Showing posts with label Contemporary Suspense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Contemporary Suspense. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Romance Book Review: Hunter's Need

Author: Shiloh Walker
Series Connection: Hunters
ISBN: 978-0425231500
Genre: Ghost/ Mystery/ Suspense/ Paranormal/ Shifter/ Psychic
Publisher: Berkley

Purchase this book here


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If a ghost story is good enough it can really wig me out. I'm not exactly sure why I can really get into crime dramas, murder mysteries and even read a vampire book without a problem, but ghost stories seem to stay with me for days. Needless to say I don't read them often. A friend recommended Hunter's Need to me and even sent over a copy for me to read. I had read some of the previous books in the series and really liked Shiloh Walker, so I thought I'd give it a peak. I was really glad I did. After reading the first couple of chapters it was hard to put the book down.

If you aren't familiar with the Hunters series, don't worry. You meet some of the previous characters from the books and names are mentioned a few times, but it really isn't necessary to follow the series to read this one. Although, I for one think that once you start, you'll want to check out the others. At the end of this post, I put the address to Shiloh's site where she has a list of all the books in the series, as well as several short stories she wrote to go along with them.

In Hunter's Need, readers get to meet Duke and Ana. Four years before we first meet them in this book Ana and Duke share a traumatic experience at the hands of a rogue vampire. The experience leaves Duke feeling betrayed by Ana. Although through the years he is drawn to her, he can let himself forget that she isn't trustworthy and he tries to stay away from her. He does just that until one day he is restless and is drawn to an office of a friend where Ana just happens to call and ask for help from the academy where he works.

Unable to keep himself away and all but thrown in her direction by his boss, Duke heads to Alaska where he finds Ana haunted by a ghost who wants her help.

Ana is a low level psychic. She never thought she was Hunter material. She would leave that to her younger brother who is truly gifted. Hoping to get away from the memories of Duke and give her brother a chance to live his life without her reputation in the way, Ana moves to Alaska to start a new life. After getting settled and getting on with her life she suddenly realizes that something strange is going on. After an encounter with a older man down on his luck and hearing the mystery that surrounds him, she begins to do some searching for answers. She even calls the academy for help. She isn't a hunter, but she knows who to go to for help. They send Duke of all people.

Before Duke and Ana can truly help the older stranger, he is killed. That's when the mystery truly begins, because beyond all the ghosts and the smell of blood there is a true evil out there that only a Hunter can see. Someone who the mortals have no idea who is. It will take everything Duke and Ana can do to find the killer before he kills again.

There are so many wonderful authors out there and Shiloh Walker is certainly in that mix. She has a fabulous imagination and the skill to get it down on paper for others to enjoy. I thought Duke was a wonderful hero. Although it took him long enough to figure out that Ana wasn't the distrustful person he made her out to be, once he decided she was doing what she had to do to save her younger brother and herself all of those years ago, he was there where she needed him. Ana was a complex character filled with the doubt the experience in her younger years left her with. Even her time at the academy didn't help release her from her doubt as no one there trusted her. The mystery itself was the selling point of the book. Trying to figure out who the serial killer who left 30 years of missing young women in his wake was, was worth the read. For those who like mysteries, but not much into the paranormal, don't let the paranormal aspect of this book stop you from giving it a try. You might decided you like a whole other genre all together.

Description:
HIS CHALLENGE

Duke is bitter. A shapeshifter betrayed by the psychic powers of Analise Morell, he cannot forgive her for putting him in the clutches of a feral vampire, but he also can’t shake his desire for her. And when she needs a Hunter, Duke must face his demons—and hers…

HER MISSION

Desperate voices are battering Ana’s psychic shields. A serial killer with extraordinary powers is about to strike again, and the tormented souls of his previous victims are screaming for her help. But Ana can’t understand why they want her…

Their INSATIABLE desire

After what she did to him, Ana is sure Duke must be using her…but if he is, so be it. Ana can’t fight her longing for him, can’t fight the desire that’s haunted her for years. For Duke, every fiber of his soul—both the man and the cougar within—yearns to protect and possess her.…

Check out the details on the entire Hunters series on Shiloh Walker's Website...here

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Romance Book Review: Ocean Breeze, Little Squeeze

Author: Jenna Byrnes
ISBN 978-1-60592-076-4
Genre: Contemporary Mystery/ Suspense/ Erotic Romance/ M-M
Publisher: Noble Romance Publishing

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When Lucas Sinclair was eight years old his twin sister went missing. Throughout his life his family never gave up hope that she would be found. After the police stopped looking they hired a private investigator to continue the search. A grown man now, Lucas is dealing with losing his parents to sudden auto accident. Dealing with the lose of the remainder of his family would be hard enough, but suddenly he starts finding little pieces of evidence that his sister might actually be alive.

Not knowing whether or not to believe she could be he starts to search for answers. During his search an old flame come back into his life, right at the same time as he meets his new handsome next door neighbor. With so much going on Lucas isn't sure who he can trust. What he does know is he needs to find out who the woman on the beach is. Is she his long lost sister or is she a ghost haunting him.

This short novel was quite a surprise. After a few awkward moments in the beginning I started really getting into the fast action of the book. The author leads readers trying to solve the mystery right up until the end. The evidence is drawn out and divided leaving everyone guessing until the quick paced conclusion.

Description:
Big X, little x, question mark, dot. The child’s rhyme runs through Lucas Sinclair’s mind. He can still feel the light play of his sister’s fingers across his back, dancing along to the words. Unsettling, considering his twin, Laurie, had been abducted fifteen years earlier and never heard from again.

Ocean breeze, little squeeze. In a small, ocean-side cottage that shouldn’t be filled with memories, Lucas attempts to start a new life. It’s harder than he expects to move on. Indications are that Laurie has returned and isn’t the carefree child she used to be.

With a therapist trying to help him, and a private investigator who can’t seem to let go of the past, Lucas confronts his demons. He’s not sure where his sexy next-door neighbor fits in, but Tristan Conner seems to know a lot more than he’s telling. Someone is terrorizing Lucas. Can it really be Laurie—or worse yet, one of the three men he’s come to trust?


About the Author
Jenna Byrnes could use more cabinet space and more hours in a day. She’d fill the
kitchen with gadgets her husband purchases off TV and let him cook for her to his
heart’s content. She’d breeze through the days adding hours of sleep, and more time for
writing the hot, erotic romance she loves to read.

Jenna thinks everyone deserves a happy ending, and loves to provide as many of those
as possible to her gay, lesbian and hetero characters. Her favorite quote, from a pro-gay
billboard, is “Be careful who you hate. It may be someone you love.”

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Currently Reading: Live to Tell

Author: Wendy Corsi Staub
ISBN: 978-0-06-189506-7
Genre: Romantic Suspense/ Thriller
Published: Avon Books

Purchase this book here


I'm not sure this is really considered a romance, more a suspense-thriller, but I wanted to add it to the blog because I'm intrigued by all the reviews and information I've read about the book so far. I picked up a copy today, but it will probably take me a while to get through the book as things are busy now. I wanted to get it up, though, so that those who are fans of the author might want to check it out.

Here is a great review on the book from examiner.com you might want to check out.

Description:
Live to Tell

Secrets can scandalize …

In a lovely suburban town just north of New York City, the gossip mill runs more efficiently than the commuter train line. And in every impeccably decorated house, they’re talking about Lauren Walsh. They say that nothing could be worse than being abandoned by your husband for another woman. They’re wrong …

Secrets can shock …

All Lauren wants is to protect her children from the pain of her messy divorce. But when their father goes missing, a case of mistaken identity puts all their lives in danger, and a stealthy predator lurks in the shadows, watching…waiting…

Secrets can kill …

Lauren is about to uncover an unfathomable truth—a truth this cold-blooded mastermind would never let her live to tell…