The Duke’s Holiday (by Maggie Fenton)

Posted on June 7, 2014 by setaian

Regency Romance

The Duke of Montford likes everything to be neatly lined up. A place for everything and everything in it’s place. The one blemish on his ordered ledger is a small unprofitable estate in Yorkshire. An estate which was swindled out of the family 100s of years earlier and will only return to him after the last male descendent of the Honeywell’s, the cads who swindled his family, shuffles off his mortal coil.

When Montford discovers that the aforementioned Honeywell did in fact pass on many years earlier he immediately smells a rat. Someone has been sending him reports from the estate and it’s lack of funds and signing them “A. Honeywell”.

Astrid Honeywell has been managing the estate and the family brewery since she was a child. Unfortunately as a woman she isn’t a legitimate heir and by rights the estate should be returned to the Duke of Montford. After Montford sends his right hand man to investigate she realises her number is up, but she won’t go down without a fight.

Astrid is completely wrong for Montford. Everything about her is wrong. Her hair is an unruly mess or red tangles. Her eyes are different colours, and not only does she wear a man’s clothing she insists on riding her horse astride. She definitely won’t fit into his ordered life.

But despite driving him crazy at every turn, she is also the first person who has been able to make him come alive –– to enjoy life, to get drunk and to make a fool of himself.

The Dukes Holiday is a complete romp. It’s great fun form beginning to end, one of those rare perfect books that I can’t fault in any way.

Yellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

The Line (by J.D. Horn)

Posted on June 5, 2014 by setaian

Paranormal Fantasy / Urban Fantasy

In a family of powerful witches, Mercy is the one person who has no power. Her twin sister is the golden girl and is expected to take the reins when her Aunt Ginny, the matriarch finally dies. But when Mercy visits a Hoodoo Root Witch who steals power to use in love spells and curses, she finds herself in the middle of some serious complications. Her aunt is brutally murdered and she suspects the death was a part of blood spell performed by the Root witch.

With nobody she can trust she needs to figure out what is going on before the killer decides to take her out.

The Line is very good paranormal fantasy reminiscent of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files. Strangely Mercy Taylor is being touted as the next Sookie Stackhouse –– I’m not seeing it but then again I’m not particularly a fan of the Sookie Stackhouse books. Personally I think this book is better, certainly more fun.

If I have a criticism, it’s that there was a bit of info-dumping towards the end and because of that the final few chapters started to drag. But I’m still impressed and will be reading book two The Source first chance I get.

Yellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

Just one thing (by Holly Jacobs)

Posted on May 30, 2014 by setaian

Women’s Fiction

Every monday night, Lexie walks into Sam’s bar. She sits down and orders a beer. Every monday night, Sam puts a beer in front of her and asks, “Just one thing?”

As the weeks and months progress, her story unfolds through small glimpses of happy and sad moments, building to the tragedy that led her to be sitting on her own in a bar, drinking a single beer before trudging the two miles home.

Through the telling of her story, and listening to Sam’s own story, she gradually finds healing and a redemption of a sort.

Just One Thing is by no means an easy book. It deals with difficult issues –– sadness, guilt and perhaps even loneliness. The book progresses at a measured pace with clues to what led Lexie to where she is given in stories from her life.

I’m honestly not even sure how to categorise it, I hesitate to call it romance even though it is being marketed as such. It’s probably a little closer to women’s fiction, but with some romantic elements. I don’t think it’s for everyone, but I do think it’s very good and I loved it. It definitely has a soul and it’s heart is in the right place.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Montlake Romance for providing me with this ARC

Yellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

Ghouls Rush In (by H.P. Mallory)

Posted on May 18, 2014 by setaian

Paranormal Romance

After escaping her domineering husband, Peyton moves into a rundown antebellum home left to her by a distant aunt. Needing to keep herself busy she decides to restore the home to its former glory and manages to get Ryan, a specialist in restoring homes to take on the job.

She soon discovers the home is haunted by Drake, a policeman who died sometime in the early 20th century, and as he visits her in her sleep a story unfolds about a series of brutal murders which terrorised the people of New Orleans in nearly 100 years earlier. And it’s possible that Peyton has inadvertently invited the spirit of the murderer into her home.

She finds herself caught between a ghost who is protecting her from the malevolence that has entered her home and the contractor who is still mourning the loss of his wife.

Ghouls Rush In is quite a surprising book. It wasn’t till page sixty that the ghosts arrived, until then it felt very much like a renovation romance. Even then it seemed liked a fairly cute and harmless ghost story. But at the half way mark it definitely got creepy. There were things going on in this book that had cold shivers running up and down my spine.

It’s really very good, and if books about ghosts, spirits and voodoo sound like your thing, this is definitely one of the better ones I’ve read.

Many thanks to Montlake Romance and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

Yellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

Avoiding Alpha (by Aileen Erin)

Posted on May 7, 2014 by setaian

Young Adult

Tessa who is both a witch and a werewolf is not having a very good day. Her best friend Meredith was cursed years earlier, a curse which trapped her werewolf and prevented her from shifting. Now she has suddenly fallen violently ill and as her life is slipping away, it is left to Tessa to save her. But saving her might only be possible if she makes a deal with the devil, the witch who cast the spell and is leader of a powerful coven of witches.

Avoiding Alpha is such a great book. It sits somewhere between a long novella and a short novel, but despite its length (or lack of it) it packs in a whole bunch of story. Aileen Erin has managed to deliver a book which sets the scene and introduces characters who will take the stage in Alpha Divided (due out in October), but she has also given us a book which stands on its own merits. It never drags and is entertaining to the last page turn.

Many thanks to Ink Monster and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

Yellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

The Best Medicine (by Tracy Brogan)

Posted on April 30, 2014 by setaian

Contemporary Romance

When Evelyn turns 35 she smashes right into the ticking time bomb that is her womb. With the help of her two closest friends and aided by a list of attributes the perfect guy should have she begins her quest to find Mr Right. But the dating world is turning out to not be all moonlight and roses.

When Tyler lands in the Emergency Department after an accident on a stolen Jet-ski Evelyn feels an immediate twinge in the pants department –– but on her perfect match meter he rates an absolute zero and adding to his dismal prospects, he’s 10 years younger than her. But the pants will want what the pants will want.

The Best Medicine is pretty damned classy contemporary romance. Those of us who read a lot of the genre can recognise a trope from a mile away, but Tracy Brogan has delivered a surprisingly refreshing story about two people from different worlds who are attracted to each other despite their differences. It’s an entertaining and upbeat story, and a great book to read on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Many thanks to Montlake Romance and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

Yellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

Dreams of Gods and Monsters (by Laini Taylor)

Posted on April 27, 2014 by setaian

Young Adult / Fantasy

(this review may contain minor spoilers for Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

The Seraphim (angels) and the Chimaera (monsters) have battled for dominance in Eretz for more than 1000 years. After a forbidden love between Akiva (a Seraphim warrior) and Karou (a chimaera woman) is discovered, both are sentenced to death. But Akiva escapes and when his love is killed he embarks on a path of revenge. Using the knowledge he gained from Karou he sets into motion a plan which will finish the Chimaera forever.

Days of Blood and Starlight

The Chimaera have been destroyed. Their resurrectionist who was the only one who stood between them and defeat has been killed.

But what follows war isn’t peace but genocide. The Seraph set about killing the fleeing chimaera, defenceless civilians. When Akiva discovers that Karou survived he is wracked with guilt over what he has done. With a small band of Misbegotten Seraph warriors he sets about righting a wrong and protecting the fleeing refugees.

Dreams of Gods and Monsters

The last of the Chimaera find themselves allied with a group of Seraph warriors, the Misbegotten. But mistrust and enmity follow them with every step. If they are to have any hope of standing against the Seraph armies arrayed against them they will need to learn to trust –– but 1000 years of mistrust is difficult to overcome.

Akiva and Karou also need to overcome the mistrust that has replaced their love because of what Akiva did. But they need to find that love if their audacious plane to defeat their enemies and usher in an age of peace is to succeed.

This series is difficult to review. I finished it well over a week ago and the words have simply eluded me. Honestly this entire series is so beautiful that anything I say just won’t be enough.

I’m a bit of a collector of tattoos on Pinterest, and every now and then I see a tattoo that just makes me shake my head and think, ‘are people really that dumb’. One which immediately springs to mind is the guy who was tattooed with an F-14 Tomcat with “Iceman” underneath…I just thought to myself ‘you idiot’.

Well, I was thinking to myself, if you are going to tattoo yourself with words, they might as well be beautiful words. I’ve seen quite a few tattoos inspired by this series, mostly on women, and every time I just think to myself, ‘well done, that’s cool’. And that’s about all there is to it, these books are so wonderful that they deserve to be tattooed onto people’s skin, so let me leave you with this.

Yellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

Round One (by Lucian Bane)

Posted on April 20, 2014 by setaian

Erotic Fiction

Tara and Lucian meet in the queue for an audition for a pay per view TV show in which doms compete against each other until only one couple remains. Thrown together as a team Lucian needs to quickly show Tara the ropes (lol).

Lucian is a dom of his own making. He eschews the type of dom lifestyle depicted in erotic fiction. He doesn’t use whips or bondage, preferring to dominate in other ways.

Tara isn’t in the lifestyle and is only there because she desperately needs the money, but despite her naïveté her black belt in Ju Jutsu and her smart mouth make her someone to watch…but she needs to get over her modesty in the bedroom if they are to have any chance at winning.

As they explore their sexuality, they grow closer and eventually are able to help each other move on from a difficult past.

The very first book I reviewed on this blog, perhaps the reason I started it was The Siren by Tiffany Reisz. Since then I’ve dabbled with erotic fiction, read maybe a dozen books in the genre. Some were good, most disappointing. This book is one of the shining lights. It’s short, at 131 pages it’s only just a novel and there are some editing issues as you would expect with an independently released book but there is quite a refreshing honesty to this book. And despite a very simple story which is mostly about sex, there is quite a lot of emotional depth. My good friend Michele has been hounding me to read this book, and now I can see why. It’s very good.

Yellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

Resisting the Rancher (by Roxanne Snopek)

Posted on April 16, 2014 by setaian

Contemporary Romance

When Celia returns to her home town to open her veterinary practice, she brings with her a world of trouble. While studying vet science, a family tragedy caused her to fall behind. Headed for failure she found a helping hand from the wrong guy and now she is being blackmailed and the family business is being threatened.

She turns to Jonah, the guy who she followed around when she was a kid. Now he’s a lawyer who goes out of his way to avoid sticky legal situations, but he’s always been attracted to Celia and before he knows it he’s helping her with her legal problems. As Celia pushes Jonah’s buttons, Jonah struggles to come to terms with the now grown up and very sexy woman he swore to always protect.
Resisting the Rancher is pretty good contemporary romance. It occasionally loses its way, some aspects of the story were a little under done, and the resolution was quite sudden but those problems are outshone by the main character Celia who is really kind of cool and saves this book from mediocrity.

She’s so cool that I wish the book was all about her. It didn’t really need the blackmail subplot and in some ways that detracted from the best part of the story.

Many thanks to Roxanne Snopek for providing me with this ARC

Yellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

Bird After Bird (by Leslea Tash)

Posted on April 9, 2014 by setaian

Women’s Fiction / Contemporary Romance

After the death of her father, Wren returns to her childhood home in Indiana. Her plan is to sell the family home as quickly as possible so she can return to her life in Chicago. But when she discovers a journal her father left her, a journal which calls into question the path she has chosen for herself, she is forced to make some choices.

Laurie is carrying the guilt over two deaths. His fiancée, a dog handler who died while on a search and rescue, and a friend who was killed by a road side bomb. When he meets Wren he finds a chance for redemption, a chance to move forward with his life. But Wren has her own issues and finds herself pushing him away even while she knows he is exactly what she wants.

Bird After Bird is something of an odd bird. It doesn’t quite fit into the contemporary romance genre and it isn’t quite women’s fiction. It’s written with a measured pace from alternating points of view and honestly for the first 20% or so of the book I struggled. But that initial effort paid off and by the half way mark I was well and truly sucked in.

Laurie is a returned serviceman. Contemporary Romance would demand that he be a Navy SEAL. Thank you Ms Tash for making your hero a motor mechanic!!! I bang my head against the metaphorical wall every time I read a romance hero is a SEAL. That’s just one refreshing thing in a book which somehow manages to be both whimsical and show very real human emotions. A lot of love for this book.

DISCLOSURE: I am a friend of the author on both Facebook and Goodreads.

Many thanks to Leslea Tash for providing me with this ARC.

Yellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

floatingleaves.net

Mostly Books

The Duke’s Holiday (by Maggie Fenton)

The Line (by J.D. Horn)

Just one thing (by Holly Jacobs)

Ghouls Rush In (by H.P. Mallory)

Avoiding Alpha (by Aileen Erin)

The Best Medicine (by Tracy Brogan)

Dreams of Gods and Monsters (by Laini Taylor)

Round One (by Lucian Bane)

Resisting the Rancher (by Roxanne Snopek)

Bird After Bird (by Leslea Tash)