Category Archives: 5+ stars

e-ARC Review: OF SILK AND STEAM by Bec McMaster

of silk and steamTitle: Of Silk and Steam (London Steampunk #5)
Author: Bec McMaster
Publishing Date: March 3, 2015
Genre: Steampunk, Romance, Paranormal
Source: e-ARC from publisher
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | B-A-M | Chapters | IndieBound | The Book Depository | Sourcebooks 

Enemies. Allies. Lovers.

When her beloved father was assassinated, Lady Aramina swore revenge. The man responsible is well beyond her grasp, but his dangerously seductive heir, Leo Barrons, is fair game. When Mina obtains evidence proving that Leo is illegitimate, she has the means to destroy both the killer and his son, a man who troubles her heart and tempts her body.

A woman of mystery, Mina’s long driven Leo crazy with glimpses of a fiery passion that lurks beneath her icy veneer. He knows she’s hiding something, and he’s determined to unravel her layer by silken layer. He just doesn’t expect the beautiful liar to be the key to overthrowing the corrupt prince consort… or to saving his own carefully walled-off heart.

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e-ARC Review: THE WINNER’S CRIME by Marie Rutkoski

the winner's crimeTitle: The Winner’s Crime (The Winner’s Trilogy #2)
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Publication Date: March 3, 2015
Source: eARC from publisher via Netgalley
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | IndieBound 

Book two of the dazzling Winner’s Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.
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Review: THE PIPER’S SON by Melina Marchetta

the piper's sonTitle: The Piper’s Son
Author: Melina Marchetta
Release Date: March 1, 2010
Source: Print copy bought
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult
Buy Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | TBD

Thomas Mackee wants oblivion. Wants to forget parents who leave and friends he used to care about and a string of one-night stands, and favourite uncles being blown to smithereens on their way to work on the other side of the world.

But when his flatmates turn him out of the house, Tom moves in with his single, pregnant aunt, Georgie. And starts working at the Union pub with his former friends. And winds up living with his grieving father again. And remembers how he abandoned Tara Finke two years ago, after his uncle’s death.

And in a year when everything’s broken, Tom realises that his family and friends need him to help put the pieces back together as much as he needs them.

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Audiobook Review: A KISS FOR MIDWINTER by Courtney Milan

 

a kiss for midwinterTitle: A Kiss for Midwinter (The Brothers Sinister #1.5)
Author: Courtney Milan
Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
Source: bought audiobook via Audible
Genre: Historical, Romance, Novella
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Google Play | Smashwords | All Romance | Audible

Miss Lydia Charingford is always cheerful, and never more so than at Christmas time. But no matter how hard she smiles, she can’t forget the youthful mistake that could have ruined her reputation. Even though the worst of her indiscretion was kept secret, one other person knows the truth of those dark days: the sarcastic Doctor Jonas Grantham. She wants nothing to do with him…or the butterflies that take flight in her stomach every time he looks her way.

Jonas Grantham has a secret, too: He’s been in love with Lydia for more than a year. This winter, he’s determined to conquer her dislike and win her for his own. It all starts with a wager and a kiss…

A Kiss for Midwinter is a novella (38,000 words) in the Brothers Sinister series. It follows The Duchess War. Each book stands on its own, but those who prefer to read in order might want to read that book first.

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Review: HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE by Nalini Singh

 

hostage to pleasureTitle: Hostage to Pleasure (Psy-Changeling #5)
Author: Nalini Singh
Release Date: September 2, 2008
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Source: bought physical copy
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | BookDepo | Indigo | IndieBound | Penguin | Powell’s

With her darkly seductive Psy/Changeling world, Nalini Singh has created “a sensual, dangerous adventure not to be missed” (New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh). Now, as the deadly Psy Council tightens its grip, a rebel Psy scientist finds herself at the mercy of a changeling who has sworn vengeance against her kind…

Separated from her son and forced to create a neural implant that will mean the effective enslavement of her psychically gifted race, Ashaya Aleine is the perfect Psy–cool, calm, emotionless…at least on the surface. Inside, she’s fighting a desperate battle to save her son and escape the vicious cold of the PsyNet. Yet when escape comes, it leads not to safety, but to the lethal danger of a sniper’s embrace.

DarkRiver sniper Dorian Christensen lost his sister to a Psy killer. Though he lacks the changeling ability to shift into animal form, his leopard lives within. And that leopard’s rage at the brutal loss is a clawing darkness that hungers for vengeance. Falling for a Psy has never been on Dorian’s agenda. But charged with protecting Ashaya and her son, he discovers that passion has a way of changing the rules…
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Read an EXCERPT on Nalini’s website.

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Review: THE SUFFRAGETTE SCANDAL by Courtney Milan

the suffragate scandalTitle: The Suffragette Scandal (Brothers Sinister #4)
Author: Courtney Milan
Release Date: July 15, 2014
Buy Links: amazon | amazon uk | nook | iBooks | kobo | google play | all romance | smashwords

An idealistic suffragette…

Miss Frederica “Free” Marshall has put her heart and soul into her newspaper, known for its outspoken support of women’s rights. Naturally, her enemies are intent on destroying her business and silencing her for good. Free refuses to be at the end of her rope…but she needs more rope, and she needs it now.

…a jaded scoundrel…

Edward Clark’s aristocratic family abandoned him to die in a war-torn land, so he survived the only way he could: by becoming a rogue and a first-class forger. When the same family that left him for dead vows to ruin Miss Marshall, he offers his help. So what if he has to lie to her? She’s only a pawn to use in his revenge.

…and a scandal seven years in the making.

But the irrepressible Miss Marshall soon enchants Edward. By the time he realizes that his cynical heart is hers, it’s too late. The only way to thwart her enemies is to reveal his scandalous past…and once the woman he loves realizes how much he’s lied to her, he’ll lose her forever.

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Review: JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta

Jellicoe RoadTitle: Jellicoe Road
Author: Melina Marchetta
Publication Date: March 9, 2010
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | TBD

In this lyrical, absorbing, award-winning novel, nothing is as it seems, and every clue leads to more questions.

At age eleven, Taylor Markham was abandoned by her mother. At fourteen, she ran away from boarding school, only to be tracked down and brought back by a mysterious stranger. Now seventeen, Taylor’s the reluctant leader of her school’s underground community, whose annual territory war with the Townies and visiting Cadets has just begun. This year, though, the Cadets are led by Jonah Griggs, and Taylor can’t avoid his intense gaze for long. To make matters worse, Hannah, the one adult Taylor trusts, has disappeared. But if Taylor can piece together the clues Hannah left behind, the truth she uncovers might not just settle her past, but also change her future.

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Review: THE CHOCOLATE TEMPTATION by Laura Florand

chocolate temptationTitle: The Chocolate Temptation
Author: Laura Florand
Series: Amour et Chocolat #6
Publication Date: January 15, 2014
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | Kobo | TBD

She hated him.
Patrick Chevalier. The charming, laid-back, golden second-in-command of the Paris pastry kitchen where Sarah worked as intern, who made everything she failed at seem so easy, and who could have every woman he winked at falling for him without even trying. She hated him, but she’d risked too much for this dream to give up on it and walk out just so he wouldn’t break her heart.

But he didn’t hate her.
Sarah Lin. Patrick’s serious, dark-haired American intern, who looked at him as if she could see right through him and wasn’t so impressed with what she saw. As her boss, he knew he should leave her alone. The same way he knew better than to risk his heart and gamble on love.

But he was never good at not going after what – or who – he wanted.

He could make magic out of sugar. But could he mold hate into love?

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Review: MATCH ME IF YOU CAN by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

match me if you canTitle: Match Me If You Can
Series: Chicago Stars #6
Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: August 2006
Format: Paperback
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | TBD

You met star quarterback Kevin Tucker in This Heart of Mine. Now get ready to meet his shark of an agent, Heath Champion, and Annabelle Granger, the girl least likely to succeed.

Annabelle’s endured dead-end jobs, a broken engagement . . . even her hair’s a mess! But that’s going to change now that she’s taken over her late grandmother’s matchmaking business. All Annabelle has to do is land the Windy City’s hottest bachelor as her client, and she’ll be the most sought-after matchmaker in town.

Why does the wealthy, driven, and gorgeous sports agent Heath Champion need a matchmaker, especially a red-haired screw-up like Annabelle Granger? True, she’s entertaining, and she does have a certain quirky appeal. But Heath is searching for the ultimate symbol of success — the perfect wife. And to make an extraordinary match, he needs an extraordinary matchmaker, right?

Soon everyone in Chicago has a stake in the outcome, and a very big question: When the determined matchmaker promised she’d do anything to keep her star client happy . . . did she mean anything? If Annabelle isn’t careful, she just might find herself going heart-to-heart with the toughest negotiator in town.

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Review: SATISFACTION by Sarah Mayberry

satisfaction

Book Info:

Title: Satisfaction
Author: Sarah Mayberry
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: February 28, 2014
Source: received eARC from the author

Book Blurb:

Maggie Hendricks loves her life. She’s got a great job, amazing friends. Everything is perfect – except for one smallish problem. Maggie can’t quite get there, sexually speaking. It’s just never happened for her. And while she tells herself she’s fine with that, she can’t help feeling as though she’s missing out.

When her friend shares the intimate details of an encounter with an extremely talented lover, Maggie makes a desperate pact with herself. She will seduce this man – or allow him to seduce her – and if he can’t get her there…well, then she’ll hand herself over to medical science. A simple enough plan. What could possible go wrong?

Within minutes of meeting Rafel Oliveira, Maggie knows the answer to that one: plenty. But Rafel turns out to be far more than simply talented in the bedroom. As he takes her on a journey toward the ultimate pleasure, Maggie finds herself craving a lot more than his beautiful body. The question is, is Rafel’s heart available for the taking?

 

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