Romance Book Review: Instant Gratification

Author: Jill Shalvis
ISBN: 978-0758231253
Genre: Contemporary Romance

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4 Hearts

For two months, Dr. Emma Sinclair has been working in her father's clinic while he recuperates from a heart attack. Ever since she was six year's old she has lived in New York City, so moving to a small town like Wishful, California is culture shock for Emma. She just doesn't feel like she fits into the small town community and can't wait to get back to the big city and resume her life as an ER doctor.

Stone Wilder, one of the three Wilder brothers who runs Wilder Adventures in Wishful, is the glue that keeps his family together. He runs Wilder Adventures, keeping the paperwork filled out and the schedule going, while also taking clients on expeditions, helping the local foster kids and everything else that is good. At first Emma thinks Stone is just an accident-prone ski bum who is deathly afraid of needles, but she learns quickly there is more to the man.

It doesn't matter because as soon as her father is up to going back to work she's going to blow this popsicle stand and she doesn't need the likes of Stone Wilder complicating her life. It's just too bad that the local bad-boy is just too hard to resist.

Jill Shalvis has a great sense of human and it plays well in her books. Although I found a couple of scenes in the book pretty cliché as romance books go, the story we well put together, the plot endearing and romantic. Her sex scene sizzle throughout the pages of the book. The verbiage between the hero and heroine is priceless throughout most of the book. Can't wait to read Wilder brother's T.J.'s story.

Description:
Wishful, California, is 3000 miles from Dr. Emma Sinclair's last job in a New York City ER. It may as well be another galaxy. Here, running her father's clinic for a summer, Emma treats bee stings, stomach flu, and the occasional pet cat. Plus, she has to contend with patients like Stone Wilder: gorgeous, laid-back, and irritating beyond belief. The man laughs at her. A lot. And Emma loathes him. All except that tiny part of her that wants to throw him on her examining table and break every doctor-patient rule in the book.

When Stones tries to help Emma learn to loosen up a bit, he pictures white-water rafting or scenic mountain hikes. Not a mind-blowing affair that shakes them both to the core. Emma's sure she has no place in a town like Wishful, but Stone knows different. Emma belongs here - in this town, in his life. It is convincing that this strong-minded, stubborn, sexy woman of that fact will be a challenge no Wilder man could resist.

This week's Featured Author is:
Nicole North

She my interview with author Nicole North in this week's Featured Author section on www.romancebookscene.com.

Romance Book Review: Secrets (27)

Author: Leigh Court, Hannah Murray, Nicole North, Liane Gentry Skye
Anthology: The Bet, The Boy Next Door, Devil in a Kilt, Heart's Storm
ISBN: 9781603100076
Genre: Contemporary/Fantasy/ Historical/Mystery/ Paranormal/Erotic

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Four novellas from different romance genres complete this anthology from Red Sage Publishing. These stories are fun quick reads offering readers a chance to get a little of everything.

In the first story, Liane Gentry Skye tells the story of a mermaid who is the last in her family to be able to produce children. Sirenia sister was tricked by a miserable excuse for a merman who is hoping to do the same to Sirenia. If he can get her to produce his children he will be the new heir to the throne. Sirenia believes he isn't the rightful heir and goes off to prove it, but gets side tracked into helping a human, Byron, before he drowns. It just might be that Byron is exactly what Sirenia needs especially since trouble has followed her.

In The Boy Next Door, Hannah Murray tells the story of a woman who just can't seem to find the right man to make her sexual fantasies come to life. Six months ago Isa turned down her new neighbor Jacob when he asked her for a date. He was just too nice and would probably run away screaming if he heard what she wanted from a date. As it turns out Jacob may just turn out to be the perfect date after all.

In Devil In a Kilt, Nicole North (this week's featured author at www.romancebookscene.com) tells the story of a normally dedicated professor, Shauna, who can't stop daydreaming about a perfect Scottish warrior that she saw on the cover of a romance book. But is he a figment of her active imagination or is he from another time just waiting for her to help break a curse?

And in the last story, The Bet, Leigh Court tells the story of two friends, a bet and a younger sister. The time is 1800s London where all good girls don't have a clue of what sex is all about until they are married. Claire is a good girl. Her brother think she's too much of a prude so when his best friend bets him that he can make a woman have an orgasm just with words alone, he wagers that he can't and uses his sister as the mark. What neither of the men count on, though, is that Claire just might be eager to learn all she can.

All four stories are well written and give a good taste of each genre. I liked the Devil in the Kilt and Heart's Storm the best. They were well written and had great erotic love scenes, which was the common factor in all four novella's. I liked the villain in Heart's Storm. He added some of the best scenes to the story.

I'm not all that into to tie-me-up stories so I didn't really get all that into The Boy Next Door story as much. Although I will say the author is well versed. The same can be said for the last story, The Bet. I just can't get into historicals where the women really are treated poorly. Although the hero in story was remorseful about the bet from the beginning. What was up with the brother? Betting on his own sister and he was just down right mean to her throughout the story.

Description:
THE BET - LEIGH COURT
I can make a woman come using just my words…
That outrageous claim by a very drunk Damian Hunt, Viscount Atherton, somehow escalates into a high stakes wager between two best friends: Damian bets his prized racehorse that he can do it… George Beringer gambles his London townhouse that Damian can’t.
And the surprising woman George chooses for the bet is not only a virgin, she’s also George’s very respectable sister, Claire -- and to complicate matters even more, once Damian lays eyes on her, the stakes escalate in the most unpredictable way…

THE BOY NEXT DOOR - HANNAH MURRAY
Isabella Carelli isn’t just looking for Mr. Right, she’s looking for Mr. Tie Me Up And Do Me Right. In all the wrong places. Fortunately, the right place is right next door. And the boy next door is just about ready to make his move...

DEVIL IN A KILT - NICOLE NORTH
A trip to the Highland Games turns into a trip to the past when modern day Shauna MacRae touches Gavin MacTavish’s four-hundred-year-old claymore. What she finds is a Devil In a Kilt she’s had erotic fantasies about for months. Can Shauna break the curse imprisoning this shape shifting laird and his clan before an evil witch sends Shauna back to her time and takes Gavin as her sex slave?

HEART'S STORM - LIANE GENTRY SKYE
Sirenia's final breeding moon is upon her. She is the last fertile mermaid of her brood. Racing against a hurricane, she must search out and mate with the only merman who can save her kind--the prophesied Lost Son of Triton. When Sirenia rescues injured Navy SEAL, Byron Burke from drowning, she seals herself into his life debt. When the time comes to ask Byron for her freedom, her heart threatens to stand in the way of the last, best hope for her kind.

Romance Book Review: Wild Wolf

Author: Karen Whiddon
Series Connection: The Pack
ISBN: 978-0373618149
Genre: Paranormal/shape-shifter/ werewolf

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Right off the bat this book attracted me with just the cover. The use of color and graphics drew my attention. Of course to book publishers that is one of the most important steps to the sale of a successful novel. Many times a bad looking or boring cover can mean that even the best of books stay on the book store shelves.

The story drew me in even farther. I loved the no nonsense heroine in the book. Raven has lived in the human world for most of her life and didn't care for it. She was born as a shapeshifter, but had no idea what or why she was. She believes that she is a freak of nature and the only one of her kind. Her parents died in an automobile accident and Raven is raised by a foster family. Later she finds herself in the hands of evil professors where she is kept caged and the subject vile and unspeakable acts.

When she is set free from him, Raven moves into the mountains and takes up with a pack of wild wolves. She's happy in her life, until one day she sees another who can shift to a wolf like she can. When she meets Simon she has a million questions. The only problem is, just like Raven has found before, the world is not a safe place for her kind and those like her want her dead. Even as she begins to fall in love with Simon, she isn't sure she can trust him to keep her safe.

The characters in this book are believable despite the fact that they grow fangs and get all hairy. The love story is well written and the action keeps the readers attention. I'm sorry I missed the other books in the series and am investigating finding them online to add to my collection.

Description
Turning her back on humans because of her ability to shape-shift into a wolf, young and beautiful Raven doesn't believe she needs anyone. Until the day a darkly handsome man appears near her remote cave…and she watches him turn into a wolf.

Simon Caldwell has been sent to assess the threat of a new feral wolf prowling the Rockies. But he's wholly unprepared for his intense attraction to Raven. His investigation is about to take a deadly turn as he and Raven become the hunted. Now their very survival depends on Simon's ability to win what this wild wolf holds most dear!

Romance Byte: Blood Daemon

Author: Angela Cameron
ISBN: 978-1-60088-442-9
Genre: Paranormal/Vampire

Description:
Local vampire leader, Raven Montgomery, is on the verge of an impossible accomplishment among female vampires, gaining her full power without the aid of a mate. Under pressure from her creator and the threat of death, she is forced to entertain the attentions of Astor, the French suitor chosen for her.

As blood daemon, Jareth is the hired help. As her bodyguard, he must follow her through this journey of lovers and hide his true feelings for the woman he’s always protected.

Can Raven accept her fate as someone’s trophy wife?

Or will Jareth’s jealousy be too much for them both?

Content: Erotic Romance
This title contains explicit language and graphic sex.

Romance Book Review: Dream Man

Author: Linda Howard
ISBN: 978-0671019754
Genre: Romantic Suspense/Mystery

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As part of an experiment this weekend I decided to find a good romance book that I could purchase over the internet in audio version. The idea was to try and kill two birds with one stone, as the saying goes. Since I waste hours on the internet playing games on Facebook and My Space, I thought instead of listening to music like I usually do why not listen to an audio book. After a quick search I found one of my favorite authors, Linda Howard, and decided on a book I hadn't read yet. Dream Man was the one.

For six years Marlie Keen has not had any psychic episode. She has been able to have a relatively normal life, until one night on her way back from a late movie she has a vision from a killer's eyes of him raping and killing a woman. When she goes to the police, of course, they are skeptical. She didn't expect anything less. After all when she was younger she had worked with skeptical police before.

Detective Dane Hollister at first thinks Marlie is a quack after media attention, but after he gets to know the young woman he realizes that she isn't what he thought she was. Now he needs Marlie's help to find a serial killer before he strikes again.

Linda Howard is great at piecing together a good mystery. She leads her readers on a path to finding the answers to her mystery right to the end filling scenes with suspense and erotic love making. She was also one of the original erotic writers in the suspense genre. Dream Man is an action packed suspense novel that isn't perhaps as gory in the crime scenes as other books that Linda has put out, but it doesn't take anything away from the story.

One note on the audio version. I'm sorry but listening to this book on audio really takes away from the suspense style in the book. I'd have to give it very low ratings. The male voice trying to imitate the female lead was at time just so bad I was laughing out loud. She sounded so pitiful when he tried to voice her emotions that she came off sounding like a real wimp, even when the character was supposed to be mad or being stubborn. It might have been better to have a female read this particular book.

As far as listening to the audio book while I was playing my Facebook game and such, that part really worked a little too well. I wanted to keep listening to the story, but I didn't have anything else to do on the games. So I wound up putting a picture slide show and watching the pictures pass while I was tethered to my laptop.

Description:
Marlie Keen was trying to lead a quiet, ordinary life. She thought the knowing - the clairvoyance that allowed her to witness crimes as they happened - had been destroyed in the nightmare of her past. Then one night it returned with a vengeance, and she desperately needed to find someone to make it stop.

Detective Dane Hollister of the Orlando police department had never met anyone like Marlie. He had doubts about her clairvoyance, but there was no doubt how much he desired her. Her soft, sweet scent set his blood afire, and he wanted to wrap her in his arms and chase the sadness from her eyes. To Marlie, Dane was all heat and hard muscle, and he made her body come alive as it never had before. But not even she could foresee where their passion would lead: a hungry quest for the elusive, dreamy ecstasies of love...and a dangerous journey into the twisted mind of a madman who would threaten their happiness and their lives....

Romance Byte: Street Magic

Author: Caitlin Kittredge
Series Connection: Black London
ISBN: 978-0312943615
Genre: Paranormal

Description:
Her name is Pete Caldecort. She was just sixteen when she met Jack Winter, a gorgeous, larger than life mage who thrilled her with his witchcraft. Then a spirit Jack summoned killed him before Pete's eyes—or so she thought. Now a detective, Pete is investigating the kidnapping of a young girl from the streets of London...a case that brings her face to face with Jack.

Strung out on heroin, Jack is a shadow of his former self. But he's able to tell Pete exactly where Bridget's kidnappers are hiding: in the supper-natural shadow-world of the fey. Pete follows Jack into the fey underworld, where she hopes to discover the truth about what happened to Bridget—and what happened to Jack on that dark day so long ago...

Romance Byte: Killer Bunny Hill

Author: Denise Robbins
ISBN: 978-1-60318-130-3
Genre: Romantic Suspense

Description:
A wrong turn down the Bunny Hill hurled her into a chilling race against a killer’s bullet.

A killer is on her bunny trail. Shot while snowboarding, Samantha Spenser lands on a stranger’s doorstep without her memory, but with a shooter on her tail. Even after the stranger saves her from the gunman and offers her refuge, Sam begins to fear for her life when Max, holding a gun to her head, demands to know the location of his abducted brother. Is the man with the whiskey-colored eyes her savior who will protect her or the shooter who wants her dead? If Samantha trusts the sexy man to unravel the mystery of her amnesia, will he discover she is an innocent bystander or a deceitful criminal?

The last thing he wants or needs is the complication of a gorgeous snow bunny half dead from bullet wounds on his doorstep. Frustrated by the lack of clues and even more discouraged by the lack of help from his agency and his brother’s, special agent Maximilian Stone sets out in search for his kidnapped brother. First, he must solve the mystery of Samantha, the intriguing woman sleeping in his bed. Is there a connection between Snow Bunny and his missing FBI brother? Or was she brought in by a darker enemy to destroy Max before he can find them?

Romance Byte: The Amoveo Legacy

Author: Sara Taney Humphreys
Series Connection: Devine Destinies
ISBN: 978-1-55487-293-0
Genre: Paranormal/werewolf

Description:
What if everything you knew turned out to be a lie? You find out that you aren’t even human—at least not entirely. What if, one day, you realize your world will never be the same again? These are the questions that Samantha Logan must face in “The Amoveo Legacy”. A dream on her thirtieth birthday compels her to leave her artists loft in New York City and move back to the beach with her Grandmother, Nonie. However, the instant Samantha steps foot on the salty shores of her childhood home, she realizes the landscape has changed.

The moment she encounters the mysterious, arrogant neighbor Malcolm Drew, her life is never the same. Through a seductive courtship, he introduces her to the magical mystical world of the Amoveo. The dream walking, telepathic, shape shifters that he claims are her true heritage. However, Malcolm holds back a secret that could destroy them both. Will he be able to protect Samantha and convince her of the secret legacy buried deep inside of her?


From June 1st - August 31st, Sara will donate a portion of my proceeds of her books sales to ASMBASTAR, a fund for veterans and their families.

Romance Book Review: Slow-Play

Author: Carol Lynne
Series Connection: Poker Night Series
ISBN: 978-1-907010-42-2
Genre: Contemporary Romance/ M/M

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Carol Lynne is my favorite author in this genre. She does an excellent job at conveying love and romance between men. I find her writing to be refreshing and without the standard stereotypes that can be found in the genre.

Slow-Play is no different. The second book in the Poker Night series leaves me hanging on the edge of my seat waiting for what will come next in the poker buddies lives.

The story between Bobby and Jules was developed for such a short novel. The characters were well written and the men as a couple were quite compatible even though they came from different positions in their life. Carol didn't play on the angle of age too much, which was appreciated because that would have just been another barrier that the couple in the story didn't need.

Waiting in anticipation for book number three, but I haven't seen any indication of when it will be released. I hope soon.

Description:
Charter Captain Bobby Quinn loves life on the water. What he hates is working for his brother.

Charter Captain Bobby Quinn loves life on the water. What he hates is working for his brother. After years spent restoring an aging wooden yacht, his brother bought it out from under him. In Bobby's mind, if family will screw you at the drop of a hat so will everyone else so, except for his bi-weekly poker game, he sticks to the solitude of the boat he loves.

Dr. Jules Peters knows all about solitude. When not working endless hours as Head of Emergency Medicine, he's tinkering in his garage. A collector of vintage cars in need of TLC, Jules has an impressive collection of cars but few friends.

Jules meets Bobby when he's given a cruise around the San Francisco Bay as a gift. Although their mutual attraction is explosive, neither man is ready to move out of his comfort zone. It might take a meddling med student and an off-season football coach to get these two loners to see there's more to life than caring for inanimate objects.

Romance Book Review: Circe’s Recruits: Hale

Author: Marie Harte
Series: Circe’s Recruits
ISBN: 978-1-59632-939-3
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Shape-shifter/Paranormal Menage

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First let me say I really like reading series like this one, one right after the other. When you read as much as I do it is sometimes hard to remember all the players a month or six after you've read the first book of the series. So while Marie Harte's Circe's Recruits first came out several months ago this book about Hale has only been out a short time. With the magic of the Internet all of these books can be found on the Loose-Id website to be read one right after another like I did.

As a wrap up to this part of the Circ series I liked Hale's story. While I loved Hale and his playboy, nice guy image, the star of the book for me was the former bodyguard of Elliot Pearl, McKinley or Robbie as he becomes known. He was always the wild card in the last two books and developing his character to match with Hale worked out really well because he seemed to the be the most easy going of the whole bunch. McKinley's tie in with the remainder of the intrigue of the story worked itself out kind of nicely as well.

All and all the Circe's Recruits series wasn't a bad read. There was a lot of action packed, bloody scenes, lots and lots of great sex scenes, strong female leads and while all the guys in the story were sexy men that turned into sexy beasts they still had their sensitive moments.

According to Marie's website it looks as though she's planning to continue with the Circ theme in the future as she has a new book on the horizon called Dawn's Endeavor. There is no exact date for the story's release, so Circ fans might want to keep their eyes open for future reports.

Description:
In the three years since Project Dawn disbanded, Hale continues to fight the good fight. Now civilians, his squad--Circe's Recruits--work for a private organization bent on cleaning up the mess left in the wake of Project Dawn's rebirth. Pearson Labs continues to create Circs, people who have been genetically changed. When needed, these Circs take on an altered form--one neither man nor animal, but something in between. But unlike the squad, the Circs coming out of Pearson Labs aren't sane.

Hale's dreams are more than nightmares--the prophetic doom of a beautiful woman he doesn't know and a man he wishes he'd never met: two people meant for him that are too involved with his enemy for Hale's peace of mind. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and Hale's beast won't accept less than the woman and man destined to become his mates. Then word arrives that Pearson Labs is finally coming down, and Hale has to race to save his mates from the fallout. Can they survive or will their love crumble under the enemy's chaos and deception too close to home?

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, male/male sexual practices, ménage (m/f/m with m/m sexual interaction), sex in shifted form, violence.

Romance Book Review: The Trouble With J.J.

Author: Tami Hoag
ISBN: 978-0553592504
Genre: Contemporary Romance

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This is one of those books readers just have to take for what it is—the very first published book, published in 1988, from one of today's most sensational suspense novelist. Tami Hoag started her career in the late 1980s as a romance writer.

Being a die hard fan of Tami's, years ago I went on hunt to find a copy of all Tami's books, including the original romances she used to put out. The Trouble with J.J. was the only one that I couldn't find a copy of, so I was excited when I found it on the shelves at my local Barnes and Noble store. This book, as with the other romance novels by her, are not anything that fans of Tami's suspense novels are used too. What I have found interesting is that as you read through all of them you can really see her talent develop before your eyes.

As romance writing Tami was decent, especially for her time, when male were more alpha and domineering then you find in similar romance style book. She has really found her calling with suspense writing and those who haven't picked up one of her many books give one a try. I'd recommend any of the following (not necessarily in any order): Dark Horse, Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes, Lucky's Lady, Guilty As Sin (Guilty as Sin novels were made into a movie), Night Sins, Dark Paradise, Cry Wolf and Still Waters, Prior Bad Acts, Kill the Messenger and my very favorite A Thin Dark Line. Alibi Man is on my shelf to read, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

All that aside, The Trouble with J.J. is still a good read for romance lovers. The book is heartwarming and very funny.

Description:
It took only one look for Genna Hastings to make up her mind about her new next-door neighbor, J. J. Hennessy. She knew his type all too well: Jared Jay Hennessy was tall and handsome, a man who thought he was God’s gift to women. From the pink flamingos dotting his front yard to the all-night boozy barbecues, he threatened to disrupt Genna’s peaceful summer off from teaching. But beneath his carefree smile and teasing nature, J.J. was a man as serious about the future as he was about Genna. He’d come to this quiet Connecticut town to change his life, and he challenged Genna to help him become Mr. Right. It was a challenge she knew she’d be smart to refuse . . . and one J.J. knew she couldn’t resist.

Romance Byte: Dangerous As Sin

Author: Alix Rickloff
ISBN: 978-1420104530
Genre: Historical

Description:
In 1815 London, passion and duty, human and Other collide...Morgan Bligh has honed her body and her magic into weapons, but she's always lived by her heart. Yet to defeat a traitor whose unspeakable dark power threatens both her worlds, she must forget her feelings - because her partner in the hunt is wicked war hero Cameron Sinclair. He's broken her heart once, and from the looks of him, he could do it again...Cam Sinclair wants nothing more than to forget the horrors he's lived through. He's done his duty for king and country, turning himself into an assassin and an outcast in the process. Chasing after a sadistic murderer with a sultry Amazon who hates him seems unbearable. Yet though the beautiful Morgan chafes his every nerve and they're both in constant danger, he can't help but wonder if this second meeting is truly a second chance.