Thursday 28 January 2016

Enamor by Veronica Larsen

Synopsis from Amazon:

The first step in solving a problem is recognizing there's one to begin with. Here's mine. My new roommate is a conceited, womanizing jerk. He pushes my buttons and drives me so crazy I want to strangle him daily.

There's a million reasons why I should stay far away from him, the most obvious of which being that I hate him with the fire of a thousand suns. Except that I don't hate him. 

It's a reckless game we're playing, treading the edge of an attraction so intense it might as well be a grenade.


My review:

This book was enjoyable, although it was a story that was quite familiar to me as it had similarities to a book I’ve read few year ago.

Julia and Giles are the ultimate I-hate-you-roomies. But they are also both very aware of the attraction between them and they both try to hide it. So they go on playing pranks on each other until the last prank goes sour.

But somehow it makes them closer and they became best friends (without benefits). They both want to cross the line, but they are both afraid of it. Giles doesn’t do relationships and Julia doesn’t do casual. They both want different things.

They have secrets they are ashamed of, but they have each other and the blossoming of the relationship between them was just lovely. It was nice to read a book where a relationship blossoms from a proper, deep, adult friendship.

Thank you to Netgalley for access to this book in return for an honest review.


My score: 3.5/5

Saturday 23 January 2016

With Visions of Red (Broken Bonds #1) by Trisha Wolfe

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Passion and lust ignite. Dark and light battle. This explosive first installment of the Broken Bonds series sets the exhilarating pace for a cat and mouse game where no one knows who’s really pulling the strings.

Criminal profiler Sadie Bonds knows blood. Her affair with the gruesome, dark world of killers began long before she started applying her analytical skills to investigate gory crime scenes. She gets inside the killers’ heads, breaks them down, relates to them on an arcane level. She prefers it this way—because it’s safer to ally herself with the villain than the victim. At least, that’s how she’s coped ever since she was abducted and tortured as a teen.

She will never be a victim again.


My review:

This book reminded me of watching some of my favourite TV programmes like Dexter and Criminal Minds. It's that kind of genre.

I must admit I didn't get along with the heroine's name - I think Sadie Bonds is not a imaginative name and kind of makes a mockery of an actually pretty good character and Police profiler. But that aside I really enjoyed the book.

I appreciated the different points of view that changed with each chapter as it allowed me as a reader to get to know each of the main characters quite well and it delved deeper into the mind of the killer.

This book was a very quick read and leaves the reader on a massive cliff-hanger as you don't really find anything out, but to me that made great start to a interesting fast paced series.

Both Sadie and Colton have a dark past and there are hints throughout the book and I am looking forward to finding out more about them.  

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this lovely book in exchange for an honest review.


My rating: 4/5

Thursday 21 January 2016

Salvage by Duncan Ralston

Synopsis from Amazon:

Something is Lurking Under the Lake... When Owen Saddler's little sister mysteriously drowns, Owen is determined to uncover the circumstances by following in her footsteps, even if it means diving into the murky--some would say haunted--waters of Chapel Lake. Thirty years earlier, the town of Peace Falls had been flooded to build a hydroelectric dam, and its ruins remain below the surface of Chapel Lake. The strange disappearance of the town Pastor, along with many of the parishioners, still haunts the citizens of Chapel Lake. But does the church haunt the lake itself? Is Owen really seeing ghosts... or has he descended into the depths of madness? Salvage is the debut horror novel of author Duncan Ralston (Gristle & Bone). A darkly disturbing story of depression, religious fanaticism, and the afterlife, Salvage seeks to illuminate the evil within us all.


My review:

When I read the synopsis for the book I wasn’t sure whether I’ll like this book. I get scared by just about anything, even my own shadow, however I still like to read stories with mystery and ghosts and supernatural events in them just for a little excitement.

I certainly wasn’t disappointed. The beginning of the book was slight slower for me than I expected but once the ghost of Lori, Owen’s recently deceased sister, appeared I was hooked.

Owen’s pure love for his sister is beautiful and it’s this love that leads him to Chapel Lake to discover and relive Lori’s last moments alive. He soon finds that Lori was on a mission to discover the childhood Owen has lost.

Owen goes on a journey of revelations about his own family, sinister past and the Mystery that is lurking under the water in the long-ago flooded Church.

When Owen meets ‘Crazy’ Jo and rekindles a long lost friendship, he realises that the only way to truly find out what happened to the religious flock and it’s devious Minister, is to go under the water, face his fears and risk his own life.

This book took me through a variety of emotions and I even shed a few tears. It is well written keeping the reader on their toes at all times.

I have received ARC of this book from Netgalley in return for this honest opinion.


My score: 4/5

Wednesday 6 January 2016

Starry Knight (Knights of Avalon #1) by Nina Mason

Synopsis from Amazon:

British aristocrat Vanessa Bentley has beauty, fame, and fortune, but she gets no respect for her decision to become a paranormal investigator. Determined to prove the naysayers wrong, Vanessa ventures to the misty moors of Caithness, Scotland. There stands the immense Castle Barrogill, where a vampire is rumoured to be stalking the dungeons—a vampire Vanessa is determined to find. She’ll just have to get past the resident shape-shifter…

Callum Lyon is the gorgeous reclusive astrologer and faery knight who guards the castle. For free-spirited Vanessa, seducing him proves to be easy. After all, he was once a breeding drone to a Queen. But astrologically, their differences are harder to overcome. Will Vanessa’s mission—and Callum’s secrets—be more than their burgeoning love can take? Or will flesh—and blood—win over the ghosts that haunt them both? ….


My review:

I have read the second book in this series first as a ARC through Netgalley and liked it very much so when I saw this for sale on Amazon Kindle for £0.66 I was excited to buy it there and then and read it in one day.

I love books that play with your imagination. Books that include fantasy and supernatural elements and so the Knights of Avalon series is perfect to stand in that category.

Nina Mason mixes old with the new – current affairs with British history, Scottish landscape, fairy tales and folklore. She makes the stories believable in a skilful way with an added touch or romance and some well written love scenes, which fit into place - not at all cringe worthy as it’s the case in a lot of modern erotic romance.

I loved Callum Lyon from the start - astrologer, Lord of the Castle and helpless romantic. On the other hand Vanessa took some getting used to, but I was glad that she was portrayed as a strong and independent woman, who knows what she wants and doesn’t let a man stand in her way. Of course neither of them always makes the right choice, but that just makes their story all the more perfect.

I can’t wait for the third book in this series to be published and see how the stories of Callum, Vanessa, Gwyn and Leith come together.


My score: 4/5

Monday 4 January 2016

Stolen Flame (Seven Chambers #1) by D.W. Marshall

Synopsis from Amazon:

Vivian is excited about this weekend. Why wouldn't she be? She is finally turning twenty-one, and she knows for-a-fact that Liam, the man of her dreams is in love with her too. On the eve of her birthday, her world comes crashing down when she is taken from her home. 

Now, instead of spending her birthday in Liam-heaven, she learns that she will be forced to take part in The Chamber, a lavish sex club for the world's richest and most powerful men. She finds early on that she will not suffer her sentence alone. With the budding sisterhood of the six other women taken at the same time, along with an unexpected ally, Vivian will discover an inner strength and love that she never knew existed. 

Stolen Flame is part of a series, and while each book is interconnected, each book in the series can stand alone. Due to the adult content and themes, this book is not intended for persons under the age of 18.


My review:

After reading the description of this book I thought I’d find it difficult to read. I am uncomfortable with any subject around torture and slavery. But this was a little different.

I found the story interesting and well written. It was easy to follow and characters likable. Yes there were a lot of sex scenes, but they were in the right places and flowed well within the story, they didn’t feel like the author just tried to be as dirty as possible, they actually belonged.

I think the reason that I found it easy to read was that Vivian’s imprisonment didn’t feel like slavery. On one hand she was kidnapped and held in a sex club for a year, but got some pretty good enjoyment out of it too and she also got to meet Dominic - her safety latch, her rescuer, her light.

They belonged together right from the start and it was lovely to read how their love blossomed.

On the other hand and hence the 4 stars – the story just isn’t believable. The whole set up of The Chamber I get and I understand that places like that do most likely exist. But surely no woman would behave as easily as these seven girls have in The Chamber. And if a guy falls in love with someone as strongly as Dominic has, how could you sit there and watch as she’d being used by so many others?

Overall though I have enjoyed the book and would love to read the next installment.

Thank you to Netgalley for access to this book in exchange for an honest opinion.


My rating: 4/5

Sunday 3 January 2016

Dark and Stormy Knight (The Knights of Avalon #2) by Nina Mason

Synopsis from Amazon:

Aspiring screenwriter Gwyn Morland is ready for her big break. That means securing the film rights to elusive author Lady Ruthven’s acclaimed novel—which means traveling to Scotland. It’s a trip timid Gwyn isn’t prepared for, and her fears seem justified when her tour bus careens over a cliff outside of Castle Glenarvon. But the plot thickens when Gwyn is rescued from the brink of death by a handsome and mysterious stranger…

Leith MacQuill is not only the writer behind Lady Ruthven’s novel, but a shape-shifting faery knight bearing a tragic curse: the woman he gives his heart to will die. Saving Gwyn proves to be a dangerous choice when he finds himself falling for her the longer she stays in the castle. Not even his usual BDSM role-playing games are enough to thwart the intense desire they feel for each other. But to stay together, Gwyn and Leith must embark on a dangerous mission into Avalon, the realm of the faeries. Will their love be strong enough to conquer the curse? Or will Gwyn’s new life be stolen from her before it’s even begun?


My review:

I haven't read any of the books from this series so this for me was a standalone novel and it read well like that.

At first I loathed Leith's character and couldn't get to like him. He was arrogant, cruel and some of his thoughts painted him in quite a selfish picture. But as Gwyn managed to get Leith to admit his true feelings and the history behind his curse came to light I understood why he was like that. He protects himself and anyone crossing his path by being unreachable.

After reading the first few chapters I decided I liked the book, it was a nice enough romance, with some pretty hot scenes in it, but I couldn't quite see where it was going. When Gwyn decides that she is willing to die for Leigh and sets of on a mission to get him rid off the curse the book suddenly got very interesting.

The worlds of druids and the fairy Queen Morgan were fascinating and certainly pictured magical beings in completely different way to our traditional fairy tales. It was a nice point of view and very well written, the imagination went rife and I applaud the author for making this much more then another romance novel.

I will look out for more booked from this author in hope they are as good as this one.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this lovely book in exchange for an honest review.


My rating: 4/5

Friday 1 January 2016

Tempted (The Wicked Woodleys #3) by Jess Michaels

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The youngest son of the Woodley clan, Gabriel has been obsessed with bringing his missing twin sister home since she disappeared over two years ago. His drive has forced him to block out all else, including any feelings he may have for the beautiful Juliet Gray. But when she is brought to London by Gabriel’s mother, avoiding the desire she inspires becomes impossible. 

Juliet never wanted to come to London in the first place, especially since she knows she won’t be able to avoid Gabriel, who has been both confusing and drawing her from the moment they met. But to give her father a chance at happiness, she’ll stay in town. When Gabriel asks for her help in finding his sister, explosive secrets will be spilled and long suppressed longings will overflow. But will their search bring them love or expose them to a danger that could destroy all they’ve built?


My review:

I haven't read any of the books from this series so this for me was a standalone novel, which was fine.

I enjoyed the story, it was the sort of book you read to relax, in times when you don't want to think too hard about the plot. It was quick, no fluffy descriptions, just straight to the point which kept it going along quite nicely.

I liked the characters of Lady Woodley and Jed Gray and it was nice to read more into their story of love and separation as they were both quite realistically written into the story.

On the other hand I could not quite get along with both Gabriel and Juliet. Juliet supposedly had one previous love encounter when she fell in love with a man with a title. But the way she was behaving around Gabriel and the way she talked and offered herself up to him just didn't sit with her story. She came across very confident in all things intimate, which is not a bad thing but it didn't go with her history.

And Gabriel just annoyed me. He is a thinker and scientist, but I found the parts where he would tell Juliet how he studied her pleasure and anatomy quite cringe worthy. I felt that this kind of talk wasn't necessary.

Overall it was a enjoyable quick read and I would definitely read more book written by Jess Michaels.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this lovely book in exchange for an honest review.


My rating: 3/5