Friday, May 22, 2015

Romance Book Review: Jeffery Martin Botzenhart's Blue Tides

Author: Jeffery Martin Botzenhart
Series Connection: Sea Glass
ISBN: 978-1-910397-67-1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Luminosity Publishing

Purchase Link: Luminosity

Heading out New Year's Eve weekend to a friend's wedding and the chance to spend some time at her beach house, Lauren takes the chance for some me time and to work on getting ready for the next phase of her life. At the beach she meets a younger man flying a kite on the beach in the middle of winter without even a shirt. Despite his odd behavior, Lauren can't help but strike up a conversation with Brody. 

Brody is going through his own life ordeals. When he meets Lauren he can't help but fall hard for her. 

Can these two souls find love for the second time or is the timing of their meeting going to send them their separate ways.

The fast, short read is a good old fashioned romance taking place along the peaceful backdrop of the North Carolina Outerbanks. The story is well-written with little surprises.

Description:
Welcome home lost fragile souls. Find solace in casting worldly troubles away to my blue tides…so sayeth the Ocean.

Attending the wedding of two close friends, as well as seeking to cleanse her troubled thoughts, Lauren is drawn back to her beloved beach house just north of Cape Hatteras by the lure of the ocean’s blue tides. Spellbound by the echoes of crashing waves and the unexpected sight of a soaring kite, she makes her way down to the beach. There she encounters a message in a bottle in the form of a carefree younger man.

Drawn in by Brody’s free-spirited presence Lauren forgoes her intended solitude by inviting him in. As their weekend time together passes, to each other they reveal how carelessly they were cast away by those they loved. Their mutual attraction fuels cravings to be desired once more. Yet the depths of a secret she initially withholds from him clouds their future together.
Will she accept salvation from his message in a bottle…or cast him back to the blue tides?

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The Steps Books...

Spent the weekend and past few days checking out romance sub-genre of "Steps". I had no doubt that the sub-genre would be mostly erotic, although I read a few short novellas that were just sweet romance.

"Steps" are romance book that explore relationships between step brothers and sisters. Those that have just met as adults when their parents have recently married and those that have been a part of a mixed family for years and are now as adults realized they have loved each other for years.

Over the years I've read plenty of romance books that included step brothers and sisters falling in love that have included great story lines, even under the sub-genre of erotic romance. However, those that are within the recent "Steps" sub-genre wave leave something to be desired.

I kept hoping to find a story that included some kind of substance with a background story that made the immense amount of sex worth reading the story. I've decided though to keep looking. There are enough different "Steps" stories out there to find something worth reading.

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Romance Book Review: Georgette St. Clair's The Alpha Won't Be Denied

Author: Georgette St. Clair
Series Connection: Timber Valley Pack Book 6

ISBN: N/A
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Shifter Romance, Werewolf Romance, Erotic Romance
Publisher: by author

Purchase Link: Amazon

Virginia has had it with her family filled with alphas. She can't get a moments peace to even go on a date. But it isn't only her alpha family she has to worry about it is also another alpha that has taken a liking to her. 

Virginia met Carver when she was worried to death about her cousin who was taken hostage by a neighboring back. Since then Carver has moved to Timber Valley and has made it quite clear that he doesn't want her, but no one else can. At least that is what Virginia believes until she wakes up one morning after getting a little too drunk and finds out that is she is now married to the arrogant, but very sexy wolf shifter alpha. 

Now she can't decide if she wants to love him or leave him. In the meantime, strange things start to happen while they are on their honeymoon and the mysteries keep racking up.

I've read the whole Timber Valley Pack series and so far this one was one of my favorites. I liked the complexity of the characters. I have to admit that Carver is nothing like I pictured him from when we first met him, but I liked the character he turned out to be. He was perfect for Virginia tough exterior. And Virginia in her own right is a complex character who on the one hand wants to help everyone and on the other wants to be as strong as the other alpha members of her family. 

Good job, now I'm looking for to the next installment.

Description:
Alphas? Wolf shifter Virginia Battle has had her fill of them. She’s grown up with an Alpha dad and four bossy, overprotective older brothers - so there’s no way in hell she’s going to give arrogant, sexy Carver Lawrence the time of day. Yet he keeps showing up everywhere she goes, scaring off all the guys who want to date her – and not making a single move on her. Then after one drunken night in a casino, she wakes up next to him in bed…with a wedding ring on her finger. 

Now her pack is howling for his blood (literally), he’s insisting that she’s really his wife, and before she knows it she’s whisked off to a sexy honeymoon at a mountain resort. Carver’s known from the minute he laid eyes on Virginia that she was meant to be his – but can a strong-willed woman (with some pretty big secrets) and a demanding dominant Alpha ever find love? 


Just when Virginia’s starting to think that being married to a man who comes equipped with his own handcuffs might not be the worst thing in the world, she and Carver learn that there’s something very wrong at Honeymoon Mountain. Does it have anything to do with the secret she’s been keeping from her family? And with the townspeople hiding a deadly secret of their own, and someone – or something – very scary sniffing around at her cabin, will she survive long enough to find out?

Romance Book Review: Celia Kyle's Quick and Furry Collection: A BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Boxed Set

Quick and Furry Collection: A BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Boxed Set 
Author: Celia Kyle
Series Connection: Quick and Furry
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Lion Shifter Romance, Shifter Romance

Purchase Link: Amazon

I just finished the Quick and Furry books by Celia Kyle and in today's email I received a notice that she has bundled the set of four books and you can read the series as it stands so far. This won't be the entire series, because she's offering some new books under the same series name this fall. 

In the meantime meet werelion Alpha Marcus, the North American Alpha as he and his Beta and enforcers find their mates. In "Chasing Tail" Penelope and her not so chance meeting of her mate Marcus as she sits at her library job and a large lion comes roaming her book shelves. Is this a true mating or has a powerful witch set a spell.

In the second book "Tailing Her" werelioness lawyer Jennifer is up against a big case and someone wants her dead. This isn't the most ideal time to meet one's mate, unless this mate is there to watch your tail.

In book three, "On Her Tail" Add will do anything to protect her best friend's baby even if she has to run from her first encounter of meeting her true mate.

In book four, "Heads of Tails", Omega werelioness Hilary has always been a prisoner in her pack, but when her mate comes to rescue her all bets are off. 

This is a fun series of just quick read stories. I'm so glad it is in a bundle set because the stories are just way too short on their own. This is nothing more than the author advertises then, fun short stories for those who love paranormal shifter romance or for someone who just has a thing for handsome guys who just happen to turn into the king of the jungle and a set of strong quirky females who just happy to turn into protective lionesses. 

Description:

Chasing Tail – Werelioness Penelope Little has a growling lion pacing the library’s shelves. Not just any lion, either. He’s the most powerful feline in the country. And for some reason, he’s got his sights set on curvy, slightly nerdy, and totally frumpy Penny Not-So-Little.

Tailing Her – Jennifer Palmer doesn’t have time for a mate. Yes, she’s a werelion whose beast is all about sexing up the hot beta, but she’s in the middle of prosecuting a high profile criminal case. Scratching her mating itch and screaming Brett’s name as she com—ahem. That isn’t anywhere on her list of to-dos. What she doesn’t realize is her werelion mate’s primary responsibility is ensuring her safety from the bad guy and… making her scream his name.

On Her Tail – Werelioness Addy Wilson did the unthinkable—she kidnapped an alpha’s cub. As she flees for her life and tries to disappear into the confusion of the city, she runs into her mate. Or rather, he hits her with his car. Zane is gorgeous, delicious, totally lickable and… an Enforcer for the North American pride. Now she’s torn between running to ensure the child’s safety and staying to make a life with Zane.

Heads or Tails – Werelioness Hilary Stewart is making her escape and nothing is gonna stop her. Except maybe a locked door. No matter, she’s resourceful, she’ll figure out something. When nothing comes to mind, she’s thrilled to find herself rescued. After being a Colletti captive for nearly her whole life, it’s amazing to find herself breathing air that isn’t tainted with violence and anger. Instead, it’s filled with the scrumptious scent of her heavily muscled, gorgeous, and possessive as hell werelion mate. Oscar freed her and now he’s gonna belong to her… As long as the Collettis don’t kill her first.