Title : Fan the Flames

Author : Michele Dunaway

Series : N/A

Rating : 4 Stars

Blurb :

Former Navy SEAL turned marine rescue firefighter Brad Silverman is tasked with his toughest mission yet: taking care of his best friend’s wife. The only problem is that Scarlett Harrison has always been the one-the one who got away, the one who held his heart, and the one who has always been off limits… Now widowed Scarlett returns to her childhood home in St. Louis, determined to get her life back on track. She misses her husband but can’t fight the attraction she feels for sexy fireman Brad. As she spends more time with him, the connection they have had since high school grows stronger. Are they finally ready to overcome their pasts and lose their hearts to each other?

Review : Michele Dunaway is a new author to me, but with “Fan the Flames” she sure did a good job in introducing herself to me. This book is one emotional ride from beginning to end. The slowly developing basically “second chance” (in some way) kind of novel is written beautifully and at just the right pace to feel good to the reader. Scarlett and Brad were a really great couple and I could feel for them and relate to them. The characters are well developed and in total it reminds me a little of a Nicholas Sparks novel, which is meant as a compliment.

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Gamma Rift

Kalli Lanford

The Trans-Galactic Insurrection Series

5 Stars

I may be a Prince, but there are things that trouble me about my father’s royal rule—the forced abduction, experimentation, and torture of alien creatures. The king has a new prisoner who’s a carefully kept secret…There’s a young female who belongs to a little-known civilization I have been studying extensively. They are human, belonging to a small, undeveloped planet called Earth. She is pretty in a way I find unusual and compelling. Sometimes I sneak into the adjoining cell and we talk about everything and nothing, even as I find myself yearning to touch her strange, soft skin.Skin that is being subjected to invasive tests and experiments. A body that’s scheduled for a live dissection in fifteen days. And a life that will be terminated unless I risk my future and life to help her escape…

“Gamma Rift” by Kalli Lanford was a huge surprise to me. It seems to be the start of a new series and I am not sure if it is a debut novel or if this is an author just writing under a new pen name. IF this is a debut novel I have to admit I am totally blown away by this really well developed writing style. Even if some parts of the storyline itself are predictable and remind me of other novels I read, the reader is still drawn totally into it from the first page, as there enough new and fresh elements added to it. I kind of got an idea how it was going to work out fast – that I have to admit – but this is not always a bad thing. In this case it let me simply lean back and enjoy the ride as I saw the things develop the way I envisioned them. And the story already gave me a few ideas on how this could be turning out into a series. I will be looking forward into reading more from this author and this series. As I need an answer to the question that has been on my mind since finishing – no spoilers but “will there be hair in near future ?” #laughing

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Five Things I Love About You

Sarah Ballance

N/A

4 Stars

California landscape artist Estelle Donovan hates big cities. Between the grime, the smell, all the drab concrete, and the suffocating summer heat, how can anyone breathe? Housesitting her brother’s New York apartment, complete with broken elevator and smoking air conditioner, is her kind of hell. It’s only for two weeks, though. What could possibly go wrong?Dumping a jar of pickles on the hot girl at the grocery store wasn’t Crosby Chase’s finest hour, nor was getting bitten in the butt by the demonic cat on her fire escape. But he is going to change her mind about his beloved city, damn it. In fact, if they could just make it five minutes without falling into bed, he bets Estelle he can find five things she’ll love about New York.Falling in love wasn’t part of his plan. And with an entire country between them, Crosby realizes he doesn’t need five reasons to make Estelle love New York.He needs one big reason to make her stay…

“Five Things I Love About You” by Sarah Balance is an absolute hilarious novel. It has been a long time since I laughed so much when reading a book. This was a really fast read as the author really created two amazing characters for the readers to enjoy. The funny and witty banter was great to read. And it sure did not do any damage to the story that the relationship between Estelle and Crosby was really so hot I could almost feel it. I think I have to take a look at Sarah Balance’s other novels too, GOD my day needs more good and free hours to read #laughing

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Title:End of Day

Jewel E. Ann

SeriesJack & Jill Series, Book 1

5 Stars

Blurb :Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.Four caskets. Two bodies.Jessica and Jude Day witness their funeral and that of their parents a few yards away from mourning family and friends. Stripped of the only life they’ve ever known, the Days say goodbye to San Francisco forever.Six months later, two thirty-year-old misfits with elite self-defense skills and penchants for alcohol, sex, and trouble arrive like an earthquake to Peaceful Woods, a retirement community in Omaha, Nebraska, that thrives on rules and gossip. Welcome home, Jackson and Jillian Knight.Jackson celebrates his new beginning by embracing his job and wiping his cavalier past clean with a temporary oath of celibacy. But Jillian’s past is branded into her soul—the deaths, the insanity, Dr. Luke Jones, and the need to make her lovers bleed. Her chance for redemption comes in the form of a next door neighbor, one Senior Master Sergeant Monaghan. He’s sexy, dangerously alluring, and riddled with emotional issues from years of service. He’s also … So. Damn. Grumpy. Their mission is simple: Let go, start over, don’t kill anyone, and pray that nobody wakes the dead.

This was the same case with this book! They way this author plays not only with the characters or story-line, but also with her writing-style is very special and visible throughout the whole book.

Because of the flashbacks, at first it was a little bit difficult to actually get into the story, but later on it makes totally sense … You understand why Jewel did what she did…why she wrote this scene the way she wrote it. As an result you get a story that totally touches you while playing with your emotions from the very first page.

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Priest

Sierra Simone

N/A

4 Stars

There are many rules a priest can’t break. A priest cannot marry. A priest cannot abandon his flock. A priest cannot forsake his God.I’ve always been good at following rules. Until she came. My name is Tyler Anselm Bell. I’m twenty-nine years old. Six months ago, I broke my vow of celibacy on the altar of my own church, and God help me, I would do it again. I am a priest and this is my confession.

Review :

This book is very intense. It’s like Gideon Cross meets Father Bell. And if you know both of them, you know what I am talking about. I have no idea what it is about the priest, but it just seems like he always wants the things he can’t have. Most of them are forbidden and dangerous. And even ten he wants more of it….

That is what makes the book so interesting and compelling. You want to know how both protagonists handle the situation and get along with it. The same time this book makes clear that God wants somebody to love. Somebody to live with us for the rest of our life. This book shows us that even priests can’t resist love, even if he is fighting to resist the dangerous emotions caused by falling in love with somebody….

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Title : The Loner

Author : Lindsay McKenna

Series : Jackson Hole #7

Rating : 3 Stars

Blurb : A man at war with himsel. In all her years as deputy sheriff, Shelby Kincaid never met a man as stubborn as Dakota Carson. Practically eaten by a grizzly bear and still that man insists on returning, alone, to his isolated cabin in the Tetons. Shelby’s not even sure why it ruffles her, but she suspects it has a lot to do with the instant, powerful connection she feels with Dakota. If only he’d let down his guard with her. Ten years as a navy SEAL took its toll on Dakota’s body, his mind and his heart. Since being released, he’s endured months of painful physical therapy and brutal nightmares. Dakota wants nothing more than to hide from the world, so why does Shelby’s gentle presence suddenly make him question his seclusion? But when Shelby’s life is threatened, Dakota knows his warrior spirit won’t hide any longer. He just hopes it’s not too late.

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Title : Darkness Torn Asunder

Author : Alexis Morgan

Series : N/A

Rating : 4 Stars

Blurb : Continuing the sexy, paranormal Paladins series where Darkness on Fire left off, this original e-novella features larger-than-life warriors in a secret army that battles evil in the modern world. Fifteen years after Emmett Stone was unjustly imprisoned for a brutal attack, the true aggressor came forward to tell the truth about that fatal night. Shortly before Emmett’s release from prison, he’s visited by two men who understand his strange ability to rapidly heal from anything, and why he’s driven to protect those around him. And they have a very unusual job offer for him… When Emmett cuts his hand at work, his boss insists he go to get stitched up. To keep up the charade of normalcy, Emmett goes to the free clinic, where he meets Jana. Instantly drawn to her quiet beauty and caring nature, he vows to protect her at all costs. But will his fierce protectiveness and hidden secrets cause Jana to run?

Review : Darkness Torn Asunder by Alexis Morgan is written in the same wonderful way as the other Paladin novels before. Ms. Morgans writing is every time a great joy to read.

I really liked the characters but I have to admit that due to the length of the story there was something important missing in the story – the depths.

And I need depth – there was too much missing in the history and the background of the characters . Also the basics of the Paladins seemed to be only mentioned on the sidelines and in the short sequence at the end.

For me as a reader I could not fully relate to the story and therefore I am not able to give more than 4 stars to the story. I hope that the next book will again be as deep as before.

> > > I have received this book as an ARC from the publisher. < < < > > > In exchange, I promised an honest review. < < <

Cliffhanger : (KLICK to find out) !!!

HEA? : (KLICK to find out) !!!

Title : Practice Makes Perfect

Author : Charlene Gloome

Series : The Warriors #3

Rating : 2.5 Stars

Blurb : She’s in the front office. He’s a star player. It’s a match-up guaranteed to melt the ice…Left winger Jared Landry is one of the (gorgeous) faces of Vancouver’s Warriors hockey team—except he’s not comfortable in the spotlight. He gets that charity events are important to the community, he just wants to contribute in his own way. Face-time with the fans puts him in a vulnerable position, bringing up past memories—and present complications. But a certain fiery newcomer won’t take no for an answer…

Meghan O’Riley is the Warriors’ new events coordinator, and she wants everyone on board—including Jared. Meghan knows he has a history of flaking out on important occasions, and she has no patience for his devil-may-care attitude. But Meghan will have to hone her rookie flirting skills to get the star to commit to the team—and maybe even to her…

Review :

> > > I have received this book as an ARC from the publisher. < < < > > > In exchange, I promised an honest review. < < <

Pressure Point

Olivia Luck

Point series (can be read as a standalone)

Stars

I know what you’re thinking. It’s unconventional to want a man nine years older than you. It’s inconvenient to crush on your dearest friend’s older brother. It’s silly to pine after a man for six years. It’s cliché to lust after a celebrity. It’s pathetic to fall in love with a man who barely knows you exist.I know what you’re thinking because I’ve thought it all, too. And yet that hasn’t stopped me from wanting Blake Campbell. Charming, gorgeous, brilliant, kind, selfless – Blake is everything I’ve ever wanted, but he doesn’t see me that way. In fact, he hardly noticed me until one night.Traumatic events brought us together for the first time, but then he tossed me aside. I know it’s irrational, but I wanted him up until the moment he left me lying there alone. When his eyes finally open and he finds out I’ve left, will it be too late?

Review :

With “Pressure Point” by Olivia Luck, you get a beautiful written story about two awesome characters you just need to fall in love with! When I started reading this book, I was exited to see whic direction it’s going. I just couldn’t stop myself from reading as this book took me in so much, because I needed to see how their relationship is going to develop. This standalone is not only about love, about a romantical relationship. There is heart ache and disppointment, but also a positive side of the story which lets you smile from time to time. This is what I would call “the perfect book to just sink your teeth into while laying in bde or sitting on the sofa with something nice to drink”. This story feels real and lively. Good. So thanks for giving us the chance to review this book, Olivia Luck!

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Title : Caged: Takedown Teague

Author : Shay Savage

Series :Caged #1

Rating : 5 Stars

Blurb :This is not made for TV. This is the raw, brutal underground of no-holds-barred combat. Inside the cage there is nothing but me and the pain I inflict on those who dare enter. In the cage, I never have to worry about anyone but myself. Yet, when she began standing outside of the cage, everything changed. I was no longer fighting for the money or the glory – I was fighting for her.

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