Book Review: Magic's Daughter

Book Title: Magic's Daughter
Author: Ann Gimpel |Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Format: ebook

Cost: $2.99

Pages: 80

How I got it: Blog Tour

My Rating:★★★★☆
Add To Reading
Purchase: Amazon| Barnes & Noble| Publisher
Erotica Rating: 

Synopsis:

Destined to be surrounded by magic yet have none of her own, Cassie walks a thin line between love and danger. Her mother is dying and her boyfriend has turned into something which terrifies her. By the time she wakes up to the danger she’s in, it’s nearly too late. Cassie’s friend, Jeremy, warns her about her scumbag boyfriend, but she doesn't listen until deeply disturbing events unfold and her life hangs in the balance. With few choices left, she and Jeremy join forces to battle the darkness threatening them. Meanwhile, Cassie warms to Jeremy in ways she never could have anticipated. Love was there all along if she’d just opened her eyes and looked

My Review:
Let's just start with, ain't no way someone was pushing me out of my house or making me feel uncomfortable & I didn't fight back.  Cassie's life just went to hell in a hand basket, even more than she realizes, her mother is a shadow of her former self and Cassie is desperate to find a way to reach her, so she quits her job and creates the e Quija, yeah it's complicated.

For such a small book I was pulled in from the start, Cassie seemed to be struggling to keep her head above water, considering she's swimming with sharks and she's a dolphin, she's doing a decent job.  My only problem with her is her complete reluctance to get help, why why when your drowning aren't you screaming for the lifeguard in the form of her close friend Jeremy??   I can totally understand the feeling like a fool part, and not wanting to admit you were wrong, but man oh man did it really hit the fan.

For a fun fast read, it was well written, engaging, & funny. The characters were well written and drew you into the story from the very beginning. I couldn't put it down.  From the crazy talking bird to the wild cat and even the villain was pretty well written *in a way that clearly made him the villain*.

I really enjoyed the novel and the glimpse into a world inhabited by Druids who would do the CIA proud with their abilities to keep secrets. Fae hell bent on well what Faes are always hell bent on.

I heartily enjoyed it and hope you do to.
Check out more of Ms Gimpel's books on Goodreads and on her website linked above.

***FTC Rules require I state that I received this as a review copy from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review**** 

ARC Book Review: Thrill Ride

Book Title: Thrill Ride
Author:  |Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Format: ebook, paperback

Cost: $7.99

Pages: 352

How I got it: NetGalley, 

Purchase: Amazon| Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository| Publisher
My Rating:★★★★1/2
Erotica Rating: 
Add To Goodreads



Synopsis:

He's Gone Rogue Ex-Navy SEAL Rock Babineaux’s job is to get information, and he’s one of the best in the business. Until something goes horribly wrong and he’s being hunted by his own government. Even his best friends at the covert special-ops organization Black Knights Inc. aren’t sure they can trust him. He thinks he can outrun them all, but his former partner—a curvy bombshell who knows just how to drive him wild—refuses to cut him loose. She Won't Back Down Vanessa Cordova hasn’t been the team’s communication specialist very long, but she knows how to read people—no way is Rock guilty of murder. And she’ll go to hell and back to help him prove it. Sure, the sexy Cajun has his secrets, but there’s no one in the world she’d rather have by her side in a tight spot. Which is good, because they’re about to get very tight…

My Review:
I'm so in love with the Black Knights. Where can I meet them?? This is the second book by Julia Walker I have read and I love her writing.  Rev It Up was my introduction to her and I loved the Jake the Snake so much I went and got all the other books in the series that I didn't have right away.  I really loved the glimpses of Rock and Vanessa we got in the book.  I love that each book gave you a preview of the next Black Knight to fall in love.  I'm so intriqued I can't wait to read the next one.

In reading Rev It Up, I had some serious expectations for Rock & Vanessa's story and Julie delivered on them all.  Rock is just that man who is so awesome but doesn't take himself too seriously, he's confident but not arrogant, and he fell hard for Vanessa although he didn't think he should act on it.  Vanessa fell for the hot cajun the minute she walked into the Black Knights building, she wanted to be a tough operator and she did her best to toughen up so she could fit in.  She totally kicked ass when she needed to, and even though her goal was 'tough operator" she was still in touch with her feelings; & still knew when she was totally out of her depths and allowed Rock to lead where Rock led.

That moment in Eve's house?!?!?!?! OMGawds, even though I knew what was happening I was still devestated right along with her. I was totally invested in the story and couldn't put it down, Poor Vanessa, she probably lost like ten years off her life.

It took one day to read this because I dived right in and didn't come up for air until I finished it.   The characters are so well written and it's so engaging, the wit, the funny stories, I can't wait to read Steady's story by the way, "details are superflouos" indeed, I loved those glimpse into each character's personality.  I loved the inner monologue of both Rock & Vanessa, they are so awesome, I so couldn't stop reading that garage scene then when Ghost caught them?!!! The laugh was pretty loud when I read that scene. Heck I'm smiling now writing about it.

Eve looks like shs's going to be a great character as well. I can't wait to read the story between her and her guy, it should be totally interesting. Now excuse me while I catch up with the rest of the Black Knights I'm heading to Becky's first then I hear Ali's story is kick ass as well. See you guys. Have fun!!

 

***FTC Rules require I state that I received this as a review copy from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review**** 

Book Review: An Angel For Christmas

Book Title: An Angel for Christmas
Author: Heather Graham |Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Format: paperback

Cost: $7.19

Purchase: Amazon| Barnes & Noble| The Book Depository|
Pages: 224

How I got it: Library Book Sale

My Rating:★★☆☆☆
Erotica Rating: N/A
Add To Goodreads




Synopsis:

Christmas has never brought out the best in the MacDougal family. Still, year after year they gather together in the Blue Ridge Mountains to try to make the season merry and bright. But this year is an especially strained one, with Shayne's impending divorce, Morwenna's slavish devotion to work and Bobby's reluctance to face what life has to offer. They've never felt less like a family.Then, in the midst of a sibling shouting match, a mysterious stranger appears. He could be a criminal, a madman—or something far more unexpected. Despite their fears and the growing danger in the dark woods around them, the MacDougals take a leap of faith. But when another stranger arrives on the mountainside, they don't know which of them to believe. One of these men can't be trusted. And one is about to bring Christmas into their hearts.

My Review:

I'm beginning to think Christmas books should only be read during Christmas, because then we are a little kinder, more willing to believe.

This was a different kind of Heather Graham book, mostly because I may have read horror books, this was really in your face Christmas themed. It's still good, it was kinda more of a Christian fiction book.  It's not really what I expected from her, but it's really still good.

I liked Stacy but at times she was also stubbornly stupid in my opinion.  Why did she have to do it right then??  It wasn't until the end of the book that I caught on to "who" the criminal and the cop really were.

Now I know this makes me a little heartless but it's how I feel. If you're told not to do something, you do it and almost die, in the process?? Yeah you so deserve it. Even if you're a kid, especially because we don't want you passing on the "stupid gene". All the time in horror movies it always the idiot kid who was told to stay put who causes everybody to die. Grrrrr

It was an okay book, I really think I might have had a different thought if I read it during the holidays, we tend to let the corny slide during the holidays.

Happy Reading!!

ARC Book Review: Lucretia & The Kroons

Book Title: Lucretia & The Kroons
Author: Victor LaValle

Publisher: Spiegel & Grau via Random House Digital
Format: ebook
Genre: Adult Fiction

Cost: $0.99

Pages: 100

How I got it: Publisher via NetGalley

My Rating:★★★1/2
Erotica Rating: N/A
Synopsis:

From one of the most acclaimed young writers of fiction in America today comes a fast-paced and fantastical novella about a young girl's journey into a dark netherworld to find her missing best friend. This eBook edition contains an exclusive excerpt from Victor LaValle's new novel The Devil in Silver, about which Gary Shteyngart raves, "Literary horror just found a new master." Lucretia's best friend and upstairs neighbor Sunny-a sweet pitbull of a kid, even as she struggles with a mysterious illness-has gone missing. The only way to get her back is for Lucretia to climb the rickety fire escape of their Queens tenement and crawl through the window of apartment 6D, portal to a vast shadowland of missing kids ruled by a nightmarish family of mutants whose designs on the children are unknown. Her search for Sunny takes Lucretia through a dark fantasyland where she finds lush forests growing from concrete, pigeon-winged rodents, and haunted playgrounds. Her quest ultimately forces her to confront the most frightening specter of all: losing, forever, the thing you love the most. Lucretia and the Kroons is a dazzlingly imaginative adventure story and a moving exploration of the power of friendship and the terror of loss. This all-new novella serves as the perfect companion piece to The Devil in Silver, a thrillingly suspenseful work of literary horror that continues the story of Lucretia.

My Review:

"Being young doesn't protect you, horrors come for kids, too"

It took forever to get to this book, and it's one of the few novellas I have read that went as fast as it did.  I've never read this author before, so his writing style was new to me. The story just jumped right into it, now pretense or build up, it just went right to it.

Now this is a very different kind of book for me, a bit of a magical realism, yet very different.  Loochie is a kid who doesn't realize that the world is kind of harsh; her best friend was sick from leukaemia and dying and she still doesn't understand just how bad the disease is.  When her older brother visits just before her friend comes over to celebrate her birthday, he shares with her the story of the Kroons as a way to scare her about being alone in the house for the first time by herself.

I was kind of confused reading this book, what would have happened if her brother didn't tell her about the Kroons?? How would have this worked out?? How comes she didn't hear the sirens and think anything about it?? I knew immediately what was wrong, but she was completely clueless.

I felt so bad for her knowing what was going on and she didn't know.  Then the Kroons happened and I was just engrossed in the story. Holy Crap, I just...WOW.  What a story. I was still confused reading it, the main thing that stuck out to me was the fact that if her brother didn't tell her this story about the Kroons would the rest of it happen??

It's an okay story, engaging while you're reading it. The ending didn't make any sense, why not say ok maybe I was dreaming; but she refused to back down even when it meant she was going to get into trouble.

Enjoy while reading, he's an interesting author.

 Buy on Amazon                        Add to Goodreads

***FTC Rules require I state that I received this as a review copy from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review**** 

Erotica Book Review: Anything For Him

Book Title: Anything for Him

Author: Lily Harlem & Natalie Dae

Publisher: Mischief
Format: ebook

Cost: $2.99

Pages: 175

How I got it: Author 

My Rating:★★☆☆☆
Erotica Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis:

Just how far will one woman go to fulfil her fantasies? I prefer to chase the news, not be the news. But when the delectable Liuz, with his uncannily accurate perception of my secret desires weaved its way into my life, it wasn’t long before I was in way too deep, submerged and intoxicated with a passion I was afraid was more than I could handle. Or was it? Because although my heart was overwhelmed with feelings I had no resistance against, and while my deceitful body was consumed by a burning passion, I still had a plan. A plan I prayed would keep me afloat as I was pushed to the very edge of my limits, while the journey got tougher than even my wildest flights of fantasy could have imagined. I claimed him and I felt that he was rightfully mine. My heart simply couldn’t beat without a permanent connection between our hearts, minds and bodies. Losing was not an option, not when my sanity depended on winning him. Because I would, quite literally, do anything for him.

My Review:
                              *****~~~~~~~~May contain a few spoilers~~~~~~~~~~*****

I'll admit that I didn't read the premise at first, I simply saw the cover, & it's from one of my go to authors, hells yeah I'm going to read it. Alright, the cover?? Smoking hot, the synopsis?? Sounds amazing. The execution?? Yeah not so much. My initial thoughts were "Holy crap it's a Lily Harlem book, this going to be awesome!!". *starts reading*

First few chapters, the book is good, Hannah (the female lead) is having fun seeking out her kink, now that is cool, she's found a man she can share her fantasies with and she is going all in. Woohoo, hot fun, kinky stuff...okay a little strange, but hey we all get down differently  (this is when she prints off ten copies of his picture, and rolls around on the floor masturbating to it)...  Then out of nowhere the book went left.

As I read I'm thinking okay, it's not kosher but everyone becomes a little stalkerish when they first start to date someone...no wait, she's ...wait...she really has become a stalker.  I mean you ask your friends who know him/her everything you can get on them, you might check out their facebook page, but this is a whole other level. She went to his house, climbed up on the flowers and watched him, then when she almost got busted, had to cut her hair and dye it so he wouldn't know it was her & there begins the lying & sneaking around. O_O  Okay WOW WOW (peter griffin voice) Hannah is now clearly a few ladles short of a full bucket. I just can't....

Yeah at the beginning, I was all about the story, it had a strong kink flavor & clearly very hot, then somewhere along the way it hung a left into weirdsville & headed straight down stalker drive & jumped the curb onto Batshyt Crazy Hill.  I mean girl was stalking him, ... I feel like I wondered into a Lifetime "what not to do " movie.  Hannah clearly isn't all there & poor Luiz has NO idea the kind of  woman who has attached herself to him.  Not that Luiz himself is a stand-up guy, he lied about where he lived, about who he was & what he did.  Then when in trouble decided to trade his 'girlfriend' to make his payments to some seriously bad guys.  Little miss stalker watched this happen & showed up. Okay I'm all for ride or die with your man, & I thought it's ok because he told her & she showed up knowing what was going to happen. Everything that happened after that just made no sense to me & killed the mood of the story. It went from having fun & kinky sex to being used (well if you know about it and show up that's agreeing to be used so that's okay) but then she described him first as a dangerous looking guy & it turned her on, then when it comes time to do the deed, she doesn't like him anymore, but still goes thru with it because of Luiz, who also doesn't like the guy & doesn't want her near him. If nobody wants to have sex but does it anyway, where is the fun??

Hannah went full-on-stalkerville after that; & it was hard to finish reading because it was no longer a fun sexy read, but the inner workings of crazy stalker especially with what she does in the end of the book.  I knew she was going to do some crazy shyt when she mentioned that she didn't want him moving on to other women. I just knew only crazy could come after that statement & she definitely made it come out.   I have to admit that I really good chuckle (no that's a lie) it was a full belly incredulous laugh because I just couldn't believe it, she better NEVER get mad or be stupid enough to say anything about what she did because without a doubt he will kill her!!

The sex scenes were hot until everything else happened & then it became just creepy, slimy & debase. There is a fun debauchery & then there is this.  I kept asking myself how could this story have gone so far left.  I kept thinking did the author put the book down, leave for several months then come back??? It's two different tones, two different writing ideas, hell it should be two different books then I looked at the cover...ahhhh that explains it, there are two authors.

2 1/2 stars (steamy with potential) for the sex scenes but the rest of the book killed what should have been an awesome erotica.

Why not read and see if you find the same things & come back & let me know.

 Buy on Amazon                            Add to Goodreads

***FTC Rules require I state that I received this as a review copy from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review**** 

It's Offically a new year &

I'm joining every challenge of the blogsphere, right now I'm Barney (from HIMYM) and just saying Challenge Accepted to every challenge I seem to be coming across!! I love it, almost all of them are going to be passive challenges since I will be reading those books anyway, but the challenges I'm looking forward to the most are the following:

Fran from HeyFranHey, hosts challenges each month of a different variety, mostly fitness and health challenges this month she has decided to kick start the new year with all of them rolled into one awesome month challenge. I'm taking part won't you??  Click on the link to go to the website to see the details of how this month's challege is going to work. I have already done it. Yep I made soup with sweet potato instead of regular potato and had that for lunch, Im using Jamiacan coconut oil for my nails and the workout almost killed me but I did it.

My new No Soda Challenge for 2013, this time, it's going to be a whole lot different last year's challenge was a massive flop, I failed mostly because I didn't have alternatives to soda when I was at work, this time, I have purchase a non bpa water bottle and plan to and actually have been using it a lot over the last few weeks, so the new habit has already been formed, I now just have to maintain it.

Book Challenges:

Y'all know I love Nicholas Sparks, I have several books from him htat I have left to read, especially the one that will be coming out as a movie soon, so I have to read it before it becomes a movie.  I believe I have seven to ten left to read and I will be doing so as soon as possible. I'm doing the "married" level which is 13-16 books through the year.

I'm aiming for Chief level which is 16+ men in uniform books for the year. (whew that's all?? Hot men in uniform??!!Yeah I can do that).  Hell I have already made the first book of that challenge this morning. Yeah this is a cake walk.

And of course my favorite challenge is going to be:

I'm going back for Crone level, it's yeah the same level I went for last year and didn't make. I'm doing this level and I promise It's going to be awesome I'm going to share all of the awesome Witch books I'm reading this year. make sure to swing by Melissa's blog to sign up for the challenge. 

Of course the Pagan Reading Challenge is a must do. Afterall this is a pagan blog isn't it??!?!? I'm going to do the Adept level so I have room to grow, I'm betting I will be able to grow up several levels, but last year I went for the highest level and I didn't even come close. 

And I have two more to do, and they are the awesome Bewitching Home blog party. It will be on Imbolc, This is also a must do Blog Party. It's a party for when the winter duldrums have come to call, yes,this one is also a must do.  

And this challenge that I have been taking part in this morning.  It's called the New Year's Resolution Challenge, and the goal of this challenge is for you to read, research and do something to help you with your new year's resolutions. You read 1~4 books on any of the subjects dealing with your resolution and aim to help you stick with them.  

The To Be Read Challenge is another given, it's funny this year I read 134 books and yet my TBR pile actually grew. No bueno. So this year, no new books, only what's on the pile will count towards any of my reading. I have to clean that list up. 

And to go along with this, I will also be doing the Take Control March challenge hosted by Kimba.  This is a way to clean up the TBR pile and win prizes. This challenge will just for me be more motivation to tackle the mound of books screaming my name from my bookshelves.

Well there you have it. I have signed up for a ton of challenges this year and Goddess knows I'm sure to stumble onto more as the year goes on.  If you see any you like and think would be great, why not sign up and let me know so we can share notes and compare book ideas?/

Good Luck and Happy reading!!