Saturday, December 12, 2015

Adieu



Thanks to any and all who stopped by this blog to share some book love with me. It has been fun being able to share my obsession.


Please feel free to follow me on Goodreads I am under the name Liz Scott and have this


  Liz Scott

as my profile picture.


I wish you all, Happy Reading, Always!!




Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Quick and Fierce



Fierce Salon by Aspen Drake



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Fierce Salon is owned by sexy ex-model Nate Edwards. He's a player in every sense of the word but keeps his antics out of the salon. But when Amy takes over his empty chair, all of his carefully constructed walls begin to crumble.



Rate & take



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Just wow! I have been in a real reading slump (it's me, not you, - I tell my books) and this snapped me right the hell out of it! I think the biggest appeal for me was the fact that this does read a bit like a fresh young soap opera. There is enough of a cast of characters that the plot is always moving the reader right along. I can't get enough!!


Now for the low down...the 5 pack above is not even equal to a full length book. Took me a part of an afternoon to read all of it. Parts 6-10 are out now, (each took me about a half hour to read) and parts 11-15 will be out on January 23rd, 2016. So not long of a wait, but enough so that I will miss my new book friends.



Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Mouthy Vamp




Bill the Vampire by Rick Gualtieri



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There are reasons we fear the night. He isn't one of them.

Meet Bill Ryder: programmer, gamer geek, and hopeless dweeb when it comes to women. All he ever asked for out of life was to collect his paycheck, hang out with his buds, and eventually (someday) ask out the girl of his dreams.

However, then Bill met Sally. She was mysterious, aggressive, and best of all...smoking hot. Bill never stood a chance. Before he knew what was happening Sally had lead him to his death, and that was only the beginning of his troubles.

Now Bill awakes to find himself an undead predator of the night. The only problem is he’s still at the bottom of the food chain.

He’s in way over his head, surrounded by creatures more dangerous, better looking, and a whole lot cooler than he is. Worst of all is the dreaded Night Razor, a master vampire who just can’t stand him. He gives Bill a 90-day deadline to either prove himself or meet a more permanent kind of death, and the deck is definitely stacked against him.

But Bill isn’t exactly average. A vampire like him hasn’t been seen in over five centuries. He's got a few tricks up his sleeve, unlikely allies to help him out, and an attitude problem that makes him just too damn obnoxious to quit. He may just pull it off... if he doesn't get his teeth kicked in first.



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I never really got what exactly an 'anti-hero' was until I read this book. Bill sure meets the criteria of someone who lacks 'conventional heroic attributes'. His ineptitude and really good luck keeps this plot moving in crazy and funny directions. If you are looking for something different, you've found it right here, look no further. This is the first book in the, Tome of Bill, series.  


Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Surprised by a third




Distance by David Pandolfe





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A ghost who brings visions of fire. A runaway girl on the streets. A psychic who might be lying about someone’s death. It must be time for Jack and Lauren to get serious.

Ghosts, Lauren can handle. People, on the other hand, can be scary as hell. So when Lauren finds herself visited by a young girl who's clearly no longer of this world, she’s more intrigued than anything else. It's only when this ongoing visitation coincides with receiving a psychic distress call from a girl who desperately wants to stay missing that Lauren becomes both curious and frightened.

Soon, Jack and Lauren find themselves pitted against a ticking clock as they try to rescue a girl the police are searching for, at least one man is hunting, and who another psychic claims to have already seen dead.



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Such a pleasant surprise to find that a third book was published in this the, Streetlights Like Fireworks, series. I grabbed it right up and began reading it right away. So good to be back with Jack and Lauren and their friends. I will forever be a fan and happily wait for whatever books may come. There are a few plot points I am looking forward to seeing addressed in future books and I do believe the author will clear them up nicely as the story continues.



Wednesday, November 11, 2015

No mixed review here



Risk It by Jennifer Chance



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As dominating in business as he is in bed, Rand Sterling Winston, IV, always gets what he wants. And even before he realizes that she’s scammed him into paying triple the cost for her friend’s painting, he wants Dani Michaels. To catch her alone, Rand demands she personally deliver his purchase. The attraction between them is immediate and electric, and he knows she feels it, too. So when the part-time petty thief rebuffs his advances, he gives her a choice: a night in jail or an evening with him.

Despite her checkered past, Dani has never met someone like Rand: brooding, intense, and oh-so tempting. Only a man with a broken soul could make losing control feel this dangerous. Still, when Rand proposes a no-strings, no-holds-barred affair, Dani’s more than a little intrigued. It’ll be the trickiest con she's ever run and a chance to indulge her steamiest fantasies—nothing more. But as their encounters grow increasingly intimate, Dani uncovers a vulnerable side to Rand’s steely exterior . . . and opens her heart to the ultimate risk.



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I noticed this title had usually mixed reviews on Goodreads, I had no pause about my rating because I very much enjoyed this book. Could the plot have been a little less thin? Sure, but overall it was just what I needed, a little steam with a little food for thought. I wish the author would do a follow up on these two damaged creatures.


Readers Note: I found out this book is the 4th in the Rule Breakers series but it reads just fine as a stand alone.


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

All in the title



Fugly by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff


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My name is Lily Snow. I am twenty-five years old, and despite being born with an unattractive face, I have never doubted who I am: smart, driven, and beautiful on the inside. 

Until I met Maxwell Cole.

He’s handsome, excessively wealthy, and the owner of Cole Cosmetics. It’s been my dream to work for this man for as long as I can remember. The good news is he wants to hire me. The bad news is he wants me for all the wrong reasons. Ugly reasons. 

In exchange, he’s offered me my dreams on a silver platter. The job. The title. A beautiful future. But this man is as messed up and ugly as they come on the inside. I’m not sure anyone can help him, and he just might take my heart down with him.



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This was a very off-the-cuff choice for me but it paid off by being a decent page turner. I would recommend it as a good beach read.




Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Following up



After You by Jojo Moyes



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How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .

For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.



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Oh how I waited for this book from the very first minute I heard it was being released, months ago. I adored Me Before You so anything that would follow it up was for me. I did enjoy spending more time with the characters I felt so good with before. At the same time, this book was a paler companion to the original. I didn't feel the same spark and dizzying heights that Me Before You brought. However I am not saying pass this book by, I think it is well worth the time to get a closure on the ensemble. 




Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Good decryption



Black Cipher Files  - boxed set by Lisa Hughey



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BLOWBACK

Years ago, Jamie Hunt sacrificed everything to keep her sister protected and safe. Now she lives alone, works alone, survives alone. When a covert mission goes horribly wrong, she can trust no one.

On the trail of a missing teenager, private investigator Lucas Goodman’s investigation leads him to Jamie. Despite her attempts to ditch him, Lucas tenaciously shadows Jamie, realizing he doesn’t just want information...he wants her.

When Jamie’s sister is in danger, Jamie is forced to team up with Lucas. Together they must expose the connection between agents’ murders, a missing teenager, and a sixty-year-old government conspiracy.

Betrayals

Staci Grant is dead. Jordan Ramirez saw the photographs, but he refuses to believe. His missing lover is the best CIA officer in the field. Now Jordan must find Staci and convince her that trusting him means the difference between staying alive or staying dead.

Staci has been betrayed. Captured, imprisoned and tortured, it took all her skills to escape. Now she is determined to uncover who set her up and why, a mission that leaves no room for trust.

When Jordan finds her, he won’t take no for an answer, and together they desperately race to unravel a decades’ old secret. But each revelation brings fresh betrayals that threaten their love and their lives.

Burned

Zeke Hawthorne, a programmer and hacker at the NSA, is in trouble. Under investigation to make sure had hasn’t divulged national secrets, he’s sent on a boondoggle. All he has to do is keep an eye on Sunshine, from afar, and make sure she’s safe.

Sunshine Smith’s entire world was blown apart thirteen years ago when her obsessive stepfather killed her grandparents. She and her mother went into hiding to escape. For years they’ve been safe…until now.

When Sunshine is threatened, Zeke cannot keep his distance. Only danger and betrayal are coming for Zeke too. Zeke and Sunshine must combine forces to stay one step ahead of the peril that stalks them, but trust between two people who grew up without faith is a difficult bond to form.



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I am so glad I found this gem of a boxed set. Each story flowed into the next with the just the right amount of connection to the others. I will say about half way through I did figure out who "the" big bad villain of the whole plot was, but this did not deter me from one second of reading enjoyment. Instead I was engrossed in the spy craft and of course, the love that bloomed along the way. With these stories you get the best of both. The author did say she is thinking of writing two more stories for two fringe characters who deserve a happily ever after, I will be there when she does!




Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Lots of arranging



The Arrangement 18,19 & 20 by H.M. Ward



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18

Sean is the last person I expected to pull open the door to the Ferro mansion, and yet here he is. My plan turns to dust and blows away. After everything I went through, I'm back at the beginning, falling at the feet of the only man that can save me.


19


Some things come easy in life, but this is the hardest situation I could have imagined. The man I love, the broken billionaire Sean Ferro, has finally dropped his guard and opened his heart. He's let me in. He's shared his life and his love. Then the unimaginable happens. One event cascades into another until I’m standing at the shore with blood on my hands, betraying the man I swore to love forever.


20

My life fractures with a single gunshot. It pierces the night, shattering my heart. The unstoppable billionaire Sean Ferro is brought to his knees by a bullet. I can't stop it. I can't save him.

A silent scream lodges in my throat as I watch in horror. The consequences of my past decisions are catching up with me. My mother's sins are now mine, and nothing that can wash the innocent blood from my hands.

This is my fault.

I'm forced to defeat my biggest adversary alone, and the worst part is he's my only brother.




Rate & take



#18 and #20 have a rating of...


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Rating for #19...


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Since all of the books in this series are short, quick reads, I saved them up for a mini-marathon session. Also, part of me was worried I had lost my lovin' feelin' for this series and figured if I had more to read I would push through any falter in the plot. Once I starter I was quickly reassured H.M. Ward was still working with all her magic and these three books just flew by. Now I'm excited for the next one. We'll see if I can be disciplined again and save a few up before I dive in once again.





Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Intuition led me here



Streetlights Like Fireworks by David Pandolfe


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Psychic flashes, haunting visions, missing persons and visits from ghosts. That's just their first date.

Jack has been getting on his parents' nerves for some time. Bad enough he's a rock musician, has crappy grades and hangs out with his "loser" friends. But Jack's ability to predict the future-well, that just annoys the hell out of them.

Jack's classmate, Lauren, is said to have unique abilities too. The town still talks about when she kept badgering her mother about the money in their wall. For the longest time, Lauren's mother didn't listen. Finally, she did and Lauren's mother hasn't had to work since.

Jack would really like to connect with Lauren but can't figure out how. She's never looked at him twice. But when he experiences a mystifying event involving visions, voices and spectral visits, Jack figures there's only one person to help him understand who's calling out to him and why. Before long, Jack and Lauren are off on a road trip of discovery that could provide answers to a mystery left unsolved for twenty years. More importantly, they might even unravel the greatest mystery of all- how every so often someone will accept you for who you are.



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Another title I bought a while ago and gave no love to. Then I was doing my best Wheel of Fortune imitation while moving the carousel on my Kindle, and this book jumped out at me. The time was now. A very different story that led me right along and then left my mouth hanging opening, 'casue I never saw the twist coming. I was more than happy finding out there was one more book to finish things up properly. So I hopped right to it, and now you can see my review below.




The Dragonfly Season


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For Lauren, there's nothing particularly scary about seeing ghosts or experiencing psychic flashes. After all, this is the world she knows. Still, none of that prepares her for suddenly connecting with the mind of Vicky Stearns, a girl she's never seen before. Lauren has no idea what caused the connection to happen or why, of all the people in the world, she received this psychic distress call. Her confusion soon turns to fear when she learns that the girl went missing earlier that same day.

Part of Lauren wants to pretend this vision didn't find her. It's darker than anything she's had to deal with before, the stakes so much higher. She also knows more than anyone what it means when a child goes missing. After all, she's been searching for her own brother for over a decade.

There's only one person Lauren can think of with abilities keen enough to help her navigate the visions gripping her. Jack, the boy whose own psychic awakening drew them on a journey across the country together last summer. But Lauren hasn't seen Jack in nearly a year. She also gave him every possible signal that it was over between them, hoping he'd be better off without her in his new life. When Lauren sets out to unravel the mystery, she knows only two things: This will be her last chance with Jack and her only chance to save Vicky Stearns.


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This book was a dialed down version of the first, when it came to the thread of magical reading goodness that inhabited it. Part of me thinks it was the switch to her perspective in this book, part of her appeal in the first book was trying to guess what she was thinking, now that that is gone, she is not so mysterious. I still maintain it was a good story and I am glad I got the full closure of the packaged deal.





Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Undead Duo




The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes


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Some people are born boring. Some live boring. Some even die boring. Fred managed to do all three, and when he woke up as a vampire, he did so as a boring one. Timid, socially awkward, and plagued by self-esteem issues, Fred has never been the adventurous sort.


One fateful night – different from the night he died, which was more inconvenient than fateful – Fred reconnects with an old friend at his high school reunion. This rekindled relationship sets off a chain of events thrusting him right into the chaos that is the parahuman world, a world with chipper zombies, truck driver wereponies, maniacal necromancers, ancient dragons, and now one undead accountant trying his best to “survive.” Because even after it’s over, life can still be a downright bloody mess.


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Ah, Fred, my new, book best friend. I've read a many a vampire tale but none come close to Fred. Scaredy-cat Fred is still the same undead as he was alive, and while he might shun it, the unpredictable and exciting seem to find him, a lot. This first book was a little stiff (pun intended) but it was still original enough to hold my interest and continue on to the second book...see review below.





Undeath and taxes



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After discovering just how filled with magic, intrigue, and adventure the parahuman world of being an Undead American can be, Fredrick Frankford Fletcher did exactly what was expected--he became a certified parahuman accountant. Myths and legends, as it turns out, are not so great at taking appropriate deductions and keeping their receipts, and Fred is more than happy to return to a life others view as woefully dull, expanding his accounting business to cater to various monsters and their respective financial needs.

Said monsters are, unfortunately, still spectacular at pulling Fred into trouble, though. And despite merely wanting to stick with simple paperwork, Fred once again finds he is going to have to deal with enchanted weaponry, government agents, possessed houses, and one enigmatic dragon’s interest. In the parahuman world, any business can turn deadly, even one as mundane as accounting.




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I could not wait to jump right into this book after reading the first one and I was rewarded with a wonderful read. So filled with life (yup, I'll own that pun too) and crazy great situations. No word whether this was the last book or not. I sure hope not because I could see myself hangin' with Fred and the gang for some time to come.



Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Some Laughs



Shopping for a Billionaire - boxed set by Julia Kent



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No? So it really is just me. Hmm.

When you're a mystery shopper, you get paid to humiliate yourself, all in the name of improving customer service. Romance isn't in my job description. But the day I met Declan McCormick it was love at first flush. 
Until I nearly castrated him with my EpiPen.

How Hot Guy and Toilet Girl became an item involves my crazy mom, a trip to the ER, my homicidal cat, my fake wife, and true love.

Don't look at me like that. I'm just doing my job.

I'm shopping for a billionaire.



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I remember years ago romance novel buyers would be content with chasing after the elusive millionaire, oh how times have changed. What with inflation and recent economic woes for most regular folks, we now can't afford a mere millionaire, to be worth our time he needs another comma to his stats. So as not to buy into the snobbery I try not to read any book that list the first quality of a guy by how big of a baller he is. But here is where I lapsed, and I won't ask forgiveness because 1) It won't happen again and 2) I really did get some solid laughs out of this book. Like right in the middle of cubical world (where I sit at work) laughs that I could not hold in - and made no excuses for! There was some repetitiveness in the writing but most of the time the humor helped me over that nicely. 




Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Were' lovin' & more



Werewolves of New York by Faleena Hopkins


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This is a stand-alone complete story with no cliffhangers. 18+

Michelle Nero is a smart, savvy, curvy brunette…and a very loyal friend. So much so that she leaves a club where she locked eyes with the most handsome man she’d ever seen, to tuck her drunken friend Rose into bed. Forgetting to have the taxi wait for her, she finds herself walking home in the dark streets of Downtown Manhattan. When an unsavory villain throws her into the shadows of an alley, a powerful someone comes to her rescue, but she doesn’t know who. She’s too busy doing what he told her to do: RUN.

When he went to the club, Nathaniel Jacobs was looking for something superficial and very, very temporary. When a pretty brunette’s skirt accidentally hikes up and mortified, she flips around and locks eyes with him…something clicks inside his chest, and there’s nothing temporary about it. Needing to have her, he stalks her to Rose’s place and it’s a good thing, too, because there he discovers her being attacked in an alley. Acting fast, he lets his wolf out and lays waste to the bad guy. But he can’t tell Michelle it was him who saved her, even when she gazes up at him and demands to know why he knows where she lives when they’ve never said two words to each other.

He can’t tell her what he is…or can he? And will his three packmates let her be the first human they’ve ever told?




Rate & take



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This little novella was just the right size for a few hours of afternoon entertainment. It was a simplistic story but that did not detract from my reading enjoyment at all. This book starts the 'Secretly Among Us', series, and it seems like each guy in the pack is going to score his mate in each individual book. There are 4 hot men in the pack and as of the writing of this, three books have already been published. Next time I have some spare cash I just might grab another guy or two!



Knight Ended



The Forever Queen by Nicola Dorrington



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Cara thought fate and the magic of the Fair Folk were done with her the night she defeated Morgana Le Fey and restored the barriers between this world and Avalon. She was wrong.

Lance is trapped in Avalon, and something more powerful and more dangerous than anything Cara has yet faced is trapped in this world. The only way to fix it is to break an ancient and powerful spell, but first Cara will have to figure out who or what cast it.

In the meantime the line between Cara’s two worlds is blurring. There are those in this world who know who she is, and have plans of their own for her future. Those plans involve treason.

Unfortunately those same people hold the key to breaking the spell and Cara will have to choose between Lance, her future, and saving the world.




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So, it's true, the series wasn't really a series but was rather a, what? Three books are a trilogy, but what should we call a two book story?? 
I just looked it up, a two book story is called a duology. Not as cool of a word as trilogy, but it's what we have to work with.
About this book, I liked it but it lacked a thread of magic that ran through the first book and some of the conflicts felt a bit too easily solved. However the author did mention the possibility of offshoot books so that lesser characters in the duology could have their turn in the sun too. I think I would be game to read them too!






Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Knightly swooning



The Last Knight by Nicola Dorrington


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Like any teenage girl, Cara Page dreams of the future, the difference is, every day those dreams come true.

Now she's dreaming of a boy, and a future that can't be real. Because if it is, then everything she thought was myth and legend is actually true, and there is an evil coming that will tear the country apart.

Lance Filwer is a boy with secrets of his own, and a past full of mistakes he can't undo. Cara is his second chance, his chance to succeed where he failed before - if only she'll trust him enough to let him help her.

Cara needs to know what's happening, but the answer lies in a long forgotten past, and an ancient legend. To find it Cara will have to travel into the depths of Wales, and the heart of ancient Britain.

With Wraiths, creatures from the darkest of myths, dogging her every move, Cara knows it's only a matter of time before they catch up with her. And myth or not, they will kill her.

Her only hope is Lance, and the birthright she must claim, if she is to prevent the future she has foreseen.




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This book is a YA listed under the Pendragon series, but the author calls the second book a sequel. In my next review I will report if book two feels like the end, or if maybe there will be more to come. I loved this read! It has a little bit of everything, time travel, magic, battles, looney bins, and of course, yummy boys. 


Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Crazy eights




Eighth Grave After Dark by Darynda Jones


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With twelve hellhounds after her, pregnant Charley Davidson takes refuge at the only place she thinks they can’t get to her: the grounds of an abandoned convent. But after months of being cooped up there, Charley is ready to pop. Both metaphorically and literally since she is now roughly the size of a beached whale. Fortunately, a new case has captured her attention, one that involves a murder on the very grounds the team has taken shelter upon. A decades-old murder of the newly-vowed nun she keeps seeing in the shadows is almost enough to pull her out of her doldrums.

Charley’s been forbidden to step foot off the sacred grounds. While the angry hellhounds can’t traverse the consecrated soil, they can lurk just beyond its borders. They have the entire team on edge, especially Reyes. And if Charley didn’t know better, she would swear Reyes is getting sick. He grows hotter with every moment that passes, his heat scorching across her skin every time he’s near, but naturally he swears he’s fine.

While the team searches for clues on the Twelve, Charley just wants answers and is powerless to get them. But the mass of friends they’ve accrued helps. They convince her even more that everyone in her recent life has somehow been drawn to her, as though they were a part of a bigger picture all along. But the good feelings don’t last for long because Charley is about to get the surprise of her crazy, mixed-up, supernatural life….



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If you could hear me you would know that I am sighing contentedly. Surely an unusual state of being for someone that now has to wait until January, 2016 for the next book in the series. But there you have it. The story, the characters, are just so delicious I feel satisfied with every book. Oh, I don't I think I shared something that makes me love these books even more: no cliff hangers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Diggin' it



Seventh Grave and No Body by Darynda Jones




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Twelve. Twelve of the deadliest beasts ever forged in the fires of hell have escaped onto our plane, and they want nothing more than to rip out the jugular of Charley Davidson and serve her lifeless, mangled body to Satan for dinner. So there’s that. But Charley has more on her plate than a mob of testy hellhounds. For one thing, her father has disappeared, and the more she retraces his last steps, the more she learns he was conducting an investigation of his own, one that has Charley questioning everything she’s ever known about him. Add to that an ex-BFF who is haunting her night and day, a rash of suicides that has authorities baffled, and a drop-dead sexy fiancé who has attracted the attentions of a local celebrity, and Charley is not having the best week of her life.

A tad north of hell, a hop, skip, and a jump past the realm of eternity, is a little place called Earth, and Charley Davidson, grim reaper extraordinaire, is determined to do everything in her power to protect it.

We’re doomed.


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I am so into this series, and if I don't pump the brakes I will be out of books before I know it. But I just can't slow down for anything, not sleep, not work. Nothing! Oh but the pain of separation later is so worth all the enjoyment I am having right now.



Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Power packed graves



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Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet


Sometimes being the grim reaper really is, well, grim. And since Charley’s last case went so awry, she has taken a couple of months off to wallow in the wonders of self-pity. But when a woman shows up on her doorstep convinced someone is trying to kill her, Charley has to force herself to rise above...or at least get dressed. It becomes clear something is amiss when everyone the woman knows swears she’s insane. But the more they refute the woman’s story, the more Charley believes it.

In the meantime, the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, is out of prison and out of Charley’s life, as per her wishes and several perfectly timed death threats. But his absence has put a serious crimp in her sex life. While there are other things to consider, like the fact that the city of Albuquerque has been taken hostage by an arsonist, Charley is having a difficult time staying away. Especially when it looks like Reyes may be involved.

Just when life was returning to normal, Charley is thrust back into the world of crime, punishment, and the devil in blue jeans in this hilarious fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling series.


Fifth Grave Past the Light


Charley Davidson isn't your everyday, run-of-the-mill grim reaper. She's more of a paranormal private eye/grim reaper extraordinaire. However, she gets sidetracked when the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, moves in next door. To further complicate matters, Reyes is her main suspect in an arson case. Charley has vowed to stay away from him until she can find out the truth...but then dead women start appearing in her apartment, one after another, each lost, confused, and terrified beyond reason. When it becomes apparent that her own sister, Gemma is the serial killer's next target, Charley has no choice but to ask for Reyes's help. Arsonist or not, he's the one man alive who could protect Gemma no matter who or what came at her. But he wants something in return. Charley. All of her, body and soul. And to keep her sister safe, it is a price she is willing to pay.


Sixth Grave on the Edge


Few things in life can come between a grim reaper and her coffee, but the sexy, sultry son of Satan is one of them. Now that Reyes Farrow has asked for her hand, Charley Davidson feels it's time to learn more about his past, but Reyes is reluctant to open up. When the official FBI file of his childhood abduction lands in her lap, Charley decides to go behind her mysterious beau’s back and conduct her own investigation. Because what could go wrong?

Unfortunately, another case has fallen into her lap—one with dangerous implications. Some very insistent men want Charley to hunt down a witness who is scheduled to testify against their boss, a major player in the local crime syndicate. If Charley doesn't come up with an address in 48 hours, the people closest to her will start to disappear.

Add to that a desperate man in search of the soul he lost in a card game, a dogged mother determined to find the ghost of her son, and a beautiful, young Deaf boy haunted by his new ability to see the departed as clearly as he sees the living, and Charley has her hands full. The fact that Reyes has caught on to her latest venture only adds fuel to the inferno that he is. Good thing for Charley she's used to multi-tasking and always up for a challenge…especially when that challenge comes in the form of Reyes Farrow.




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After book two I told myself, no more! No more full priced books for you! Yet there I was late one night perusing the Darynda Jones isle on Amazon, and lo and behold, what did I see? This little combo pack for me! The money saving part of my brain (I'll admit it has to be smaller than a pea) was overridden by the logic of saving by buying in bulk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, I bought it and hugged it - mentally of course, as I did not want to break my Kindle - and got right to reading. Only, every once in while I got stumped. They were speaking of things that had already happened...puzzling. I was still having a great time and making out what the action was all about, so I stayed in my happy reading bubble. When I did come up for air I realized in my zeal to save money I had forgotten to see which book I actually should be in. Turns out in my buying frenzy I never bought or read book book three in the series, and by this time I was way too invested in the current plot line to let go and back track. Instead I just used the authors excellent skills at explaining past plot points to guide me out of the unknown territories.


This is reading bliss folks! Go forth and find some reading bliss for you too.



Wednesday, August 12, 2015

All gravy



Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones



9565045



If you hang around with dead people, life can get pretty complicated. Take it from Charley Davidson, part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper. Complicated is her middle name. The deceased find her very sparkly. Demons find her irresistible. And one entity in particular wants to seduce her in every way possible.

When Charley and Cookie (her best friend/receptionist) have to track down a missing woman, the case is not quite as open and shut as they anticipate. Cookie's friend Mimi disappeared five days earlier. Mimi then sends Cookie a cryptic message telling Cookie to meet her at an nearby coffee shop. The coffee is brewing, but Mimi's still missing. There is, however, a clue Mimi left on the bathroom wall: a woman's name. Mimi's husband explains to them that his wife had been acting strange since she found out an old high school friend had been murdered. The same woman whose name Mimi had scribbled on the bathroom wall.

Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally) has left his corporeal body and is haunting Charley. He's left his body because he's being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can't let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they'll have a portal to heaven...well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.

Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Can she keep those she loves out of harm's way? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel her as she does?



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I feel like we have hit a nice cruising altitude with this series. The characters have been established and are now further developing. The sassy quips from the female lead no longer feel forced, and the plot intrigue just keeps me reading right past my bedtime.
I devour these books, they could each be 3 times longer and still not enough for me. 




Wednesday, August 5, 2015

On the good foot

 
 
 
First Grave on the Right  by Darynda Jones
 
 
 
8788554
 
 




This whole grim reaper thing should have come with a manual.
Or a diagram of some kind.
A flow chart would have been nice.

Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper. Meaning, she sees dead people. Really. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (like murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. But what does he want with Charley? And why can't she seem to resist him? And what does she have to lose by giving in?
 
 
 
 
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Reader's Note: I kept this book lingering on my Amazon wish list for, like, months. It sounded good, it was well rated, it's just that it cost full price for the ebook edition. I'm all about the bargain, free or .99 cent books! I know they all can't be basement discounted, but I also know it can get expensive to got hooked on a series at full price. But, forked over the money I eventually did, again and again, even when my brain was screaming stop, my heart was saying, this series is like a Pringles - you can't eat (er, read) just one. That is why I wait-listed it for as long as I could. When I could not take the reading drought any longer (nothing good to read on my horizon and nothing I owned was catching my interest) I got off the bucks and got happy reading. And I am so glad I did!
This is the first book in the Charley Davidson series and currently there are 8 books, the 9th will be out in January, 2016. And large cost or no, I will be buying that book. If you do decide to read this book, and are buying an ebook, save yourself some money and buy the bundle that has books 1-3. There is also a bundle for books 4-6, which I did buy. Sadly I missed out on the first bundle because I didn't know it was available.
 
 
Charley is a bit of a Jill of all trades, she helps the local police department, has her own public investigation business, and can see/hear/talk/and touch/dead people. There are two things you can count on with Charley, she always runs into the fray to save the day, (most of the time with an ill advised half-assed plan) and she will wise crack on every step of the way. I have come to love that about her, but in this first book, and only this one, it feels like the author tried a little too hard with the quips. That is the only negative I have to say about this book. As an added bonus there is a little heat spinkled in with the danger, and sometimes the heat was the danger, but I will leave that to you to find out. For me it was pure reading fun.
 
 
 
 


Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Basic

 
 
Belong to You  by Vi Keeland
 
 
 
17458478
 
 
 
 
 
My honeymoon was almost everything I dreamed it would be, a tropical paradise, turquoise water, romantic walks on the beach, and loads and loads of mind shattering sex. The only thing missing was the groom.

After seven years of coasting through a relationship with Michael, my senses were numb. A week of passion with a stranger was just what I needed to clear my head and take back control of my life. But how do you move on when the man that was only supposed to be a fling somehow seeps into your soul and steals your heart?
 
 
 
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It had possibilities...I always like to think every book starts off with possibilities. There was nothing glaringly bad about the book, it's just that the language was basic and the characters no where near fully developed. I need to feel, to be invested in the story enough to care, to nearly feel like these characters could be real three dimensional people. This was not that. But, it might make an uncomplicated, o.k., beach read.
 
 
Readers note: This is book one of the Cole series. I do not feel the pull to continue onto book 2.
 
 
 
 


Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Sex - with plot on the side



Sleeping Dragons Omnibus by Ophelia Bell


22390536



Erika’s spent her entire post-graduate career searching for it. The elusive dragon stronghold her archaeologist professors scoffed at as being only a myth. Now she has the perfect team and has led them into the deepest reaches of the Sumatran jungle. At the edge of the discovery of the century, she’s finally about to prove to everyone how wrong they were. 

But when the seven intrepid explorers pass through the doors they’re barely prepared for the conflict of lust versus logic they’re faced with on the inside. Ages-old magic lingers in the stronghold, dictating that they perform a ritual to awaken the long-slumbering beasts within. And beasts that beautiful only awaken to one thing: the unbridled release of humans in the throes of ecstasy.

Series of six novelettes that include menage, voyeurism, masturbation, and all kinds of other fun kinks involving shapeshifting mythical beasts who breathe magic smoke and have very long, prehensile tongues.



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Read the book blurb above, that will tell you all you need to know for you to decided if this title is for you, or not. As you can see from my rating I did like it. This ins't deep reading, but could be fun on the beach, just be careful not to scorch the sand.