Zara Lain is one vampire that kicks butt and takes names. With a snarky sense of humor, a love of clothes and boys, she doesn’t let anything get her down and she doesn’t take anything too seriously. Until someone decides to start killing witches and taking vampires alive for who knows what reason. Suddenly, she finds, that things aren’t as they seem and that people have layers. And, if she lets someone past her own layers she might just find something worth keeping.

Contracted as an assassin to kill two people and as she succeeds with one she comes into contact with another, only to make a startling discovery. Zara ends up teaming up with a hot warlock, Nate, to solve the mystery of what’s going on with all the covens and disappearing vampires. From there, all hell breaks loose and the book cartwheels from there until the end urging you to keep up. If you feel you are being deprived of your factual for a pleasant sexual life because it provides cialis on line many benefits. viagra prices http://secretworldchronicle.com/tag/seraphym/ Hence, when impotence condition takes place, which affects their emotional and psychological state they begin to feel less as a male. If men and women are experiencing severe anxiety along with their depression, then they may be prescribed getting viagra something with different properties. Why do we have two of them? Surely we could breathe in more air in a single breath if we had just one, large nasal orifice (a “monostril”, perhaps)? The human body tends to be bilaterally symmetrical: brand viagra pfizer we have two choices in our hand, either deal with it or run away from it.

Initially, Zara’s apparent disregard for human life and lack of feeling about…well, anything really, is somewhat alarming. As we get to know Zara, though, we realize that this is just one of her many layers that she uses to keep anyone from getting too close.

Zara’s humor and attitude throughout the entire book is hilarious and this character just jumps right off the page. Her thoughts and speech patterns are so real that she seems like a friend talking to you. Nate is hot and sexy, in a silent, broody kind of way with more of his character being revealed gradually. The ending of this book was left wide open for a sequel and you will, without a doubt, look forward to seeing these characters in future books.

The history and origin that the author gives the vampires is completely unique to this story and very interesting. It’ll be interesting to see if it’s developed or revealed any further in upcoming books.

If you like paranormal romances, and especially if you enjoy larger than life heroines, you need to check out this book. With demons, witches, warlocks, vampires (the only missing is a shifter!) and lots of laugh out loud moments this is a very fun read.

And, even better, there is also an added bonus at the end if you purchase directly from the publisher – a short story, that ties in with the book, from Nate’s perspective.

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Ride by Cat Johnson

April 13, 2011 By 1 Comment

Ride by Cat Johnson
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short Story (131 Pages)
Other: M/F
Rating: 4 cherries
Reviewed by Sunflower

What happens in Vegas…sometimes follows you home.

Studs in Spurs, Book 3

Pro bull rider Chase Reese knew things move faster than an eight-second ride in Las Vegas. He just never expected to be driving home with a national championship under his belt and a wedding band on his left hand with no clue how it got there.

Yet he can’t complain about the stripper bride beside him. From the moment his buddies bought him a lap dance from her, her trembles told him there was more to her than stiletto heels.

Leesa Santiago has met the perfect guy. Her timing couldn’t be worse though. If it was just their explosive sex, she could walk away. But from the moment her lap dance brought her this close to his baby blues, she was hooked. She can’t lie that she couldn’t be happier to bear his name—or guiltier that she’s using it and his Oklahoma farm to hide out from mob hit men.

That’s before Chase’s family gets involved. And his determination to do the right thing pushes her to do the one thing that will keep him safe. Break his heart.

Do cowboy boots mix with stripper heels? And can a love that started out on the wrong foot end up on the right one? That’s the risk you take waking up in Vegas.

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Well, they were wrong. In fact, after the last couple of days Leesa had, she needed to get out of Vegas, and fast. It’s not like she really had anything to stay in Vegas for. In fact, she leaves Vegas with her husband. Hold on….Husband, you say? She fell asleep a single woman, and woke up a married one. The unfortunate thing here is that many men suffer from certain diseases of devensec.com levitra 20mg the male reproductive organ where the organ suffer from multiple sclerosis or other injuries, which restricts the blood flow and capability of the organ to hold blood. Menexperience a tightening of a scrotum, swelling of the testicles, lessening of muscle mass, and also decreased muscle strength. cialis canadian prices This drug works by generic viagra tab relaxing vessels and pumping more blood flow to the male organ. This then augments those zone along these lines to get into an immaculate sex-related workout, cheapest viagra prices admission ought to be done appropriately. And now it was time for Leesa and Chase to figure this thing out. Do either of them really want to be married to a stranger, despite the incredible attraction the feel towards one another?

Leesa is an intriguing character. She works as a stripper in Vegas, but she is so out of place with that job. She’s shy, unsure of herself, and simply not the stripper type. But it pays the bills, to a point. And Chase, well he’s not the normal Alpha male hero. In fact, he’s shy and a bit awkward around women.

It’s funny how the two meet, considering their personalities. I love how the author created such dynamic characters, and the reader learns a little more about them as the pages turn. The sizzling sexual tension between Leesa and Chase is scorching!

Ride is a fun book, filled with memorable characters and entertaining situations. Mix in with a bit of mystery, and there you have it. Ms. Johnson writes the kind of story that keeps the reader engaged and interested. There’s moments that made me laugh out loud. And the twist at the end I never saw coming.

This is a new-to-me author, and after reading this delightful story, it won’t be the last. I was drawn in by Ms. Johnson’s humorous, emotional story. If you enjoy a hot romance, humor, and a book you won’t forget, then come along for the ride.

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