Review & Excerpt Tour: Dragon King (Dark Kings #6.25) by Donna Grant

Posted on Monday, August 31, 2015 1:34 PM
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A Woman on a Mission

Grace Clark has always done things safe. She's never colored outside of the law, but she has a book due and has found the perfect spot to break through her writer's block. Or so she thinks. Right up until Arian suddenly appears and tries to force her away from the mountain. Unaware of the war she just stumbled into, Grace doesn't just discover the perfect place to write, she finds Arian—the most gorgeous, enticing, mysterious man she's ever met.

A King with a Purpose

Arian is a Dragon King who has slept away centuries in his cave. Recently woken, he's about to leave his mountain to join his brethren in a war when he's alerted that someone has crossed onto Dreagan. He's ready to fight . . . until he sees the woman. She's innocent and mortal—and she sets his blood aflame. He recognizes the danger approaching her just as the dragon within him demands he claim her for his own...
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Review:

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m obsessed with the 1001 Dark Nights series. Each book tells a unique story that adds to the theme. Dragon king by Donna Grant is part of both the 1001 Dark night series but it’s also part of the Dark Kings series.

Grace Clark is way beyond her deadline to finish her book and she hasn’t even begun writing it. Travelling all the way to Scotland is supposed to break her writer’s block. Surrounded by the quietness and the breathtaking view f the Scottish mountains, Grace begin to write until a storm begins. Terrified of thunders, Grace is forced to seek a safe place and ends up entering a cave, Arian’s cave.

Arian is a Dragon King who just woke up from a thousand years old sleep. When he finds Grace in his cave he first assumes that she must be with the enemy but if she’s with them then how did she find his cave? All his questions are answered when Grace discovers she’s not alone in the little pretty cave and the man she’s with isn’t a normal human.

Dragon king was incredible. Grace and Arian were amazing characters. Their story was a short one but their relationship wasn’t rushed. I wish we could get more of them. 

Filled with action, romance and suspense Dragon King is bound to captivate you.

I highly recommend it!

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review*

Excerpt:

“It’s just a storm, lass,” he whispered near her ear. 

“It’s never just a storm.” 

There was something in her words that caught his attention. Not too much the words themselves, but the depth of emotion in them. 

Arian turned her to face him and looked into her deep blue eyes. He needed to take her mind off the storm, because he had no intention of stopping it. As long as it rained she would remain with him. 

Once he had his fill of listening to her sweet voice and watching her feelings cross her face, then he would stop the rain. 

“Bad things happen in weather like this,” she said. 

Arian smoothed back her hair from her face. “No’ all bad, surely.” 

“My mother left us in a storm. My father died while a storm howled. I walked into a mountain with a Dragon King who is in the middle of a war with Dark Fae.” 

He was going to reassure her that all would be fine, but he couldn’t find the words. The knowledge that so much pain was associated with storms made him question using his power to keep her with him. 

But perhaps there was a way he could help her. 

“Rain waters the earth, giving life to plants and flowers that are food for animals. The thunder and lightning are displays of the beauty and fierceness of nature,” he said, hoping he could get her to accept his words and erase her fear. 

Her body was pressed so enticingly against him. The feel of her breasts made his cock twitch. He looked down at her lips to find them parted slightly. Damn, but he wanted to taste them. 

He couldn’t breathe. The weight of the need, of the overwhelming desire felt like he was being pulled under. As if he were drowning, and Grace was the only thing that could save him. 

The beat of her pulse at her throat was erratic and her chest rose and fell rapidly. 

She felt it too. 

Arian lifted his gaze to her face to find her eyes heavy-lidded as she watched him. He searched those amazing eyes of hers as he sank, tumbled into the navy depths. 

He leaned his head forward until their breaths mingled. Her fingers tightened on his arms. Arian could stand it no more. He put his lips against hers. 

She sucked in a quick breath. Arian moved his lips over hers, learning the feel of them before he touched his tongue to them, tracing them. 

Grace leaned against him. He wound his arms around her, holding her firmly. A low moan filled him when her tongue touched his. 

He was about to explode. Inside was a hunger he could never remember having before, a yearning to claim her right then that shocked and excited him. 

The kiss deepened, their tongues intertwining seductively, sensually. Her lips were soft, her taste decadent. He slid a hand into her hair and held her head as their passion grew rapidly. 

The soft kiss was turning as untamed as the craving inside him, and the more she responded, the more the flames grew. Her soft moans were driving him wild, but it was the way she breathed that made him burn. 

 About The Author:

Donna Grant is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the sizzling Dark King series featuring dragons, immortal Highlanders, and the Fae.

She was born and raised in Texas but loves to travel. Her adventures have taken her throughout the United States as well as to Jamaica, Mexico, and Scotland. Growing up on the Texas/Louisiana border, Donna’s Cajun side of the family taught her the “spicy” side of life while her Texas roots gave her two-steppin’ and bareback riding.

Despite deadlines and voracious reading, Donna still manages to keep up with her two children, four cats, and one long haired Chihuahua.

Website ** Twitter ** Facebook ** Author Goodreads ** DRAGON KING Goodreads

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Sofia T.

STACKING THE SHELVES #51

Posted on Saturday, August 29, 2015 12:45 PM
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Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. It gives us a chance to share with readers what we bought, borrowed, swapped, won or got for review each week.

This week I read:

Click on cover for Goodreads:

  
  

I L-O-V-E summer!!!I have so much free time and I can read all day, every day!

Firstly, I had to read Gus as Bright Side ruined me! I had to read it! I liked Gus but I think I liked Bright Side more.

Because they've been sitting on my tbr pile for some time, I read: Darker water, Azagoth, The Pact and Raze. I loved the first three but I didn't really like Raze. It was so predictable. From the very first page you can actually guess how the book will turn out and at the end I was disappointed. 

Lastly, I got two ARCs: Dragon King and Black Blood. The only reason I actually read Azagoth was because after finishing Dragon King I wanted more of the 1001 Dark Night series books (plus Azagoth was indeed sitting for a very long time in my tbr pile). Black Blood was amazing too. 

What did you read this week?
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Sofia T.

Promo, Excerpt & Giveaway: The Lost by Cole McCade

Posted on Friday, August 28, 2015 2:13 PM
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The Lost by Cole McCade

Date of Publication: August 25, 2015
She's known it her whole life. She knows it every time she spreads her legs. Every time she begs for the pain, the pleasure, the heat of a hard man driving deep inside. She's a slave to her own twisted lusts--and it's eating her alive. She loves it. She craves it. Sex is her drug, and she's always chasing her next fix. But nothing can satisfy her addiction, not even the nameless men she uses and tosses aside. No one's ever given her what she truly needs.
Until Gabriel Hart.
Cold. Controlled. Impenetrable. Ex-Marine Gabriel Hart isn't the kind of man to come running when Leigh crooks her pretty little finger. She loathes him. She hungers for him. He's the only one who understands how broken she is, and just what it takes to satisfy the emptiness inside. But Gabriel won't settle for just one night. He wants to claim her, keep her, make her forever his. Together they are the lost, the ruined, the darkness at the heart of Crow City.
But Leigh has a darkness of her own. A predator stalking through her past--one she'll do anything to escape.
Even if it means running from the one man who could love her...and leaving behind something more precious to her than life itself.
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Excerpt

Note: This book contains material that may be triggering for some readers 

PROLOGUE 

"State your name." 

Cold, clipped words, blending into the noise of the police station. Leigh lifted her head from a fixed study of her clenched fingers. Colors whirled around her in a lurid carnival nightmare, too bright, too blurry. On a bench on the far side of the room, a wasted and broken scarecrow woman picked at a scab on her wrist with a certain habitual listlessness, oozing diseased red-brown blood over liver spots. Her tendons were rails under her skin, and the dull gleam of cuffs chained her to the bench. She raised her head and stared at Leigh with yellowed eyes that captured her with a sort of empty, terrifying promise. 

Across the desk a policewoman waited, with that compassionate impatience only a half-step from pity and shoulder-to-shoulder with disgust. Her flat blue eyes said she'd been trained to care, but couldn't be bothered anymore. Leigh swallowed and tugged her hoodie close against the tinny air-conditioned chill. Her mouth had dried to a tacky, sticky mess, gummy pills of lipstick beading on her lips, and her tongue was a bloated and useless organ, this swollen pink thing pushing pointlessly against her teeth. 

"Leigh," she ground out. "Clarissa Leigh…" Her married name scratched sandpaper syllables against her throat. "…van Zandt." 

"And Miss van Zandt, do you know why you're here?" 

She nodded, her neck a creaking wooden puppet-hinge. "I do." 

"Your family's been worried about you." 

"I know." 

She knew what she should do here. Bow her head in shame and contrition, maybe even sniffle. But she looked for the emotions and they weren't there; just scraps and tatters, clinging to the empty place where they belonged. She had no feeling left, hollowed out and lost and wondering how she'd ended up here. This didn't feel real. Instead it was a dream where everyone leered in fisheye close-up, their smiles all teeth and stretched red lips and manic glee. She wanted to run, but somehow she'd gone too numb to do anything but sit here surrounded by the stink of fear-sweat, stale beer, and that particular police-station smell of urine soaked into concrete for decades on end. 

"What happened to you?" the officer asked. Leigh didn't answer, and the officer's pen tapped against the forms on her desk, rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat, Morse code for I'd rather be anywhere but here with this spoiled little runaway princess. "It's been four years. You were declared legally dead." 

"That's all right." She closed her eyes with a laugh that ripped her guts up into her mouth, and buried her face in her hands. Dead. Dead. 

Yeah, that was about right. 

"Miss van Zandt?" 

Stop calling me that. 

"Miss van Zandt. I need you to focus on my voice." 

Stop calling me that! 

Leigh took a measured breath and opened her eyes. Her shoulders squared. The bolts on the back of the hard, ass-biting chair dug into her shoulder blades. "I am focused. I can hear you just fine." 

"Eyes are dilated." The officer—her nametag read Maroni, could there be a more clichéd name for a Crow City cop—leaned across the desk, peering at her face. Then she beckoned to the aide hovering over them like a mannequin. "I've seen this too many times. Drugs and prostitution." She talked about Leigh like she wasn't even there. "We'll have to clean her up before her husband gets here." 

"I'm not on drugs. I've never been on drugs." 

Maroni's pen-clicking stopped. Her disbelief was a heavy thing, push-push-pushing until Leigh nearly laughed. 

"You're not on drugs." 

"No." 

"Then what happened?" 

There it was. The first hint of exasperation. Of frustration, stitched into knitted brows and the purse of lips in just the right shade of I can't be a woman, I'm a cop mauve. Because like anyone normal, anyone who wasn't fucking broken to pieces and liked being that way, Maroni needed to make sense of this. Needed to quantify it in a world where the rules worked as normal and everyone wanted to chase that dream of happiness that wasn't anything but desperation painted over of a frantic tally of things. Things of plastic, things with value created by people whose upper lips curled when they looked down at little girls like Leigh, and demanded she account for herself in sane, rational ways that made proper sense. 

Sorry, Officer Maroni. 

I'm not the kind of thing that makes much sense. 

Maroni pushed a harsh sound through her teeth. "You had a job, a husband, a newborn son. You had a life other people would kill for, and we find you here on the streets. Were you pressured? Kidnapped?" 

"No. None of that." Leigh shook her head. 

"You'll have to explain, then." 

"I left." She trailed off, lips parted; no words came for long seconds, until she managed, "I…I was afraid." 

"Of what?" Maroni tried to catch her eye, but Leigh looked down at her hands, at her chipped pink fingernails dipped in the sparkles of shooting stars. "Miss van Zandt. If someone was hurting you, you need to tell us now so we can take appropriate steps to protect you." 

"No. No one hurt me. Not like that." 

"I'm afraid you'll need to be more clear. What were you afraid of?" 

"Of…" 

She struggled for an answer. Struggled for something this woman would accept, something that would make her sigh with sympathy and pity and relieved disdain that said there, but for the Grace of God… 

But again, she found nothing. Nothing but the truth, and Leigh shrugged as she looked up at the policewoman and wondered if she had daughters who might one day be like Leigh, daughters who would cut stark red lines of fingernails in the walls of flesh that caged her in the shape of pop culture's perfect woman. 

"Of the inevitable monotony of it all," she said. 

And smiled.
Giveaway

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About Cole McCade

Corporate consultant by day, contemporary romance author by night. 

Mid-thirties. Coffee addict. Cat lover. Bibliophile. Technophile. Definite sapiophile. Native Southerner. Runner. Country boy turned city suit. Shameless collector of guitar picks, vinyl records, and incense holders. Aficionado of late-night conversations over live music in seedy bars. Browncoat with a secret crush on Kaylee Frye. 

Fascinated by human sociology, and particularly by the psychology of sex and gender – and their effect on relationship expectations, the culture of dating, and what it means to fall in love. 

Non-smoker. The picture's just a stock photo. A rather broody, dark one for someone who isn't all that broody or dark, but sometimes forgets to smile even when he means to. 

Find Cole McCade Online


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Sofia T.

Review: Every Last Breath (The Dark Elements #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Posted on 1:30 PM
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Title: Every Last Breath
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: The Dark Elements #3

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepo
Some loves will last ’til your dying breath
Every choice has consequences—but seventeen-year-old Layla faces tougher choices than most. Light or darkness. Wickedly sexy demon prince Roth, or Zayne, the gorgeous, protective Warden she never thought could be hers. Hardest of all, Layla has to decide which side of herself to trust.
Layla has a new problem, too. A Lilin—the deadliest of demons—has been unleashed, wreaking havoc on those around her…including her best friend. To keep Sam from a fate much, much worse than death, Layla must strike a deal with the enemy while saving her city—and her race—from destruction.
Torn between two worlds and two different boys, Layla has no certainties, least of all survival, especially when an old bargain comes back to haunt them all. But sometimes, when secrets are everywhere and the truth seems unknowable, you have to listen to your heart, pick a side—and then fight like hell…
Wow!

I have no words. This is the third and last book in the Dark Elements series and it’s mind blowing.

The time has come for Layla to choose who she wants to be with. Thankfully for Roth and Zayne (and of course us) Layla gets to choose early on. I was so glad she chose the one she did. I was actually surprised that the love triangle was resolved this early in the book but it did work great since we got to see more of the couple.

The danger is real and the stakes are higher than ever. The Lilin is running around town and now that the secret is out, the Lilin has nowhere to go and hide. Layla realizes that it’s her responsibility to act. She must find the Lilin and kill it before the Alphas decide to take matters into their hands.

Every last breath was AMAZING! It started exactly where Stone Cold Touch left off, where the identity of the Lilin is revealed. In this book the action takes off. From the first page till the end the book was nonstop action, suspense, surprises, humor and overall emotional.

As every J.L.A. book, Every Last Breath has a huge, major plot twist that broke my heart. I can’t believe that Layla had to make such a decision. It was really heartbreaking but it was also necessary. I loved that about this book. Everything happened for a reason.

What I didn’t really expect was the romance aspect but I really loved it. Before reading the book I thought we would get nonstop action, which we do and that the love triangle would be resolved just before the end. Surprisingly, the love triangle was resolved almost from the very beginning. So we got to see more of Layla and her chosen one. Squee!!!

Every last breath was the perfect balanced ending to the Dark Elements series. We got to see almost every paranormal creature there is from gargoyles to angels and witches. Despite the choice Layla makes we get to see both Roth and Zayne and of course their familiars. I loved them so much.

I can’t wait to read J.L.A. new book, The Problem with Forever.

Highly recommended!
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Sofia T.

Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway: An Alpha's Choice (Talon Pack #2) by Carrie Ann Ryan

Posted on Thursday, August 27, 2015 12:10 PM
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Brynn Brentwood has spent the whole of her life protecting the Talon Pack through terrors only she will ever know. She’s never asked for more in life other than to live to take her next breath and to ensure her family is safe. Regardless of her selfless wishes and the atrocities the former Alpha committed, she has always known that fate would provide for her as it had countless others. Fate is what has carried her through with one exception—upon meeting the one wolf who could be hers, he doesn’t feel their bond.
Finn Jamenson has been broken more than once, left beaten and half dead—and that was before he was an adult and Heir of the Redwood Pack. When called upon to work with their allies, the Talons, he finds himself intrigued with a woman who his wolf doesn’t claim as his own. Though he knows there could be something there, he refuses to tempt himself with a wolf who could never be his when his own mate could waiting for him.
The world changed in a blink of time and now the two wolves must fight as one—ignoring the burning temptation between them—when their people are threatened. With one wrong move, their homes could be destroyed and its up to Finn and Brynn to save them all…if only they could save themselves.
Buy Links:



Barnes & Noble http://bit.ly/1EzfCgx



Review:

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book I read by Carrie Ann Ryan. As soon as I read it I knew I had to read more and I did. An Alpha’s choice is the second book in the Talon Pack series but it can surely be read as a standalone, I did read it as such but I totally recommend staring from book one.

The world knows that shifters exist. The Talon and the Redwood packs will try their best to convince them that they aren’t the animals the humans think they are. Bryn Brentwood is the sister of the Alpha of the Talon Pack and the dominant female of the pack. Bryn can’t appear weak, not to pack and surely not outside of it.

Every time Finn Jamenson, Heir to the Redwood pack meets with Bryn he can’t understand what has done wrong. Bryn is always so guarded and angry around him that he has no clue how to fix whatever it is she thinks he has done. Little does he know that it’s not something he has done but something he hasn’t felt, the mating bond. Bryn’s secret is about to get out. The first time she saw Finn she immediately knew he was her mate but he has no idea.

Could fate be so cruel?

An alpha’s choice was a great read. Amazing really. In the beginning I had no idea what was wrong with Finn or if it just wasn’t meant to be. Bryn wasn’t wrong to feel the bond but Finn’s past may have cost him his future. 

Bryn and Finn were strong characters who has many demons in their past. They had to struggle to get where they are now and although they made it, a part of them was left behind. I really loved that twist.

The book has nonstop action, suspense, romance, paranormal creatures, twists and a unique plot.

I definitely recommend it!

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review*

Giveaway: 

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  About The Author 
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan never thought she’d be a writer. Not really. No, she loved math and science and even went on to graduate school in chemistry. Yes, she read as a kid and devoured teen fiction and Harry Potter, but it wasn’t until someone handed her a romance book in her late teens that she realized that there was something out there just for her. When another author suggested she use the voices in her head for good and not evil, The Redwood Pack and all her other stories were born.

Carrie Ann is a bestselling author of over twenty novels and novellas and has so much more on her mind (and on her spreadsheets *grins*) that she isn’t planning on giving up her dream anytime soon.

Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter
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Sofia T.

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY #55 Forever with You (Wait for You #5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2015 2:06 PM
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Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine and is where we can talk about books we are looking forward to being released.

Title: Forever with You 
Series: Wait for You #5

Expected publication: September 29th 2015

Some things you just believe in, even if you've never experienced them. For Stephanie, that list includes love. It's out there. Somewhere. Eventually. Meanwhile she's got her job at the mixed martial arts training center and hot flings with gorgeous, temporary guys like Nick. Then a secret brings them closer, opening Steph's eyes to a future she never knew she wanted—until tragedy rips it away.
Nick's self-assured surface shields a past no one needs to know about. His mind-blowing connection with Steph changes all that. As fast as he's knocking down the walls that have kept him commitment-free, she's building them up again, determined to keep the hurt—and Nick—out. But he can't walk away. Not when she's the only one who's ever made him wish for forever . . .
What are you waiting on Wednesday? 
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Sofia T.

TOP TEN TUESDAY #45 Top Ten Books That Would Be On Your Syllabus If You Taught YA fantasy 101

Posted on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 2:01 PM
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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new Top Ten list topic is posted and book bloggers fill in their own choices. 

This Week's Topics is:

Top Ten Books That Would Be On Your Syllabus If You Taught YA fantasy 101

Click on cover for Goodreads

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone(Harry Potter #1)


2. City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1)


3. Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1)


4. The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)


5. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)


6. Poison Study (Study #1)


7. Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)


8. The Host (The Host #1)


9. 
The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner #1)


10. Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1)


What are your top ten books that would be on your syllabus if you taught YA fantasy 101? 
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Sofia T.

Review: The Hotter You Burn (The Original Heartbreakers #2) by Gena Showalter

Posted on Monday, August 24, 2015 5:51 PM
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Title: The Hotter You Burn
Author: Gena Showalter
Series: The Original Heartbreakers #2

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepo
Beck O'ckley is ruthless in the boardroom...and the bedroom. He's never been with the same woman twice, and vows he never will. With a past as twisted as his, meaningless sex keeps the demons at bay. His motto: One and done. No harm, no foul.

Harlow Glass is the most hated girl in town. The beautiful artist is penniless, jobless and homeless. When she sneaks into Beck's home—her ancestral estate—for food, she's shocked by his early return...and her immediate, sizzling and intense attraction to him.

For the first time in Beck's life, he can't get a woman out of his mind. All too soon, friendship blooms into obsession and he'll have to break her heart...or surrender his own
The second book in the Original Heartbreakers series tells the story of the second hottest person in Strawberry Valley, Oklahoma and the number one loneliest person in the Valley.

When Beck O’cley moved to Strawberry Valley with his two best friends, Jase and West they purchased the most beautiful ranch in the Valley to start anew. The moment her home was sold to the three friends, Harlow Glass knew that there would never be a chance of getting it back. Since her mother died and due to her horrible behavior in the past, no one in the town will hire her. Harlow is homeless, penniless and struggling to get by.

Beck is the town’s most famous bachelor. Every woman wants to be with him even though it’s only for one night. Beck has a motto: one and done. A night is all it takes for his life to change forever. Since no one will hire Harlow she will have to find another way to make ends meet. Visiting her former home to find some food when no one is there is something she’s willing to do to survive. What she wasn’t counting on was Beck arriving early with his flavor of the night and catching her stealing his pie.

Beck is shocked to realize that the girl who used to live where he now lives is the infamous but surprisingly gorgeous Harlow Glass. The moment they meet sparks ignite. Beck wants Harlow in his bed but Harlow won’t settle just for one night. Harlow refuses to be with him but that doesn’t mean that Beck will let her continue living the way she does. The more time he spends with her the more he comes to care about her. He gives her a new home and a job at his company and asks for nothing in return. Just being around her is enough for Beck but not for Harlow. She can’t understand why he doesn’t strive for more.

The time has come for the most wanted bachelor to reveal his secrets and prey that he is enough for the woman he never saw coming.

I loved the hotter you burn. I was really excited when I read the blurb and later when the cover was revealed but reading the book was a total different experience. It was abjofuckinglutely incredible. It was also different from the first book as there is no major plot twist just the most stubborn alpha male ever. Harlow had to dig deep to convince Beck he was more than enough, he deserved his HEA.

We also get to see Jase and Brook Lynn, Kenna and even West and Jessie Kay. I really can’t wait for their story. There is so much tension between those two. It will be a miracle if Strawberry Valley survives when they collide.

Another 5 star book for Gena Showalter!

Highly recommended!
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Sofia T.

STACKING THE SHELVES #50

Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2015 12:45 PM

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. It gives us a chance to share with readers what we bought, borrowed, swapped, won or got for review each week.

This week I read:

Click on cover for Goodreads:

 

  

I finally finished the Pyte/Sentinel series by R.L. Mathewson and I really loved it. 

I also got to read:

One lond Embrace by Tina Folsom. I can't believe that I didn't read it sooner. 

Souls Unfractured by Tillie Cole which I can't say I loved *gasp* but I at least enjoyed it!

Law man by Kristen Ashley. This is the third book in the Dream Man series but for me it was the last since I started the series by firstly reading the lastbook. Each book tells a different story and they can definitely be read as stand-alones. 

Bright Side by Kim Holdn (simply put) RUINED ME. I have no idea why authors HATE US but to say that this was a hard book for me to read would be an understatement. 

What did you read this week?
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Sofia T.

ARC Review: On the Hunt by Alexandra Ivy, Rebecca Zanetti, Dianne Duvall, Hannah Jayne

Posted on Friday, August 21, 2015 12:57 PM
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Title: On the Hunt
Authors: Alexandra IvyRebecca ZanettiDianne DuvallHannah Jayne  
Series: (The Sentinels #2.5, The Scorpius Syndrome #0.5, Immortal Guardians #5.5, Underworld Detection Agency #6.5)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepo

Four of today’s most intriguing paranormal authors entice readers deep into the shadows, where vampires, immortals, and other supernatural creatures heat up the night...
ON THE HUNT by Alexandra IvyMika Tanner has loved Bailey Morrell, a beautiful Healer, since childhood. But his duty as a Sentinel, a supernatural guardian of an ancient race, clashed with her rebellious spirit. Now a dangerous new anarchist group not only threatens life as they know it—but any chance of their being together again...
SCORPIUS RISING by Rebecca ZanettiWhile searching for a meteorite, Nora Mendina is arrested by her sheriff ex-husband—who's only gotten hotter than the Nevada desert since she last saw him. When the meteorite breaks open, the few survivors gain extraordinary powers, unleashing a crazed super genius killer. Can Nora and her ex stop the murders…while igniting a new love affair?
PHANTOM EMBRACE by Dianne DuvallImmortal Yuri Sokolov was born with the ability to see spirits, yet he's never seen one as lovely as Cat Seddon, the woman who haunts his home and his dreams. But amid their star-crossed love, a new danger may have Yuri facing a different kind of eternity.
STAKE OUT by Hannah JayneVampire fashion designer Nina LaShay has a lot on her plate—just two days until fashion week and the model who was flirting with her photographer boyfriend is now a corpse in her studio. But when dead turns into undead and dangerous, Nina must find out who’s responsible…before the beautiful baby vamp takes too many bites out of the Big Apple.
Just when you think that books can’t get any better, you get an anthology by 4 mind-blowing authors.

On The Hunt by Alexandra Ivy
We are taken into the Sentinels world where Mika Tanner, a hunter is tasked with solving a sudden disappearance of an apprentice. Fortunately for him, Bailey Morrell, his childhood friend and ex lover, may know more than she thinks. As a healer, Bailey sees more than she should and unfortunately for them, if they want to answers, they will have to work together to get them.

Although it was a short-ish story, On the Hunt didn’t disappoint. It was action packed, suspenseful, romantic, with an off the charts chemistry and many twists.

Mika and Bailey were incredible characters. They were total opposites with different beliefs about their kind which is what tore them apart in the first place. Mika wants to do his duty while Bailey is a free spirit. What a pair!

Scorpius Rising by Rebecca Zanetti
I was so very excited to read this particular story. Scorpius Rising is the prequel to Zanetti’s brand new series, Scorpius Syndrome and I really can’t wait for Mercury Striking, the first book (Jan 2016)

In case you don’t know, the Scorpius Syndrome series is a dystopian one so in this book we get to see how the world ends.

Nora Mendina is the best scientist in her field. When she’s called in a case she knows that she will need help to find a cure for this foreign virus. A virus that could very well be our end.

What is more chocking is the fact that it’s her ex-husband, Deke who brought her in to help. Nora will do anything to find a cure for the virus while Deke will fight for what they used to have. Nora and Deke were such a dynamic couple. I loved the way they worked together and how easily but steadily they came together once again.

The nightmare isn’t over yet. This is just the beginning and I loved it. I can’t wait for more.

Phantom embrace by Dianne Duvall
This is part of the Immortal Guardians series and tells the story of Yuri, an Immortal with the ability to see spirits and Cat Seddon, an unusual spirit.

Yuri knows to ignore the spirits he sees or else they find an opportunity to torment him. So when he sees the amiable spirit in David’s house, he can’t understand why Seth doesn’t banish it from the house until he finds out the truth.

Cat is Bastien’s dead sister. She was brutally murdered by her husband who tricked Bastien into believing that Roland killed her. Cat has nowhere to go but stay besides her brother. So when Yuri notices her, Cat is relieved that she has finally found someone to talk to but at the same time she’s anxious. She hasn’t talked with anyone for a very long time but with Yuri everything is different.

I think this was the most special story in the book. Don’t get me wrong, I loved all four stories but Phantom Embrace had a bittersweet HEA!

Stake out by Hannah Jayne

Hannah Jayne is the only new author for me in the anthology. I was a bit skeptic before reading her story but as soon as I read it I understood why she was part of this anthology: she ROCKS!

Nina LaShay is the best vampire fashion designer in New York. She is preparing for the fashion show when her model is attacked and turned into a vampire. With the help of her boyfriends and her nephews, Nina will have to find out who is attacking models and turns them before it’s too late.

Stake out was so much fun. I loved the suspense and all the action. I didn’t really connect with Nina but I loved her boyfriend and her nephews!

On the hunt was so much fun to read. It was an incredible, breathtaking and simply beautiful compilation of four mind-blowing stories.

*ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
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Sofia T.

Pre Launch Tour: Heart-Shaped Hack by Tracey Garvis-Graves

Posted on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 3:34 PM
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When Kate Watts abandoned her law career to open a food pantry in Northeast Minneapolis, she never dreamed it would be this difficult. Facing the heartbreaking prospect of turning hungry people away, she is grateful for the anonymous donations that begin appearing at the end of each month. Determined to identify and thank her secret benefactor, she launches a plan and catches Ian —a charismatic hacker with a Robin Hood complex—in the act. 

Ian intrigues Kate in a way no man ever has. But after learning he’s snooped around on her personal computer, she demands retribution. Impressed with her tolerance and captivated by her spirit, he complies and begins to slowly charm his way past her defenses. Time spent with Ian is never boring, and Kate soon finds herself falling for the mysterious hacker.

But Ian has enemies and they’re growing restless. In the hacking world, exploiting a target’s weakness is paramount, and no price is too high to stop an attack. And when Kate learns exactly how much Ian has paid, she’ll discover just how strong her love is for the man who has hacked his way into her heart.



© 2015 Tracey Garvis Graves

EXCERPT

Kate was taking a break and having coffee and a muffin at Wilde Roast Café when Ian slid into the booth and sat across from her. He was wearing a lightweight cream-colored sweater with a tan-and-green-patterned shirt underneath, and he smelled good.

“Hello again.”

Confused, Kate looked around. “Where did you come from?”

“I walked in the door like everyone else.”

“Do you live nearby?” Kate lived in the St. Anthony Main neighborhood of Northeast Minneapolis. The food pantry was conveniently located on SE Main Street, which was a short three-block walk from her apartment. The quiet brick-paved street was lined with restaurants, shops, and a movie theater and included a stunning view of the Mississippi River and St. Anthony Falls. There were also bars that featured live music and plenty of green space in nearby parks.

He shook his head. “Not really.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I felt like talking to you again. You’re seated, so you probably won’t try to strangle me this time.”

“How did you know where to find me?” She was tucked away in a back booth instead of one of the tables near the windows that looked out over SE Main, so it wasn’t like he’d walked by and spotted her.

He held a steaming cup of coffee and blew on it to cool it. “I tracked your credit card activity. According to Capital One, you bought a cup of coffee and a muffin here twelve minutes ago.”

“You tracked my credit card?” Her voice sounded rather loud and shrieky.

He held a finger in front of his mouth. “Shh, Katie Long Legs. That information is for your ears only. How’s your coffee? Would you like a refill?”

Kate did not appreciate being shushed, but she lowered her voice. “Are you some kind of cyberthief?” she whispered. And since when were criminals so well-dressed and impeccably groomed?

“I did not steal your credit card number. I simply accessed your account to see where and when you’d used it last. Then I came here.”

“If you wanted to talk to me again, why didn’t you just go to the food pantry?”

He looked at her like it was obvious. “Because you’re not there. You’re here at this café.”

“If you’re not a cyberthief, then what are you?”

“I’m a hacker.”

“Is there a difference?”

“Most definitely.”

“When you said you steal from the rich to give to the poor, I thought you were kidding. Is that how you get the money?”

“I don’t steal it. I appropriate it from people who shouldn’t have it in the first place. Then I give it to those who are more deserving.”

Kate twisted her napkin. “I can’t keep the money. I’ve already spent the first two donations, but if you come back to the food pantry with me, I can return the most recent one. It’s still locked in the safe because I wasn’t planning on going shopping until tomorrow.”

“No, Katie. I don’t want it back. It’s for you. It’s for the babies.”

“It’s wrong,” she said quietly.

“Is it?”

“It’s against the law.”

“Trust me when I say the people I took it from don’t want the law involved any more than I do.”

“What are you saying? That you’re a thief who steals from other thieves?”

He wrinkled his nose, and it was adorable.

Stop! Thief!

“It sounds so distasteful when you say it like that. I prefer master appropriator of ill-gotten funds. You can call me master for short.”

“I have lots of things I’d like to call you. Master is not one of them.”



About The Author
Tracey Garvis Graves is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author. Her debut novel, On the Island, spent 9 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into twenty-seven languages, and is in development with MGM and Temple Hill Productions for a feature film. She is also the author of Uncharted, Covet, Every Time I Think of You, and Cherish.

Tracey loves to interact with her readers and can be found on Facebook and Twitter.
Goodreads | Amazon Author Page
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Sofia T.

ARC Review: Shadows Strike (Immortal Guardians #6) by Dianne Duvall

Posted on Monday, August 17, 2015 2:27 PM
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Title: Shadows Strike
Author: Dianne Duvall
Series: Immortal Guardians #6

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepo
The Immortal Guardians protect the innocent in secret. Sometimes the secret gets out...
U.S. law enforcement agent Heather Lane can read minds. But not the future. The dream of battle and blood that recurs every night must be a fluke, some obscure terror from her own mind. What its significance might be, she can’t guess: an attack from seven psychotic vampires at once, only separated from nightmare by an eighth very different immortal. A handsome, brave man fighting at her side, a man she misses when she wakes.
Then the dream comes true. Heather is flung into a war between predators and protectors of humanity, the man from her dreams beside her again. Except now that she’s awake, she isn’t sure she can trust Ethan, or the shadow organization he represents. The U.S. military doesn’t trust either of them. But against an onslaught of evil like the one that’s coming, it will take everything they have just to survive...
The sixth book in the Immortal Guardians series tells the story of Ethan, an Immortal with a unique gift and Heather, a gifted one.

Heather Lane has been dreaming about meeting Ethan for a year now. She’s been having the same dream over and over again about a man slaying creatures with fangs. Heather thinks she must be going crazy. Vampires don’t exist in her world. Heather may be able to read minds but as far as she’s concerned there are no supernatural creatures out there.

When Ethan saves Heather from a group of savage vampires, he thinks it must be a coincidence meeting her but then he finds out about her gift. It can’t be a coincidence that Heather has been dreaming about him or the circumstances under which they met. The only thing he knows for sure is that will do everything to protect her.

Shadows Strike was so different from the other books in the series!!! I had so much fun reading it mostly because I had no idea what was going to happen. Expect the unexpected. There were so many things going on: the enemies of the Immortal Guardians aren’t only the vampires anymore but member of the Others too.

Heather and Ethan were a very dynamic couple. They were strong, determined, loyal and honest. I loved how Heather, although full of doubts in the beginning, accepted Ethan’s world.

What I also loved, were the secondary characters: Zach and Lisette, Seth, David, Marcus and Ami and their baby girl, Adira, Aidan, Darnell, Sheldon, Tracy, Ed and so many more. I especially liked Jared, a new character. Jared is Zach’s cousin and apparently now an ex member of the Others. I really want to find out more about him. Maybe he will be the next one to get a story although I’m hoping it will be Seth. Shadows Strikes was the ultimate “Seth scenes” book. We got so many scenes with him and Adira. They were INSANELY incredible.

Ethan and Heather’s book was an exceptional addition to the Immortal Guardians series. They both were amazing main characters and an explosive couple.

I don’t know who is next but I’m hoping it’s Seth or Aidan. I felt really sorry for the poor fellow. Or maybe it will be Jared. I have no idea who is next but I’ll definitely be reading it.

Highly recommended!

*ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
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Sofia T.

Excerpt Tour & Giveaway: An Alpha's Choice (Talon Pack #2) by Carrie Ann Ryan

Posted on Sunday, August 16, 2015 8:44 PM
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Title: An Alpha's Choice 
Author: Carrie Ann Ryan
Series: Talon Pack #2

Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | Google Play

Bestselling Redwood Pack continues with the Talon Pack series. 
Brynn Brentwood has spent the whole of her life protecting the Talon Pack through terrors only she will ever know. She’s never asked for more in life other than to live to take her next breath and to ensure her family is safe. Regardless of her selfless wishes and the atrocities the former Alpha committed, she has always known that fate would provide for her as it had countless others. Fate is what has carried her through with one exception—upon meeting the one wolf who could be hers, he doesn’t feel their bond.Finn Jamenson has been broken more than once, left beaten and half dead—and that was before he was an adult and Heir of the Redwood Pack. When called upon to work with their allies, the Talons, he finds himself intrigued with a woman who his wolf doesn’t claim as his own. Though he knows there could be something there, he refuses to tempt himself with a wolf who could never be his when his own mate could waiting for him. The world changed in a blink of time and now the two wolves must fight as one—ignoring the burning temptation between them—when their people are threatened. With one wrong move, their homes could be destroyed and its up to Finn and Brynn to save them all…if only they could save themselves.
Excerpt 
“What the fuck are you doing?” she snapped. Her wolf glowed in her eyes, but he scented her arousal, tasted it on his tongue. She wanted him. 

“Doing what we should have done a year ago,” he growled. 

Then he did something spectacularly brilliant and idiotic at the same time. 

He kissed her. 

He had his hands on hers, pinning her to the wall. The bricks had to be digging into her back, but he knew she’d take it. Then maybe she’d pin him later and let him feel that pain, as well. She gasped against his mouth then opened, her tongue sliding along the seam of his lips. He groaned, tangling his tongue with hers, her sweet and exotic taste bursting on his tongue. He rocked against her, his erection pressing firmly into her flat belly. She wrapped a leg around his thigh, pulling him closer, making him want to beg for more. When she arched against him, her nipples pressing into his chest, he groaned into her mouth. He wanted to tangle his fingers in her hair, wanted to run his hands down her sides, cup her breasts, undo her pants and feel her wet heat. 

Yet he didn’t do any of that. 

Not then. 

Instead, he kissed her harder, wanting every ounce of her. 

Before he could take a breath, she slashed his hands with her claws and he winced, pulling back ever so slightly. She pushed at his chest and he moved back more. 

Fuck. 

She’d kissed him back, had pressed her body to his, but she’d pushed him at the end. He’d moved because she’d pushed, but he’d fucked up. He opened his mouth to apologize, not knowing what the fuck had just happened, but before he could get out a word, she slapped him. 

Hard. 

Claws and all. 

The metallic stench of blood filled his nostrils and he knew she’d cut his face as well as his hands. 

“Why?” she gasped, her eyes wide. “Why?”

Giveaway

About The Author 
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan never thought she’d be a writer. Not really. No, she loved math and science and even went on to graduate school in chemistry. Yes, she read as a kid and devoured teen fiction and Harry Potter, but it wasn’t until someone handed her a romance book in her late teens that she realized that there was something out there just for her. When another author suggested she use the voices in her head for good and not evil, The Redwood Pack and all her other stories were born.
Carrie Ann is a bestselling author of over twenty novels and novellas and has so much more on her mind (and on her spreadsheets *grins*) that she isn’t planning on giving up her dream anytime soon.

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Sofia T.

STACKING THE SHELVES #49

Posted on Saturday, August 15, 2015 8:50 AM
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Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. It gives us a chance to share with readers what we bought, borrowed, swapped, won or got for review each week.

This week I read:

Click on cover for Goodreads:

  
 
 

I finally got to read the Wrecked and Ruined series by Aly Martinez and I really liked it. Last year I read, Among the Echoes and since then I've been thinking about reading the whole series and I finally did.

I also got to start another Kristen Ashley series, the Dream man series, but I've only read the first two books so far.

I got two ARCs this week, Rage/Killain by Alexandra Ivy & Laura Wright and Tyrant by T. M. Frazier. I loved the first, liked the latter.

Lastly, since I love R. L. Mathewson, I decided to start another of her series, the Pyte/ Sentinel series.

What did you read this week???
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Sofia T.
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