Noah exchanges a glance with April and takes Jenny into the kitchen. It’s awkward, being on his turf. I don’t belong here. I belong in Castle Park, the down-and-out neighborhood where I used to live with my grandma. Now she’s in Mexico with the rest of my family, and I have nowhere else to go. Nowhere safe, that is. I’m supposed to stay in a stable environment, and I can’t leave San Diego. It’s one of the conditions of my parole.

“Let’s get you settled,” April says brightly.

I grab my backpack and follow her. On the phone she told me I could sleep in the den. It looks sort of like an office with a small bed in the corner. I spot a vintage desk and an old-school record player I recognize as Meghan’s.

I’m struck by memories of the last day I spent with her. She had a room upstairs back then. When we first met, it was just Meghan and Noah living here. She put on some music and I laid her down on her bed. I took everything she had to offer and then some. I can’t even bring myself to regret it. That memory, more than any other, has sustained me on lonely nights in my cell. I’ve jerked off to a thousand variations of it.

I know that Meghan moved out a few months ago, but I imagine her lingering presence. The smell of her hair on the pillows.

“This was Meghan’s room?” I say, my voice hoarse.

April opens the closet, which is half-full of girl clothes. “I can ask her to move her stuff.”

“No,” I say. I don’t need the space; everything I own fits inside a backpack.

“Are you sure?”

I sit on the bed, nodding. This arrangement is temporary, anyway. “Which room are you going to use for the nursery?”

April waves her hand in the air. “I want the crib in my room. You can stay here as long as you like.”

I wonder if Noah is on board with this. He can’t be thrilled about having an ex-con under the same roof with his pregnant wife and stepdaughter. He got promoted to the homicide division, but money might be tight. I should cut out as soon as possible. I’m not a charity case, and even though Meghan’s not here, it doesn’t feel right to inhabit her space.

It feels . . . dangerous. Tempting.

I’ll never forget the look on her face when I told her I didn’t want her. She stared at me with soft blue eyes and trembling lips, pale from shock. Hardest fucking lie I ever told—and I’m an accomplished liar. But I couldn’t let her waste three years on me. I couldn’t let myself wish for something that far beyond my reach. I had to be cruel to be kind.

At least, that was how I justified my actions three years ago. Looking back, maybe I just wanted to be a dick. Getting locked up has that effect. It touches every raw nerve and stirs every violent tendency. It stokes prejudices and festers resentments. The only acceptable outlet for male prisoners is rage.

“When you’re ready, come out to the backyard. Noah’s grilling some carne asada.”

My stomach rumbles loud enough for her to hear. Smiling, she slips out the door and down the hall. She looks happy. That’s the difference in her, along with her rounded belly and fuller curves. She’s not exhausted anymore. Noah takes care of her. Or she takes care of him.

They take care of each other.

April hooked up with Noah around the same time I started seeing Meghan. He interviewed her about the murder of one of her coworkers, a waitress at Club Suave. Cops aren’t supposed to date anyone involved in their investigations, but apparently he couldn’t resist. They fell in love before I went to prison and got married shortly after.

Noah has been good to April and Jenny. Much better than Raul was. Even so, my urge to leave grows stronger. I don’t want to cause problems or be a burden to anyone. I’ve never been part of a nice family. I don’t know how to act civilized anymore.

This isn’t my scene.

I glance around, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans. There’s a nightstand by the bed. I open the first drawer and peer inside. Unlike the closet, it’s empty. I close it in mild disappointment. I’m not sure what I expected to find in there. Some random girl stuff, like makeup and perfume.

I remove the clothes from my backpack and toss them into the empty drawer. I have three shirts, an extra pair of pants, and some basketball shorts. Then I bring out my prized possession: my portfolio.

I like art. I can draw almost anything from memory. My favorite medium is spray paint on a fresh concrete wall, but in prison the materials are limited. Most of my drawings are ink on lined paper.

I also do ink on skin. It’s how I survived in the joint.

I was only twenty when I went in. I’m about five foot ten, not the biggest guy on the block. I’ve got muscles and I’m strong, but I’ll never be huge. I have a lean build and features they call handsome. To say that I needed protection is an understatement. Despite my unlucky size and face, I had three things going for me when I went in. First, I was down for CVL, my local clique. The Chula Vista Locos pay dues to the Mexican Mafia, also known as La Eme. So I was already connected to a powerful prison gang.

The second advantage I had was my best friend, Junior. We both got locked up at the same time and sent to the same prison. It’s not unusual for San Diego criminals to do sentences in Chino or San Quentin—they’re the two largest correctional facilities in the state. Junior wasn’t in my cellblock, but we saw each other in the yard. He became a captain for La Eme. If anyone fucked with me, Junior made them pay.

The third advantage was my talent for art. I can hold my own in a fight, but I didn’t want to earn my keep that way. I didn’t want to be anyone’s bitch, either. Instead of offering those services, I sold drawings and tattoos. I was the best in my block.

Tattooing has been the only bright spot in my life. Without my art, and my best friend, I’d probably be dead.

 

 

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Review:

This is going to be a rambling review.  The taboo aspects of this story didn’t bother me.   How everybody treated Jodie did. Her parents ignored her and shuttled her from one distant boarding school to the next, eager to rid themselves of her presence so they could selfishly pursue their lives without having a kid around. Stergios and his family treated her horribly, when all she wanted was some place to call home and someone to care for her. She was 15 years old when she first met them, and they couldn’t get rid of her fast enough, either! I’m just thinking what a crappy childhood that would have been, and what a strong person she must be to not be even more messed up than she was.  Jodie had zero positive role models while growing up.   ZERO.  The only reason her dad showed any interest in her at all was to ensure he received his massive child support checks from her mother.  How sad is that?

Jodie’s father is an admitted gold digger.  He married into the Antoniou family for their wealth.  Nobody seemed to have a problem with that.  Jodie, however, was a lonely, emotionally battered girl who acted out for attention.  Everybody had a problem with that.  Stergios’ mother treated her with contempt and distain, never welcoming the teenager into her home.  After an incident with her cousin, Jodie’s father banishes her from the family.  I would have considered that a stoke of good luck, but not Jodie.  She falls in and out of unwise relationships for the next few years, and then, after the sudden death of her mother, decides that she needs to make amends with her father.

Jodie’s determination to make her father love her drove me nuts and it really marred my enjoyment of the story.  Stergios wasn’t a teddy bear by any stretch of the imagination, but at least he came to realize that he was judging Jodie unfairly.  I found it kind of ironic that after taking advantage of her when she was 18, he continued to  hurl insults and judgment about her morality at her.  He also said some pretty hateful things to her during a huge argument at the midway point.  I really questioned what she saw in him, because whenever they were together, they brought out the worst in each other.  That did change later in the story, but Jodie was a lot more forgiving than I would have been.  And the kidnapping?  Just, no.  After what Stergios went through as a child, to even entertain this idea is inconceivable.  While Stergios’ behavior was driven by emotions, Jodie’s father never seemed to show any.  He was a spineless boy toy to the very end, and that infuriated me.

To say that Illicit Night with the Greek brought out lots of mixed emotions in me isn’t an exaggeration.  The supporting characters were vile and unlikable.  The hero was just barely tolerable for most of the story.  The step-sibling angle was kind of a moot point for me because Jodie was never a part of the Antoniou family, and Stergios treated her with contempt and distrust from the very first page.  This was mixed bag for me, one that did trigger several strong emotional responses, though the main response was rage at how everyone treated the heroine.  Because of how angry the Antoniou family made me, I found the backstory more compelling than the romance.  Do I believe in their HEA?  I think that Jodie and Stergios will remain blissfully happy – as long as they stay away from his unwelcoming, judgmental family. 

Grade:  C / C- because the supporting characters infuriated me so much!

Review copy provided by Author

The Greek’s unexpected parting gift…

Stergios Antoniou hasn’t seen his exiled, troublemaking stepsister, Jodie Little, since the night they finally gave in to their forbidden attraction. Learning she’s returned to Athens during a business deal too crucial to jeopardize, he holds her prisoner on his private island until it’s over. 

Jodie wants to rectify the past, but being so close to Stergios’s potent sensuality, she’s once again a slave to their destructive desire. One last illicit night should have put their affair behind them, but Jodie leaves the island with more than scorching-hot memories…

Publisher: Harlequin Presents
Publication Date: February 1
Romance sub-genre: contemporary romance
Book length: 192 pages
Goodreads link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25897411-illicit-night-with-the-greek
Order links:
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Illicit-Night-Greek-One-Consequences-ebook/dp/B0111OWG5U/
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Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Susanna_Carr_Illicit_Night_with_the_Greek?id=YNkaCgAAQBAJ
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Author links
Website: http://www.susannacarr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Author.SusannaCarr
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusannaCarr
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22371
Bio:
Readers throughout the world find Susanna Carr’s award-winning contemporary romances a delightful escape that has often helped them through difficult times. Reviewers describe her award-winning stories as “fun”, “sexy” and “a must read”. When she isn’t writing or spending time with her family in the Pacific Northwest, Susanna enjoys reading romance and connecting with readers online.

 

Two Exciting Giveaways to Enter Below!

Excerpt

His dark eyes heated her with memories as he strode toward her. His long legs ate the ground in giant slices, his khakis and sports jacket declaring him in the middle of a work day. He stopped in front of her, his broad shoulders blocking the sun and casting his handsome face in shadows. But she didn’t have to see to know his jaw would be peppered with the stubble that seemed to grow in seconds after he shaved. Her fingers – her body – remembered the texture of that rasp well.

Her breath caught somewhere in her chest.

He folded his arms over his chest, just under the Hurricanes logo stitched on the front of his jacket. “Welcome to the States, Erika. No one mentioned your intention to visit. I thought you don’t like sports.”

“And yet, here I am.” And in need of privacy out of the bright Louisiana sun and the even brighter curious eyes of his team and staff. She needed space and courage to tell him why she’d made this unexpected journey across the Atlantic to this muggy bayou state. “This is not an official royal visit.”

“And you’re not in uniform.” His eyes glided over her wrap around dress.

“I’m out of the service now.” About to return to school to be a nurse, the career field she’d hoped to pursue in the military but they would not allow her such an in-the-field position, instead preferring to dress her up and trot her around as a figure-head translator. “I am here for a conference on homeopathic herbs and scents.” A part of her passion in the nursing field, and a totally made up excuse for being here today.

“Are you here to share specially scented deodorant to my players? Because they could certainly use it.” His mouth tipped with a smile.

“Are you interested in such a line?” Still jet-lagged from the transatlantic flight, she was ill-prepared to exchange pleasantries.

“Is that why you are here? For business?”

She could not just banter with him. She simply could not. “Please, can we go somewhere private to talk?”

He searched her eyes with for a long moment before gesturing over his shoulder. “I’m in the middle of a meeting with sponsors. How about supper?”

“I am not here for seduction,” she stated bluntly.

“Okay.” His eye brows shot upward. “I thought I asked you to join me for gumbo, not sex. But now that we’re talking about sex–”

“We are not.” She cut him short. “Finish your meeting if you must, but I need to speak with you as soon as possible. Privately. Unless you want your personal business and mine overheard by all of your team straining to listen.”

She definitely was not ready for them to hear she was pregnant with the heir to the Reynaud family dynasty.

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Review:

I wanted to read Dreaming Death because it sounded different.  I was in a bit of a rut last year, sticking with the tried and true and reading a lot of series romance.  I decided that for this year, I would switch it up, and read a mix of genres.  I am loving the urban fantasy titles I’ve picked up, and was hoping for the same success with this fantasy.  While parts of it were fascinating, I had a huge problem with one of the characters, and it marred my enjoyment of the book.

This is an interesting premise.  Unfortunately, I found Mikael to be a spineless wimp, at least until he met Shironne, and Kai was a sullen turd. I shudder at the thought of grudge-holding Kai being the next king.  He is the favorite of the king to take control of the throne, and all I could think was, “That’s the best candidate you have?”  Ugh!  I didn’t buy the reasons for his behavior, and just thought he was being immature and petty.  I hated this guy, and it was a struggle to get through scenes he was part of.

This is a fantasy with mystery elements. Mikael keeps dreaming of other people’s deaths, and because he broadcasts his thoughts so loudly, all of the sensitives in town share his dreams. Shironne is a touch sensitive; she is able to read the thoughts and feelings of others with a touch. She can even read the thoughts of dead people, so she’s been helping the army solve murder cases. When a string of blood sacrifices leave a steadily growing number of corpses around the city, Shironne and Mikael are desperate to locate the killers. Mikael dreams of the deaths, and Shironne gathers clues from the bodies as they hunt the criminals before they kill again.

The magic system was interesting, but the world building was confusing. I still don’t really understand the difference between the Houses and the Families, but maybe that will be made more clear in the next book?  Mikael can project his dreams, and unfortunately, he dreams about people being murdered.  His disturbing, emotional visions are broadcast to the sensitives in town, leaving them frightened and unsettled.  They hate him for it, so he goes to a local tavern whenever he feels a dream coming on, and drinks himself senseless in an effort to dampen the intensity of his dreams.  That doesn’t really work, and because the dreams leave him injured and shaken, he’s not in the best shape to be alone, but he refuses to seek help, afraid he’ll be kicked out of the House he’s currently part of.

For me, Shironne was the saving grace.  She’s incredibly powerful, but she is mindful not to use her abilities recklessly.  She understands the importance of keeping the secrets and privacy of people around her.  Her powers have rendered her blind, but don’t think for an instant that she’s helpless or weak, because she’s not.  Shironne is the strongest character in the book, and it wasn’t all because of her abilities.  She is level-headed, intelligent, and able to think her way out of dangerous situations.  She deals with the grisly corpses with courage and determination, realizing that if she can’t unmask the identity of the murderer, more people will die painfully, and she’ll have to watch through Mikael’s dreams.

My opinion of Mikael improved immensely once he and Shironne meet.  Until then, I had a hard time liking him.  He seemed to be enjoying his pity party a little too much.  I never changed my opinion of Kai.  He remained obnoxious and immature to the very end of the book.  Unfortunately, he took away some of my enjoyment for the story.

Grade:  C+/B-

Review copy provided by publisher

ABOUT DREAMING DEATH

Shironne Anjir’s status as a sensitive is both a gift and a curse. Her augmented senses allow her to discover and feel things others can’t, but her talents come with a price: a constant assault of emotions and sensations has left her blind. Determined to use her abilities as best as she can, Shironne works tirelessly as an investigator for the Larossan army.

A member of the Royal Family’s Guard, Mikael Lee also possesses an overwhelming power—he dreams of the deaths of others, sometimes in vivid, shocking detail and sometimes in cryptic fragments and half-remembered images.

Then a killer brings a reign of terror to the city, snuffing out his victims with an arcane and deadly blood magic. Only Shironne can sense and interpret Mikael’s dim, dark dreams of the murders. And what they find together will lead them into a nightmare…

DREAMING DEATH: A Palace of Dreams Novel

J. Kathleen Cheney

Roc Trade Paperback

$16.00 | 432 pages

ISBN: 9780451472939

February 2, 2016

PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF J. KATHLEEN CHENEY

“[A] masterpiece of historical fantasy.”

—Library Journal

“Intriguing and fun, the mystery unfolds like a socially conscious tour through a cabinet of curiosities.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Mesmerizing.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Pulls readers in right off the bat.”

—RT Book Reviews

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

J. Kathleen Cheney is the author of the Novels of the Golden City, including The Shores of Spain, The Seat of Magic, and The Golden City. Her short fiction has been published in such venues as Fantasy Magazine and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and her novella “Iron Shoes” was a Nebula Finalist in 2010. She lives in Oklahoma, and you can visit her online at www.jkathleencheney.com.

Please give a warm welcome to Susanna Carr!  She’s here to discuss a forbidden romance – the stepbrother hero! 

When my readers hear that the hero in Illicit Night with the Greek is the heroine’s stepbrother, the response is mixed. Some adore the story set-up while others avoiding books featuring the stepbrother hero.

Although I have read the occasional stepbrother hero over the years, it’s not a romance story I actively seek out. However, I’ve read more than a few in the past year just by chance because the stepbrother hero is becoming more popular these days in romance fiction. Some think it’s because the stepbrother is one of the last taboos. I’m not so sure. I think many writers prefer telling a story about a couple who already have an established relationship. Why not write about a hero who is part of the family? The conflict, risk factor and emotional angst are already built in!

It’s not unlike the brother’s best friend, another type of hero that has enjoyed a surge of popularity in romances for the past few years. The hero and heroine know each other for years. The brother’s best friend may have stood in as a big brother or saw the heroine as a little sister. And suddenly the relationship changes.

But there is one big difference between the two types of heroes. There’s no “like family” in this equation. They are family. The stepbrother is familiar and yet forbidden. This relationship changes everything and can rock the foundation of the family structure. There is also a risk of censure. It doesn’t matter if the couple is comprised of consenting adults and not related by blood—society still expects that their relationship remains platonic.

What do you think about the stepbrother hero? Do you seek out the stories or do you avoid them?

Publisher: Harlequin Presents
Publication Date: February 1
Romance sub-genre: contemporary romance
Book length: 192 pages
Goodreads link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25897411-illicit-night-with-the-greek

Order links:
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Illicit-Night-Greek-One-Consequences-ebook/dp/B0111OWG5U/
Barnes & Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/illicit-night-with-the-greek-susanna-carr/1122252493?ean=9781488000621
Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Susanna_Carr_Illicit_Night_with_the_Greek?id=YNkaCgAAQBAJ
iBooks:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/illicit-night-with-the-greek/id1016372376?mt=11
Kobo:
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/illicit-night-with-the-greek
Author links
Website: http://www.susannacarr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Author.SusannaCarr
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusannaCarr
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22371

Bio:

Readers throughout the world find Susanna Carr’s award-winning contemporary romances a delightful escape that has often helped them through difficult times. Reviewers describe her award-winning stories as “fun”, “sexy” and “a must read”. When she isn’t writing or spending time with her family in the Pacific Northwest, Susanna enjoys reading romance and connecting with readers online.

Excerpt

“Oh, come now, no one is going to leave without you. Besides, do an old woman a favor and tell her the story.” The woman winked with a cheeky glee. “I saw that kiss at the altar. I’d wager my broom there’s a bit of scandal and romance to all of this.” Then she looked at the door as well. “And more to come if I’m not mistaken.”

Lavinia smiled, for Tildie had the right of it. Everything about this wedding and the days leading up to it were filled with scandal … and romance.

Truly, what would a quick recap for a lonely old woman cost her?

So she gathered her thoughts and tried to decide where best to begin.

“I suppose you could say it started,” Lavinia told her rapt audience, “when Louisa and I came to London for our Season. Our godmother, Lady Charleton, had promised to sponsor us, or so we thought.” She paused for a moment. For what had really happened was that they’d arrived in London only to discover that the baroness had passed away over a year earlier, and it was the baron’s secretary who had made all the arrangements—including finding them a suitable chaperone, Lady Aveley.

But all those points hardly mattered. And as their dear friend, Lady Essex, always said when a story got long-winded, “Get to the good part.”

So Lavinia did. “Our fortunes truly changed the night we went to Almack’s and our party was joined by Mr. Rowland—”

At the mention of Lord Charleton’s nephew and heir, the charwoman brightened. “Oh, he’s a handsome one—the one who stood up with His Lordship—isn’t he?” Tildie sighed a little, her smile turning dreamy like a newly arrived debutante’s. “Knavish looking fellow if ever there was one,” the charwoman happily mused. Then, as if thinking better of her choice of words, she added quickly, “Well, that’s what me mum would have said.”

Though Tildie appeared to share that sentiment.

“And right she would be,” Lavinia advised the charwoman in no uncertain terms. For if ever there was a knave, it was Mr. Alaster Rowland. “None of this would have happened if Mr. Rowland hadn’t let go of me in the middle of Almack’s. None of this.” She looked down at the wedding bouquet in her hands before picking up her story again.

For Tildie’s sake, and her own.

For it had all happened so fast, she hardly believed it herself.

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EXTREME HONOR by Piper J. Drake (January 26, 2016; Forever Mass Market; True Heroes #1)

HONOR, LOYALTY, LOVE

David Cruz is good at two things: war and training dogs. The ex-soldier’s toughest case is Atlas, a Belgian Malinois whose handler died in combat. Nobody at Hope’s Crossing kennel can break through the animal’s grief. That is, until dog whisperer Evelyn Jones walks into the facility . . . and into Atlas’s heart. David hates to admit that the curvy blonde’s mesmerizing effect isn’t limited to canines. But when Lyn’s work with Atlas puts her in danger, David will do anything to protect her.

Lyn realizes that David’s own battle scars make him uniquely qualified for his job as a trainer. Tough as nails yet gentle when it counts, he’s gotten closer to Atlas than anyone else-and he’s willing to put his hard-wired suspicion aside to let her do the same. But someone desperate enough to kill doesn’t want Lyn working with Atlas. Now only teamwork, trust, and courage can save two troubled hearts and the dog who loves them both . . .

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And don’t miss the second book in the True Heroes series, ULTIMATE COURAGE, on sale July 26, 2016!

Elisa Hall is good at starting from scratch. Leaving an abusive relationship in her rearview, she packs everything she owns into the trunk of her car and heads for refuge with her friend in Hope’s Crossing, North Carolina.
Alex Rojas returned from his second deployment as a Navy SEAL to find his condo empty and divorce papers on the breakfast table. Now he’s building a life for himself and his daughter at Hope’s Crossing kennels training younger dogs and handlers to search and rescue, struggling to adjust to life back in the States and as a single father. 

When Elisa shows up at the kennels, it’s obvious she’s running from something. Luckily, the dogs and trainers at Hope’s Crossing are more than capable of warding off trouble. And with every minute he spends with Elisa, Alex becomes even more and more determined to protect the woman he’s certain he won’t be able to live without…

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About the author:

Piper J. Drake (or “PJ”) spent her childhood pretending to study for the SATs by reading every interesting novel she could find at the library. After being introduced to the wonderful world of romance by her best friend, she dove into the genre. PJ began her writing career as PJ Schnyder, writing sci-fi & paranormal romance and steampunk, for which she won the FF&P PRISM award as well as the NJRW Golden Leaf award and Parsec award. PJ’s romantic suspense novels incorporate her interests in mixed martial arts and the military. The True Heroes series is inspired by her experience rescuing, owning and training a variety of retired working dogs, including Kaiser, a former guard dog, and Mozart, who was trained to detect explosives.

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EXCERPT:

“How’s Atlas doing?”

“He’s acknowledging her existence.” And didn’t that chafe his ass just a little bit. “She’s out walking the perimeter with him now.”

Speaking of, the pair came into view finally, far out across the grounds. Atlas kept pace with Lyn’s short stride, adjusting to her changes in speed and coming to heel when she paused to check out flowers or whatever.

Dog still maintained an air of disinterest, but he was out there with her and not laying on his belly in the kennel.

“So he’s making progress.” Beckhorn pressed for more.

“Baby steps, my friend.” Cruz chuckled. “Don’t go reporting him as recovered any time soon.”

“This mean you don’t want me to keep digging into who sent her?”

Cruz leaned back in his chair, considering. Her fear had been real the night before. Terror, really. “She was damned shaken up last night. Take a look at the debrief I sent you, off the record. Someone was looking for info she didn’t know she had. Or maybe she didn’t have it yet.”

“She’s a liability.” His friend made a grim noise.

“I had her check out of the hotel and gave her a place to stay here where I can keep an eye on her.” He didn’t entirely trust her yet but he was sure she hadn’t been faking anything the evening before. Her reactions had been genuine.

“You’re going to keep her around?” Beckhorn whistled, low and long. “Is she that hot?”

“It’s not about that and you know better.” Of course, Lyn chose to bend over right about then, checking out a pretty wildflower or weed or something, and he got a faraway view of her shapely rear.

Okay, she was hot.

But he wouldn’t keep a liability around just for that. He had Atlas in mind.

“Yeah, yeah,” Beckhorn continued, oblivious of the view. “What’s the plan now?

“We both know there was something to the way Calhoun died.” It was a big part of the reason Beckhorn had called Cruz so soon for Atlas. He’d needed someone he could trust to oversee the dog’s recovery before something unfortunate occurred. “Accidental friendly fire, my ass.”

“It’s the ‘accidental’ part in question. We both know it wasn’t friendly even if the round did come from one of ours.” Beckhorn’s tone went flat. “What we need to do is both prove it and find out why. Calhoun reached out to you just before he died and whatever drunk text he sent you pointed to Atlas.”

“At the time, the message hadn’t made any sense so I assumed it was a drunk text.” Cruz swallowed hard on the guilt and self-recrimination there. Not sure what he could’ve done from across a damned ocean but he still felt he should’ve realized something was wrong and helped his friend stay alive.

“It still doesn’t make any sense.” A string of curses followed. “Look. No ripping ourselves up for what we would’ve, should’ve, could’ve. We do the right thing now.”

“Yeah.” Cruz nodded even if Beckhorn couldn’t see.

Lyn resumed her stroll and Atlas took up position by her side. Dog might play like he wasn’t interested in the woman but he was engaged and Cruz would take whatever help there was to be had.

Of course, he might have more in common with the dog than he’d prefer to admit.

Last night, she’d suffered a bad scare. Things could have been far worse if he hadn’t shown up when he did. He’d been ready to rip her a new one when he’d come to her door, ajar only because her phone had landed in the entryway. It’d taken seconds to change gears from being angry with her to charging in to help her.

He’d have still gotten through, but it would’ve taken longer for him to realize what was going on and to break down the door. She’d been very lucky.

In those moments, he’d become someone else. The man he used to be. The stranger he’d locked down after he’d returned from deployment. When he’d heard her in danger, he’d gladly embraced the old rage and the cold calm to rush the door. Eliminate the threats.

“You still there, man?” Beckhorn brought him back.

A cold chill passed through Cruz as he realized he’d come to his feet. Maybe he hadn’t completely put the other him to rest yet, but it’d take some time to ease back and he hadn’t been all too relaxed as it was. It’d been why he’d come to spend time at Hope’s Crossing. “Yeah. Here.”

Now. Just a minute ago? Not so much. Seemed like Miss Evelyn Jones had a way of pushing all sorts of buttons with him without even trying to.

“You wanna share what you’re thinking? I can almost hear the gears turning in your head.”

Way across the field, Lyn had come to a halt. It was Atlas’s posture that got Cruz moving. “I’m going to have to call you back.”

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Polly Parker has things good in deadly chaos after the zombie apocalypse.  She’s snug as a bug in a secure building in Chicago, just waiting for the wakers to die.  She occasionally ventures outside to give herself something to do, and when the mathematician runs into Tye LeBow, she turns her cushy life on end.  Letting Tye into her home, and her life, is a huge risk for Polly, one that she’s very careful about making.  The last time she tried to help someone, she was viciously assaulted, proving that the zombies aren’t the only monsters prowling the streets.

Tye is just looking for his partner, Jackson (you can read about her adventures in Waking Up Dead – highly recommended!) when he runs into Polly and almost gets himself blown to bits in the process.  The two form an uneasy alliance after escaping from a mob of zombies.  Impressed by Polly’s bravery, as well as how she’s been able to hide for the past two years, he is still apprehensive that her luck won’t hold out forever.  When her safe haven is overrun, the two head south to the refuge camp in Laredo, dodging danger and death every step of the way.

I really liked Polly.  She’s a nerd, but she’s a bomb-making, sharp-shooter kind of a nerd.  She has believable fears about being eaten by zombies, but when it comes time to save someone, she’s there with her gun and her grit.  She was a nice match for Tye, but I thought he was just a little too good to be true.  He’s ruthless with his ax, but he’s kind, gentle, and possesses a positive attitude that I would be hard pressed to match in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

I really enjoyed this up until the point Polly was bitten, and then it didn’t hold my attention as well.  The secondary characters weren’t appealing either.  Seb’s character was inconsistent, and I didn’t buy into his mistake that allowed the zombies to escape from his lab.  Jackson just grated here, while I loved her in Waking Up Dead, and Luke was completely under-utilized here.  He was pretty much just Jackson’s arm candy, which was disappointing. 

The action up to Tye and Polly reaching Laredo was blistering, and what I enjoy best about zombie books.  They were constantly on the run, dodging from evermore cunning monsters that want nothing more than to eat them.  Their flight from Chicago is tense and nerve-wracking, and kept me turning the pages.

Then they get to Laredo and everything came to a screeching halt.  If you are more interested in the possible recovery from a devastating zombie virus, than this will be right up your alley.  Seb, a scientist, believes he finally has the key to manufacturing a cure for the plague that has brought a bloody and violent end to the world.  I found the lab time tedious and wasn’t as engaged in that aspect of the story.

Grade: B-

Review copy provided by publisher

About the book:

After surviving the zombie apocalypse for two years, Tye LeBow never expected to be saved from a hungry gang of zombies by a geek with a bad attitude and a penchant for explosives. Tye can’t quite work out why scientist Polly Parker saved him. She doesn’t want his protection, and she certainly doesn’t want his company. But Tye has no intention of leaving the beguiling geek behind.

Polly doesn’t want to leave her home, but when the wakers begin to show signs of a burgeoning intelligence, heading south is the only option. With a car packed full of homemade explosives, and Tye’s very large axe, they are ready for the road trip of their lives.

Bombs and blades aren’t the only keys to survival–they’ll need to rely on each other, in a way that neither could have imagined…

Victoria Carson never expected love. An American heiress and graduate of Lady Grantham’s finishing school, she’s been groomed since birth to marry an English title—the grander the better. So when the man chosen for her, the forbidding Earl of Dunnley, seems to hate her on sight, she understands that it can’t matter. Love can have no place in this arrangement.

Andrew Hargrave has little use for his title and even less for his cold, disinterested parents. Determined to make his own way, he’s devoted to his life in Italy working as an archaeologist. Until the collapse of his family’s fortune drags him back to England to a marriage he never wanted and a woman he doesn’t care to know.

Wild attraction is an unwanted complication for them both, though it forms the most fragile of bonds. Their marriage of convenience isn’t so intolerable after all—but it may not be enough when the deception that bound them is finally revealed.

Excerpt:

She cleared her throat and leaned forward to set her untouched sherry on the table, but his hand shot out to close around her wrist. Her breath stalled as he slid his fingers down to cover hers, gently plucking the glass from her hand. He set it down for her, and his own as well, but he didn’t lean back. The scent of his bay rum tickled her nose, and she was close enough to see the faint dark stubble beginning to form on his jaw. Surely, this close to her, he could hear her heart pounding.

His hand found her wrist again and he traced his way up to her elbow, curling his fingers around her upper arm. She burned everywhere he touched. She should get up and leave. His intentions were clear and the longer she sat here, the more awkward it would become. The moment for decision was past as he slid his hand back into her hair, holding her head gently between his palms. She wanted to push him away and flee, but she couldn’t seem to make herself move, not when he was so close, staring into her eyes this way.

“Victoria, we’ve had a bad start, you and I.” His thumb caressed her cheekbone and slowly, inexorably, he drew her face closer to his. “I’m not returning to Italy this summer. I’m staying here. And I’d like us to start again. As a real husband and wife.”

She was stunned into silence, absorbing his words. Staying. Invading. This was her place and he was forcing his way into it, asking her for the impossible.

The implications of it were still reverberating in her heart when he caught her off guard and kissed her. The shock of it all made her slow to respond, and she didn’t push him away when she should have. She held still long enough to notice how different this was from the other kisses they shared. He wasn’t drunk, there was no anger. This wasn’t a kiss to punish, this was a kiss to seduce—

And that was when she finally found the wherewithal to move.

“No, please don’t.”

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Amanda Weaver has loved romance since she read that very first Kathleen E. Woodiwiss novel at fifteen. After a long detour into a career as a costume designer in theatre, she’s found her way back to romance, this time as a writer.

A native Floridian, Amanda transplanted to New York City many years ago and now considers Brooklyn home, along with her husband, daughter, two cats, and nowhere near enough space.

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May Contain Spoilers

I loved the action, but struggled with the protagonists. They aren’t particularly likable, or rational, which made me doubt they would, indeed, survive the end of the world.  Jenna, in particular, behaves with extreme immaturity, which both grated and made me wish, even for a moment, that she would be the next victim of the demon dogs.  She is more upset that Mason freezes her out emotionally than she’s mad that he kidnapped her, tying her up and tossing her in the trunk of her car before driving her to his isolated cabin in the woods.  He only does it to “save” her from the end of the world, but since she doesn’t believe that the end of the world is nigh, she should have been a lot more pissed at him than she was about that incident.

There’s a lot of sexual tension, but Mason and Jenna’s relationship never seemed to grow from sex and lust to love. Maybe in a scary new world that’s all you need, but as a reader, I was disappointed at their lack of emotional development. They both act like 10 year olds, sniping and even physically fighting with each other. I’m not sure that I’m ever going to buy into a relationship between them, should they ever start to actually communicate, which they really didn’t until the very end of the book.  It’s all mine, mine, mine, and I don’t consider feelings of possession to equate to feelings of love and tenderness, but maybe I’m weird that way.

This book rocked when the characters were hiding or running away from the monsters that relentlessly tried to eat them. The interactions between the protagonists, however, wasn’t exactly my cup of tea.  I did like Tru and Penny, two of the younger supporting characters, and I’m looking forward to  reading their story.

Grade: B/B-

Review copy purchased from Amazon

About the book:

First in a stunning new post-apocalyptic paranormal romance trilogy.

Growing up with an unstable, often absent father who preached about the end of the world, Jenna never thought in her wildest nightmares that his predictions would come true. Or that he would have a plan in place to save her-one that includes the strong, stoic man who kidnaps and takes her to a remote cabin in the Pacific Northwest.

The mysterious ex-Marine named Mason owes a life-debt to Jenna’s father. Skilled and steadfast, he’s ready for the prophesied Change, but Jenna proves tough to convince. Until the power grid collapses and mutant dogs attack-vicious things that reek of nature gone wrong.

When five strangers appear, desperate to escape the bloodthirsty packs, Jenna defies her protector and rescues them. As technology fails and the old world falls away, Jenna changes too, forever altered by supernatural forces. To fight for their future, she and Mason must learn to trust their instinctive passion-a flame that will see them through the bitter winter, the endless nights, and the violence of a new Dark Age.

Excerpt

Intro from Sarah MacLean

Being shot on the Great North Road isn’t exactly a thing people expect to happen, and Lady Sophie Talbot finds herself in the rooms above The Warbling Wren pub, under the welcome care of a rather mad doctor and the watchful eye of the rather infuriating (and infuriatingly handsome) Kingscote, Marquess of Eversley. There are worse things, she supposes. Or are there? Not for King.)

—

“If you want a bath, you’ll have to accept my help,” he said.

She pursed her lips at that, her gaze settling longingly on the steaming bath. “You mustn’t look.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” It might have been the most obvious lie he’d ever told.

Somehow, she believed it, nodding and throwing back the coverlet to step out of the bed. She came to her feet, the top of her head at his chin, and he resisted the urge to help her across the room. “How do you feel?” he asked, hearing the gravel in his words. He cleared his throat.

“As though I’ve been shot, I’d imagine.”

He raised a brow. “Clever. There’s food when you’ve bathed.” The words summoned a low growl from her, and her hands flew to her stomach. Her cheeks turned red, and he smiled. “I take it you are hungry.”

“It seems so,” she said.

“Food after the bath. And then sleep.”

She met his gaze. “You’re very domineering.”

“It’s a particular talent.”

“What with you being called King.”

“Name is destiny.”

She moved past him to the high copper bathtub. He resumed his place against the wall, arms crossed, watching her carefully as she reached down, her long fingers trailing in the hot water as she sighed her anticipation. The sound was like gunfire in the room—pure, unadulterated pleasure. It was delicious.

King stiffened. He was not interested in the lady’s pleasure.

If only someone would tell his body that.

Perfect for fans of Keri Arthur and Bella Forrest, this short novel kicks off a sizzling new series in the award-winning Weird Girls saga as Celia’s sister Taran fights to have it all: independence, hot romance, and enough firepower to torch an army of blood-thirsty supernaturals.

Cursed by a spell meant to destroy them, Taran Wird and her sisters instead developed unique magical talents. With the power of fire and lightning literally at her fingertips, Taran doesn’t fear much. Demons, vamps, whatever—bring ’em on! Only one thing terrifies her: commitment.

Taran is crazy about her boyfriend, Gemini, a sexy were with the incredible ability to split into two separate wolves. But after watching her sister go through heartbreak with the pack’s Alpha, Taran knows not to count on happily ever after—despite Gemini’s desire to claim her as his mate. Reluctantly, she agrees to meet his very traditional and conservative parents. Taran’s a badass with a mouth to match, and Gemini loves her for it. She’s just not positive these attributes will please Mom and Dad.

Unsurprisingly, every attempt by Taran to bond with Gemini’s folks proves disastrous. But in the end, Taran finds that winning them over means unleashing her powers . . . and proving that this foul-mouthed fire-starter is a force to be reckoned with.

Excerpt

I’d woken only about an hour ago, Gemini’s warm, naked body curled against mine firing a need that required some serious quenching. So I buried my face in his lap to stir him from sleep.

Most women would have just said good morning, or nudged their partners ever so lovingly.

But I wasn’t most women.

Yeah, and you’re welcome, baby.

Gemini slowed his deep thrusts, grunting hard as he finished, his face scrunched in what appeared to be pain. But that wasn’t pain, was it? Nope, not at all. He was simply reacting to how good it felt to join his body with mine. I nibbled my way along his neck, leaving marks that faded from one bite to the next until I reached his earlobe and tugged. “Mornin’, sexy,” I whispered.

He growled something I didn’t quite understand. I didn’t speak a word of wolf, yet that deep snarl was as good as the dirty talk we’d exchanged during sex.

I laughed. Okay, maybe it wasn’t as good as those naughty words. Yet a growl from a werewolf in his human form was a rare kind of hot few women would know.

I continued to straddle Gemini as he effortlessly carried us from the center of the room, where we’d made love standing up, and back to our bed. The gentle way in which he kissed me was in direct contrast to our wicked sex, and to the male most saw.

My lover was the second in command of the Tahoe region’s Squaw Valley Den Pack—intelligent, fierce, capable of crushing skulls, quietly confident, and with fighting skills few weres possessed.

Not to mention he was hotter than the power I generated with my magic.

All large anatomical parts and good looks aside, Gemini was . . . kind. When you trash-talked, and entered a room like you owned it like I did, it attracted a certain caliber of men. The kind that made me grateful I could protect myself with fire and lightning.

Men could be cruel, and dangerous. I knew that better than most. But unlike those men I’ve known in my past, I trusted Gemini.

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[Manga Maniac Cafe] Good morning, Darynda!  Describe yourself in five words or less. 

[Darynda Jones] Slightly scattered lover of words.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] What’s one thing you won’t leave home without?

[Darynda Jones] My phone.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] Name three things on your desk right now.

[Darynda Jones]  Coffee, headphones, Post-Its.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] What’s your favorite snack when you’re working on a deadline?

[Darynda Jones]  This changes regularly. Today, it’s sugar snap peas.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] If you could trade places with anyone for just one day, who would you be?

[Darynda Jones]  Jane Austen (This will, of course, require time travel as I don’t relish spending the day 6-feet under. :))

[Manga Maniac Cafe] You have been granted the use of one superpower for one week.  Which power would you choose, and what would you do with it? 

[Darynda Jones] Teleportation. What I would do with it is very political and involves the letter I-S-I-S, but on the last day, I’d do a lot of traveling and see things I’ve only dreamed of seeing.

Thank you so much for having me!

About the book:

In a small village in New York lives Jane Doe, a girl with no memory of who she is or where she came from. So when she is working at a diner and slowly begins to realize she can see dead people, she’s more than a little taken aback. Stranger still are the people entering her life. They seem to know things about her. Things they hide with lies and half-truths. Soon, she senses something far darker. A force that wants to cause her harm, she is sure of it. Her saving grace comes in the form of a new friend she feels she can confide in and the fry cook, a devastatingly handsome man whose smile is breathtaking and touch is scalding. He stays close, and she almost feels safe with him around.

But no one can outrun their past, and the more lies that swirl around her-even from her new and trusted friends-the more disoriented she becomes, until she is confronted by a man who claims to have been sent to kill her. Sent by the darkest force in the universe. A force that absolutely will not stop until she is dead. Thankfully, she has a Rottweiler. But that doesn’t help in her quest to find her identity and recover what she’s lost. That will take all her courage and a touch of the power she feels flowing like electricity through her veins. She almost feels sorry for him. The devil in blue jeans. The disarming fry cook who lies with every breath he takes. She will get to the bottom of what he knows if it kills her. Or him. Either way.

Excerpt

The front door of the quaint, shake-roofed office stood open when Rhett Buchanan drove into the parking area. Like he had time for this foolishness. Whoever heard of the CEO of a billion-dollar development firm approving a truckload of trees, even if they were species no other nursery could grow?

He peered through the windshield at the overhead sign. Evidently, a small-time nursery called Bloom & Grow had heard of such nonsense. He tugged his tie loose and rolled up the sleeves on his white dress shirt before angling out of his black SUV. At least a nice breeze was whipping off the Intracoastal Waterway.

Rhett had argued with Garrett over lunch about doing this inspection alone. Apparently, this eccentric nursery insisted on a final inspection conducted only by the actual owner—no substitutes. Sounded more like an interview. He let out a resigned sigh. Garrett Tucker made Rhett’s new resort developments stand out like diamonds in the rough and accomplished the feat with specialty landscape materials. The man had a gift, but only Garrett could find an oddball place like this to buy trees.

“Better just to get this over with,” he muttered and started up the stairs to the porch.

At the threshold, he froze. His gaze slowly took in a pair of perfect slender legs, then inched up to a spectacular yellow sundress with a cleavage that made his mouth water.

Damn.

A flawless complexion, shoulder-length blond hair, and delicate features finished the marvelous package who appeared to be perusing some sort of plant brochure. At that moment, Rhett wished he owned this oddball nursery, so he could spend all day selling plants to the beauty in the yellow sundress.

Wait a minute. Single women don’t buy plants. Married women buy plants.

His eyes flashed to her left hand.

No ring. Hmm. Things just got interesting.

He cleared his throat.

The beauty started and turned a pair of sapphires the color of the Gulf Stream in his direction.

“Sorry,” he said, then smiled. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

The beauty smiled back—a dazzling smile with perfect straight white teeth.

His mouth went dry. The woman was drop-dead gorgeous.

“It’s okay,” she said softly. “I was daydreaming and didn’t hear you come in.”

He nodded, started to reply, then didn’t. He just wanted to stare a while longer. Quickly realizing he’d look like an idiot if he did, he cleared his throat and began again. “Sorry, I’m being rude. My name is Rhett Buchanan.”

She took the hand he extended. He felt a spark, and her eyes widened almost imperceptibly. If he hadn’t been staring at her eyes, he might have missed it. Had she felt the spark, too?

“I’m Lily Foster.”

“I’m, uh, h-here to inspect some plants. T-Trees actually. An order for BDC.”

Great. He just stuttered like a bashful high-school boy. This from a man who bought and sold corporations over lunch. What the hell was wrong with him today?

“I see.” She stared for a long moment, then glanced down.

Good Lord, was he still holding her hand?

“Sorry.” He let her go.

She smiled again. “The sales manager will be right back.”

“Are you here to inspect trees, too?” At least he didn’t stutter this time. He was getting his wind back.

“No, I’m here to look over the new interiors line.” She held up the brochure.

He nodded. He wanted to keep her talking. Her voice sounded sexy as hell.

“Do you spend a lot of time here?” He glanced around the tidy office made cozy with a half-dozen plants and palms of some sort.

“Not really.”

He nodded again. He was getting real good at nodding. “Are you pretty good with landscaping?”

She eyed him warily. “Yeah?”

He dusted off what he hoped was his most charming smile. “Maybe you could help me with my inspection. It’s too many trees for me, and I could sure use some help.”

“Well, Tammy will be there to answer any questions.”

“Tammy?”

“Tammy Waynette, the sales manager.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“About what?” The sapphires looked wide and innocent.

“The name—Waynette.”

She laughed, a musical sound like delicate wind chimes. “I’m not kidding. Tammy says her mother loved the country western singer.”

He grinned back, couldn’t help himself. “Poor girl.”

“I don’t think she minds.”

He nodded. Again. “Do you know if she went to the laydown yard? My assistant said the trees would be staged in the laydown yard. We could meet her there and get started.”

Her eyebrows rose to twin peaks. “We?”

“Yeah, well, Tammy’s here to sell trees, and I’m looking for an objective second opinion on what I should keep or exchange. I could sure use your help since you’re pretty good with landscaping and all.”

Not that he had any intention of exchanging anything. He couldn’t tell a diseased tree from a healthy one, but he’d look at every single tree if it meant spending more time with Lily Foster.

She hesitated. “I suppose I could tag along.”

“Great! Shall we go?”

Lily led Buchanan outside where they grabbed the customer golf cart parked in front of the office. Rhett climbed behind the wheel and headed for the center drive Lily indicated. The man was tall; she guessed at least four inches over six feet. Riding passenger gave her an excuse to stare at him and wonder how she’d gotten so lucky. To actually be dressed up on the day a gorgeous hunk came in to inspect trees? What were the odds? A successful hunk, too, since he owned his own corporation, and Tammy said the BDC order was a big one.

Rhett Buchanan certainly didn’t fit her impression of a corporate CEO, powerfully built and handsome enough she had gone completely tongue-tied back in the office. She could get lost in those amazing green eyes. And that slow, sexy smile he’d given her had made her toes curl.

Yikes!

“You’re smiling,” he said. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. I’m just enjoying a pretty day.”

She would do much better out here in the nursery with plant material to talk about rather than forcing conversation in the office. For the first time in her life, she wished she had spent more time flirting with boys in high school like all the other girls. Instead, she had studied her heart out to get good grades and make Hank proud since she was all he had.

Buchanan pulled the cart up at the laydown yard, but there was no sign of Tammy’s fiery-red curls among the rows of trees. An errant customer had probably waylaid her somewhere in the nursery.

Lily and Buchanan got out and ambled over to the first row of trees, a dozen dwarf magnolias. The containers were well-chosen, some of their best product. Hands on his hips, he gazed at the trees and back at her, then raised his brows in question.

“They’re perfectly matched, disease-free,” she said.

“I thought so, too.” He winked.

She felt her neck flush, and her gaze strayed to the dusting of dark hair on his tanned forearms. “Where are you going to use all this stock?”

“A new condominium and shopping district in Boca. These trees are for Phase I, and I suspect Garrett will be ordering more.”

“Garrett?”

“He’s the vice-president of real estate development for our company, BDC. He’s also a frustrated landscape architect—that was his bachelor’s degree—but his subsequent MBA pushed him up the corporate ladder.”

“You like him,” she said simply.

His gaze sharpened. “I do. How did—”

“The sound of your voice when you talk about him.”

“Wow, beautiful and perceptive.”

She felt her cheeks grow warm and glanced away.

“Sorry,” he said softly, “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“You didn’t.”

A dark brow went up.

“Okay, maybe a little.”

Actually a whole lot. Rhett Buchanan seemed so confident, so sure of himself. She was out of her league, and she knew it, but she still wanted to play for just a little while longer.

“Garrett and I were fraternity brothers in college,” Rhett was saying. “Been together ever since.”

“Ah, I see. So who likes the plants, you or Garrett?”

“Mostly Garrett, but I do appreciate their value. He’s convinced me that installing—and more importantly, maintaining—specialty landscapes can double the exterior value of architectural designs.”

“Good for him! He’s right.”

“Another plant lover,” he said, grinning.

“Of course I am.”

“You’re gorgeous when you smile,” he said suddenly.

Okay, that had nothing to do with inspecting trees. Was Mr. Buchanan flirting with her? He’d complimented her twice in five minutes. She jerked her gaze away. She was heating up—all over.

“I’ve embarrassed you again.”

“You didn’t,” she assured him, lying through her teeth. “You just took me by surprise is all.”

“I would think you hear that a lot,” he said softly.

“Oh. No. I don’t.”

He stepped closer, and she feared her cheeks and neck would turn bright pink. She quickly moved toward the next row of trees. The first six containers were perfectly manicured weeping mulberry trees. This Garrett guy sure knew his plant material. She guessed he had selected their best specimens.

“What do you think?” she asked, gesturing toward the mulberries and staring straight ahead. Safer that way.

“Gorgeous, like I said.”

She glanced back.

He wasn’t looking at the mulberries. He was staring at her. Her cheeks just had to be pink. Lord knew they felt hot enough.

“You’re supposed to be inspecting trees,” she scolded with a smile.

He laughed. “Oh yeah, that’s right.”

By the time they made it through the third row of containers populated with an assortment of Helliconia and Callistemon, she grew more comfortable and even tried flirting back. They laughed and joked about the perfect places to plant the gnarly and exceedingly crooked Corylus, and Lily had the time of her life. Until the bottom dropped out about halfway down the fourth row at the gray Bismarchia palms.

“Do you buy a lot of plants here?” Buchanan suddenly asked.

Her head snapped up from examining a bent gray frond. She swallowed. “Buy?”

“You must be one of the nursery’s best customers as well as you know the stock and know your way around here.” He gave her that slow, sexy smile again. “Are you buying landscaping for business or pleasure?”

Oh good grief! He thinks I’m a customer.

How to Rescue a Rake, the third in Jayne Fresina’s Austen-inspired Book Club Belles series, comes out this January! For all of you Jane Austen fans, this fun new release is based on Persuasion and it’s a book you don’t want to miss. To celebrate this latest release, the heroine is here to give our readers a tip on how to rescue their own rake and to share an excerpt with us.

Tips for Capturing a Rake’s Attention: By Diana Makepiece (Or How to Stay Calm and Capture a Rake)

A tongue-in-cheek guide by one old maid, who has lost her bloom, has let her last chance for happiness pass her by and is now, at twenty-seven, half way to death (according to the parson’s wife)… and not at all bitter about it, thank you very much.

Reinvent oneself in a new town. Warning: this may involve the discarding of a modest lace tuck, but a little rearrangement and sprucing of one’s dress can do wonders.

Title: How to Rescue a Rake

Author: Jayne Fresina

Series: The Book Club Belles Society, #3

Pubdate: January 5^th, 2016

ISBN: 9781402287824

Nathaniel Sherringham has returned to Hawcombe Prior a changed man. Gone is the reckless rake who went out on a limb to propose to Diana Makepiece three years ago. Now Nate’s mysterious new wealth has the town’s rumor mill spinning. To stir things up (and get Diana’s attention), Nate boldly announces his plans to marry “any suitable girl” under the age of 25.

Diana, now 27 and still single, is acutely aware of Nate’s return. When her mother suggests a trip to visit a cousin in Bath, Diana leaps at the chance to escape the heartbreak and regret she can’t help but feel in Nate’s presence…and avoid his irritating charade to find a bride.

But for Nate, Diana has always been the one. He might just have to follow her to Bath and once again lay his heart on the line to win her attention—and her heart.

Jayne Fresina sprouted up in England. Entertained by her father’s colorful tales of growing up in the countryside, and surrounded by opinionated sisters, she’s always had inspiration for her beleaguered heroes and unstoppable heroines. She lives in upstate New York. Learn more about the author at www.jaynefresinaromanceauthor.blogspot.com.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1P3M7JV

Apple: http://apple.co/1P3h9U5

BAM: http://bit.ly/1lJAPBg

B&N: http://bit.ly/1YbbOQs

Chapters: http://bit.ly/1m2ui4j

Indiebound: http://bit.ly/1QHNIXR

***

An Excerpt:

“I sent you a message the morning I left, Diana,” he said. “I fired it myself through your bedchamber window with a sling.”

“You did what?”

He ran a hand over his face, flattening rain-drenched spears of hair to his brow. “I climbed that damnable oak behind your mother’s cottage. I didn’t want to leave without giving us another chance.”

She tried to think, but her mind wouldn’t cooperate. Don’t believe him, Diana. This is another of his practical jokes, no doubt. Any moment now he will burst his seams with laughter.

Diana sniffed. “What did this supposed note say?”

He frowned.

“And don’t bother making something up, Captain, for I will know you’re fibbing. It comes naturally to you and always did. But I never fell for it, did I?”

The frown broke with exasperation and then reformed with scorn. “Oh, you know me. It was childish nonsense. Just what you would expect. Good thing you never read it.”

“Don’t tell me then,” she grumbled into her handkerchief. “It hardly matters now anyway. The years have passed, and we are both too old for climbing trees.”

“Quite,” he snapped. “Three years is an eternity.”

For me it has been, she longed to say.

Suddenly Nathaniel seized her hand. “We should start again, Miss Diana Makepiece, and put the past behind us.”

“And why, pray, would we do that?”

He lifted her gloved fingers and pressed his lips against her knuckles.

“Captain?” she demanded.

He met her frown with a narrow-eyed, somewhat menacing appraisal. “Your opinion of me might improve.”

“Well, it could hardly get any worse.”

Nathaniel’s hand tightened around hers and tugged her closer. “I am not all bad. We may become friends.”

Skeptical, Diana tried to retrieve her hand, but his grip was too strong. “I wouldn’t hope too hard, Captain.” She admired his spirit; she envied his lively manners and his fearlessness. But to feel more for such a capricious man would be a mistake. “I think you should—” A dark, devious twinkle sizzled in his blue eyes and made her draw an anxious breath. “Do not think of it!”

He blinked, but the wicked sparkle remained. “Do not think of what?”

“That. It is not proper!”

“I’m afraid not. It is, however, necessary.”

“Captain Sherringham, if you dare—”

The words were stolen away as his mouth lowered to hers, claimed her lips. She’d said the wrong thing, of course. In his case, saying “if you dare” was like waving a red rag at a bull.

Diana was almost lifted off her feet, left to hover on her toes as he took his kiss. His tongue touched hers and stroked it gently. A raindrop that fell from his eyelashes to her cheek was warm and soft, tickling her skin as it trickled down the curve like a tear and finally gathered on the ridge of her jaw. Until the tip of his tongue followed it and then licked it away.

She was stunned speechless.

“If you don’t believe me about the note,” he whispered, his lips warm against her ear, “ask Jamie Bridges. It was his sling I used.”

Every inch of his hard body was pressed against her, and in her wet clothes she had little defense. He must feel her heartbeat. She might as well be naked. The wicked thought flashed through her mind as if he had put it there with his kiss.

“Ask him,” he repeated. “Unless you’re afraid.” A flare of white teeth showed as he smiled. Oh, that lethal charm. He would never lose it. “The world might tip upside down if I was proven honest for once.”

Nathaniel’s eyes shone down at her and she was caught up in their brilliance, like a fly trapped in a spider’s web.

“I once fell out of a tree for you,” he whispered, sounding bewildered.

“That would explain these bouts of madness,” she reasoned.

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Nicole Helm’s Favorite Scene from REBEL COWBOY

I don’t always find it difficult to pick a favorite scene from my book, but sometimes a book is made up of so many different parts it’s hard to pick just one scene or moment that stands out. REBEL COWBOY is one of those books for me. I love Mel and Dan’s first kiss, I love when Dan and Mel go ice skating, and when Mel confronts her brother’s failures.

But as much as I love complex and sometimes dark stories of love and acceptance, I can never resist a laugh. So, my favorite scene is probably when Dan finds a llama on his property, and panics a little. It was fun to write both Dan and Mel’s reactions—to the llama and to each other, and to build a little bit of a foundation for their friendship, and the love that they soon find themselves in.

So, without further ado, here it is: the surprise llama scene.

——

There was a thing. A not-small furry animal thing standing at the fence, staring at him expectantly.

He stared back at the animal, then helplessly at his phone. Hey, cell service. He googled random animal names he thought the thing could be until he found a picture that looked mostly right.

A llama.

How did he have a llama on his property? How had Buck not mentioned he had a llama, period? Surely the guy had been taking care of it. Llamas didn’t take care of themselves, did they? There weren’t packs of wild llamas running about Montana.

Were there?

“So, hi.” The llama didn’t respond at all. It stood there and stared at him. The thing was probably hungry. Maybe he should find it something to eat. “I don’t suppose you’d like to tell me what you’d want to eat?”

The llama stared. Didn’t move. Dan gingerly held out his hand, but when the creature nipped toward him, he pulled back. “Okay, so either you’re very unfriendly or you’re very hungry. We have a word for that in human speak—hangry.”

He needed to feed it, and he needed to stop talking to it like it was going to talk back, because he was sounding crazy even to himself.

He backed away, then jogged down to the house. Of course when he got to his kitchen, he had no cell service to look up what llamas ate. Shit. When was Mel supposed to get here?

He poked around in his fridge before pulling out a container of lunchmeat ham. Grabbed a few pieces of bread and a bottle of water and a bowl.

Worst he could do was offer random food it wouldn’t eat. Surely he couldn’t kill a llama with a sandwich.

He trudged back out to the barn where the llama still stood against the fence. Watching him. Still. Dan slowed his pace. That thing was motherfucking creepy.

“Hey, fella, want some ham?”

It moved around, and he figured that was sign enough. He peeled back a few pieces of the lunch meat and tossed them in the llama’s direction.

“What the hell is that?”

Dan glanced to where Mel was hiking up the hill. Thank Christ she was here. “According to my research, it’s a llama.”

“Why do you have a llama?” She approached, hands on her hips, wrinkling her nose at the creature before them.

“I don’t know. It was just here.”

“What are you feeding it?”

“Ham.”

“Ham? Ham? You can’t feed a llama ham.”

“Well, then what do I feed it?”

“Hell if I know, but not ham!” She made her way to the fence, then gingerly pulled the pieces of ham out of the grass at the llama’s feet. “Grain. Straw. Bread. Something remotely sensible.”

“I maybe panicked a little bit.”

“I see that.”

“I know you’re a genius cowgirl and all, but tell me you wouldn’t panic if you got the crap scared out of you by a llama.”

“My panic rarely involves ham,” she said drily.

“Fair enough.”

She stared at the creature, and Dan couldn’t help noticing she looked a little more haggard than she had yesterday. Her hat was pulled down low, but he could see circles under her eyes, and she looked pale. Even the way she stood was different. Slumpy instead of that ramrod straight “I’ve got this shit covered” posture she’d walked around with all day yesterday.

“You okay?”

She gave him an are-you-crazy look, all scrunched- up nose and drawn-together eyebrows. She seemed to give him that look a lot for only knowing each other about twenty-four hours.

“You look…” He tried to think of a diplomatic way of telling her she looked like death warmed over. But he didn’t have much practice being diplomatic, so he came up empty.

“I look what?”

“I don’t know. Like you had a crappy night of sleep.”

“Perceptive for a man with his head so far up his ass he feeds a llama processed meat.”

“It wasn’t because of me, was it?” He didn’t like the sudden guilty weight in his gut. Sure, he was paying her a shitload of money to be here, but he didn’t want to be making her life miserable in the process.

“Don’t flatter yourself, wannabe cowboy.”

“I meant because you hate me, not because you were up all night fantasizing about me—but if we want to pretend it was the latter, I’m all for it.”

She let out a gusty sigh. “Believe it or not, I have bigger problems in my life than you.”

“Like what?”

“What do you care?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together. Maybe we should be friends.”

She snorted. “You don’t need me to be your friend. You need someone to kick your ass every morning. And you need someone to figure out what the hell to do with your llama.”

“That almost sounds dirty.”

“Buck didn’t tell you about this?”

Dan shook his head. “Didn’t mention it to you either?”

“No.”

“No chance it’s a wild llama?”

“Yes, Sharpe. It’s a wild llama that hopped a fence, went into a stall, and is desperate to eat your ham.”

“That also sounds dirty.”

“You are giving me a headache.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. Her plaid shirt was green and blue today, and while the serviceable work shirts she wore didn’t do much to show off her figure, the jeans did admirable things for her—

“Stop staring at my ass, Sharpe.”

“Sorry.” Sort of.

“Let’s figure out how to take care of this llama, huh?”

“You can’t tell me taking care of llama problems together isn’t friendship.”

Title: Rebel Cowboy

Author: Nicole Helm

Series: Big Sky Cowboys, #1

Pubdate: January 5^th, 2016

ISBN: 9781492621249

UNDER A BIG SKY

For hotshot NHL star Dan Sharpe, hockey isn’t just his job—it’s his everything. But when claims of cheating get him bounced from the ice, he finds himself feeling lost. Everyone thinks he’s crazy for taking on his grandfather’s ramshackle Montana ranch, but hey, he’s Dan Sharpe: how hard can it be?

As it turns out? Plenty hard.

Mel Shaw has been fighting tooth and nail to keep her family from falling apart. The last thing she needs is a distraction, but taking a job as some city slicker’s consultant may be her only chance to save the land she loves. But she never expected someone like Dan to come roaring into her life, and it doesn’t take long for Mel to realize this hockey-star-turned-cowboy has the power to upend her carefully ordered world—and heart—for good.

Nicole Helm writes down-to-earth contemporary romance specializing in people who don’t live close enough to neighbors for them to be a problem. When she’s not writing, she spends her time dreaming about someday owning a barn. She lives with her husband and two young sons in O’Fallon, Missouri.

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[Manga Maniac Cafe] Good morning, Janie!  Describe yourself in five words or less.

[Janie Crouch] Adventurous sassy mom

[Manga Maniac Cafe] What’s one thing you won’t leave home without?

[Janie Crouch] I live as an American citizen in Germany (for my husband’s Department of Defense job with the U.S. Military) so I never leave without my international driver’s license (if I’m out and about in Germany without it and something happens, I can get in real trouble)

[Manga Maniac Cafe] Name three things on your desk right now.

[Janie Crouch] 1. The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi. (Highly recommended for anyone who writes or is thinking about writing!)

2. Large sheet of sketchpad paper filled with brainstorming and flow charts for the current Omega Sector: Critical Response book I’m writing. I like to have an outline (I’m definitely a plotter not a pantser) but the visual representation of the story really helps me too. I keep it nearby until the book is finished.

3. A picture of my entire extended family. We just celebrated my grandparents 70^th (70^th!!!!!) wedding anniversary and had a picture made of the entire family.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] What’s your favorite snack when you’re working on a deadline?

[Janie Crouch] German chocolate. Particularly, dark chocolate by Ritter Sport – a local brand that’s absolutely delicious. And I somehow have it in my mind that dark chocolate is somehow good for you.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] If you could trade places with anyone for just one day, who would you be?

[Janie Crouch] Someone on vacation on a tropical island.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] You have been granted the use of one superpower for one week.  Which power would you choose, and what would you do with it?

[Janie Crouch] Definitely teleportation! I sometimes feel very far from my family who are spread out all over the United States (from Georgia to Virginia to Oregon). Being in Germany seems so far! If I could take a week and pop in on all of them, I would love it.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] What are some books that you enjoyed recently?

[Janie Crouch] The Martian by Andy Weir – not the normal type of book I read (I generally stick to romance or romantic suspense), but I loved it. I wanted to read it before I saw the movie. I thought the movie was excellent, but, as always, a lot more happens in the book.

I’m also loving The Profiler series by Elizabeth Heiter. Her first two books in the series were fantastic (HUNTED & VANISHED) and the third one, SEIZED, just released last week. I’m devouring that one right now.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] How can readers connect with you?

[Janie Crouch] I love to hear from readers! There are multiple ways to connect with me.

Website (with contact info): http://www.janiecrouch.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/janiecrouch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/janiecrouch

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kjcrouch/

About the book:

Pinned down behind his car with someone shooting at him from across the street was not how Omega Sector agent Derek Waterman had planned to spend his afternoon. He wasn’t exactly sure how he had planned to spend his afternoon, but this was definitely not it.

Derek slid closer to the ground as a bullet whizzed past his head and shattered the concrete behind him.

Whoa. Too close.

The saving grace in this situation was at least the entire block was empty of any innocent bystanders. No upstanding citizen had much reason to be in this section of West Philly. The less upstanding citizens had exited when Derek and his team had shown up, obviously law enforcement, and the shooting had started.

“Uh, what exactly was the intel you got on this place again, Derek?” Jon Hatton asked from where he was also pinned down a few feet away. Although highly trained in weapons and combat as all Omega Sector’s Critical Response agents were, Jon was primarily a behavior analyst in the Crisis Management Unit.

“What’s the matter? You having problems remembering how to use your weapon, Jon? Too much analyzing, not enough action in your life?” Liam Goetz, the other team member, smacked his gum and grinned. As a member of Omega’s Hostage Rescue team, no one ever asked Liam if he remembered how to use a weapon. Liam had pretty much been born with one in his hand.

“I’m just asking to see if there is any sort of plan here besides hide behind the car until the bad guys run out of ammo,” Jon responded. “Which, at the rate they’re shooting, should be sometime next week.”

True, the number of shots being fired at them seemed to be dwindling. The people in the building obviously weren’t trying to kill Derek and his team, just keep them pinned. But damned if this entire situation wasn’t starting to piss Derek off.

The empty apartment building across the street gave the enemy the tactical advantage. That advantage wasn’t something Derek, as the lead tactical team specialist of Omega’s SWAT generally gave up.

But the intel they’d received on this location had required an immediate response. Time for tactical analysis hadn’t been available. Thus, the taking cover behind their SUV as the bullets flew by their heads.

Derek had moved in on this location so quickly because it had been the first substantial lead pertaining to a terrorist attack on Chicago two weeks earlier. A bombing that had killed or injured over five hundred people.

None of the leads Omega had followed up on until now—and there had been hundreds of them—had provided any useful intel. Each location had been totally cold.

Another bullet flew by. This location definitely wasn’t cold.

“All right, to hell with this.” Derek looked over at Liam, “Jon and I will lay down cover-fire. You head around to the back of the building.”

Liam was grinning like an idiot. He loved this sort of thing, danger be damned. “Now you’re talking.”

Derek nodded. “Remember, we need them alive, if at all possible.”

“Hey, it’s me!” Liam actually winked at them. “I wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Derek rolled his eyes and heard Jon groan under his breath as Liam made his way down the line of abandoned cars parked on the street. Still using their SUV for as much cover as possible, Derek and Jon began firing their weapons toward the abandoned building, hoping to draw any return-fire back at them and away from Liam.

But there were no shots at all coming at them from the house.

Derek looked over at Jon. “Again.”

Using the hood to brace his arm, Derek fired three shots at the house while Jon did the same from the rear of the vehicle. Still no return fire. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Liam make it across the street at the side of the building. No shots were fired at him either.

The bad guys weren’t in the building anymore; they must be on the run. Whoever had been shooting at them just a few moments ago was Omega’s best lead in Chicago’s terrorist attack. They were the only lead. And now they were about to get away.

“Move in, but be careful,” Derek said to Jon as they made their way forward, weapons still raised.

Derek was reaching for the knob of the door, Jon covering him from a cross angle when they heard a rapid burst of gunfire from the back of the building where Liam had been heading.

Both men backed out of the doorway and sprinted around the building without a word. Each of them knew that getting inside was secondary to helping Liam if he was under fire. As they rounded the building, Derek was relieved to see Liam unharmed, chasing a suspect farther down the road behind the apartment building. Derek and Jon continued running to catch up with them. Helping capture a known suspect was better than sticking around for what may or may not be in the house.

“Stay with them,” Derek told Jon, then made a sharp turn. He would run down a parallel side street and try to cut off the runner. He forced more speed out of his legs.

As he made a sharp turn around the next group of buildings, Derek saw the perp slowing down with Liam only a few yards behind him, Jon just beyond that.

It was obvious Liam was going to catch the guy at any moment, and the perp knew it, too. He fired his weapon at the Omega agents behind his back in some haphazard fashion without even stopping his run, but the bullets didn’t come anywhere near either of them.

Derek turned again and began running toward them.

“Stop!” he called out to the man, and saw distress wash over his face. The man stopped running altogether, sliding to an awkward stop.

“You’re under arrest,” Derek continued between breaths. “Place the gun on the ground and put your hands on your head.”

The man turned around, frantically looking for another way out, but didn’t put his gun down. All the Omega agents gripped their weapons tighter. Nobody wanted to shoot this suspect, he was too important. But they would if necessary. Especially if he turned his weapon on them rather than where it currently lay in his hand pointing at the ground.

“Put your weapon down,” Derek repeated. He nodded toward the ground with his forehead, as the man turned back in his direction. “Do you understand? All we want to do is ask you some questions.”

That wasn’t entirely true, but Derek just wanted to get the man’s gun out of his hand.

The man nodded and Derek eased his finger off the trigger just the slightest bit. But then, almost as if it was in slow motion, and before any of them could react, the guy brought his gun up to his own temple and fired. He crumpled to the ground, dead instantly.

Derek’s curse was vile. Jon rushed up to the man and crouched down to take his pulse at the wrist, but Derek knew it was too late.

Their best lead—their only lead—had just blown his brains out rather than be taken into custody.

May Contain Spoilers

Review:

I am a big fan of Keri Arthur’s Souls of Fire series, so I was excited to check out City of Light.  This is the start of her Outcast series, which has a futuristic, post-apocalyptic feel.  The main character is a déchet, an artificially conceived super-solider with both shifter and vampire DNA, and she’s been trained to seduce enemy shifters to divulge their deepest secrets.  She can alter her image, she’s immune to poison, and she can talk to ghosts.  She’s also pretty kick ass in a fight, and can better than hold her own in most instances.  She has one major weakness, and it’s almost her downfall several times during the story.  Tiger was in charge of the nursery in one of the déchet bunkers, and after the shifters won the war and attempted to eradicate all traces of her kind, she was forced to watch all of her young charges, as well as every other individual in the bunker, die horrible deaths when toxins were pumped into the structure.  When she learns that a child is in danger, she drops everything to save her and ends up leaping from the frying pan into the fire.

It’s been over a hundred years since the end of the war, and Tiger has spent most of that time hiding in the bunker.  The shifters dumped cement into the bunker to permanently seal it off, but luckily for Tiger, it only filled the top levels, leaving the rest of the structure intact.  There are secret entrances that she makes use of to steal in and out of her home, which is populated with the ghosts of her young wards, as well as the deceased warriors that inhabited the lower levels.  This was one of the largest plot holes for me, because it make zero sense that the victors of the war would completely overlook the fact that the military bunker had more ways in than the ones they sealed.  Especially when it was so close to their city.  They were so confident that they killed everyone in the bunker that it was inconceivable to them that someone actually survived.  With all of the times Tiger entered and exited her home, it was inconceivable to me that nobody noticed.

After the shifters dropped bombs to end the war, their weapons tore rifts between this world and the next, letting in monsters more terrifying than those they fought during the war.  Now blood-thirsty monsters dominate the night, causing the city dwellers to live under perpetual artificial light. Not only do the humans and shifters have to worry about vampires, but the Others from beyond the rifts also hunt during the night.  It’s during a monster infested night that Tiger’s ghosts send her out into the darkness.  There is a child out there, unprotected, soon to be a snack for the vampires.  Without a second thought, Tiger races out to save her, and also finds an injured ranger, a shifter that specialized in the murder of déchets.  Tiger manages to save both of them, and turns her quiet life on its ear.

There’s a lot of action and near death episodes in City of Light, and that kept me engaged in the story.  Tiger can’t trust anyone – not her new acquaintances, not an old friend she’s been reunited with.  There’s something off about everyone, some darkness she can’t quite place her finger on.  When she learns that someone is kidnapping young children for unknown, but most assuredly nefarious purposes, she begins to suspect government ties to the crimes.  With time running our, she knows she only has herself and her ghosts to rely on.

I thought some of the world building was a little weak.  I didn’t think this post-war world was sufficiently fleshed out, especially when it came to the government structure and the ruling hierarchy.  Some of the supporting characters also felt flat and one-dimensional.  The lead up to a few of the action sequences seemed drawn out, leaving me to hope that the battles would soon begin.  These are typical gripes I have at the start of a new series, and I’m hoping some of my concerns will be expanded on later in the series.  I did enjoy the book, and I’m looking forward to the next title in the Outcast series. 

Grade:  B

Review copy provided by Publisher

The first in an all-new futuristic fantasy series from Keri Arthur—the New York Times bestselling author of the Souls of Fire novels.

When the bombs that stopped the species war tore holes in the veil between this world and the next, they allowed entry to the Others—demons, wraiths, and death spirits who turned the shadows into their hunting grounds. Now, a hundred years later, humans and shifters alike live in artificially lit cities designed to keep the darkness at bay….

As a déchet—a breed of humanoid super-soldiers almost eradicated by the war—Tiger has spent her life in hiding. But when she risks her life to save a little girl on the outskirts of Central City, she discovers that the child is one of many abducted in broad daylight by a wraith-like being—an impossibility with dangerous implications for everyone on earth.

Because if the light is no longer enough to protect them, nowhere is safe…

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Excerpt

He watched her, his eyes sad. They appeared to gleam in the flash of simultaneous lightning; he appeared to reach out to her, his body bloody and wet.

Mimi remembered a dream that she had, a few months before, the night before she had been informed that Joel had been killed. Only, this wasn’t a dream. She was awake and he was standing in front of her.

She felt the blood drain from her face.

“What is it?” Austin asked.

“It’s Joel. He’s…he’s outside.” Her voice trembled.

Austin leapt out of bed. He saw his brother standing out in the pouring rain. He felt a wave of anger, followed by fear. Joel looked like a ghost, lost, broken, but the way his body stood rigid told him he needed to worry.

“I’ll go talk to him,” he said, pulling on his jeans that were draped over a chair sitting in the corner of the room.

“No, don’t. He looks crazy,” Mimi said, her voice high-pitched.

She’d never ever been fearful of her husband; he had never given her reason to, never any doubt, but in the darkness of this stormy night, something inside was telling her she had cause to panic.

“Just stay here, alright.”

“Austin, please don’t go out there,” she pleaded “Let me go…I’ll talk to him; it’s me he’s come for.”

Austin swallowed hard. “Actually Mimi, I think it’s me he’s come for.”

Her Best Shot
With college graduation looming, three childhood friends vow to make spring break their last blast of pure fun. But at least one of them didn’t count on such incredible heat…

Layla Sharpe is definitely more math ninja than bikini babe, and her future has been calculated with razor precision. Convinced to let loose over spring break, Layla is finally ready to party—until her car breaks down halfway to her destination, leaving her stranded in Georgia with a mouthwateringly hot pool shark. She knows more than enough about angles to learn the game, but this week she wants him to appreciate her curves…

Phin Marks has never met a girl like Layla. She’s more Star Wars geek than seductress, and when he offers her a place to stay while her car is in the shop, he’s counting on the attraction between them to set the nights ablaze, no strings attached. But every moment he spends with Layla makes it harder to let her go. Can he persuade her to gamble in the most dangerous way possible…on forever?


Her Perfect Game
Spring break is supposed to be a week of fun in the sun for three childhood friends about to graduate from college. But one of them is ready to get her game on somewhere else…

Charlie Castle is an expert archer and a fierce warrior—in her favorite video game, anyway. But college life was a program she couldn’t quite master. To land a cybertech job without a degree, she’s entering a “hackfest” over spring break—where she also hopes to meet the sweet gamer who’s been flirting with her online. Instead, she runs into the hot guy who walked away years ago, and can’t fight the desire that comes rushing back.

Jonah Best has never gotten over Charlie, whose kisses were always as deliciously creative as her coding. But now that they’re face to face again, he doesn’t know how to admit that her online admirer is really him—or how to convince her that he’s offering her a job for her incredible skills, not her sex appeal. Can Jonah cut through their communication glitches and persuade Charlie that the next level up for them should be forever?


Her Winning Formula
Spring break was supposed to be a last blast of fun for three friends before the reality of adulthood set in. But for the trio’s science whiz, it’s an education in instant attraction…

Chemistry major Felicity Stone can tell you everything about the way chemicals interact, but when it comes to social interaction, she needs schooling. Abandoned by her friends, Felicity is faced with spending spring break alone—unless she accepts a gorgeous stranger’s invitation to pose as his girlfriend at a family wedding. Not one to turn down a research opportunity, Felicity never expected it to produce such breathtaking results…

Teacher and baseball coach Lucas Tanner is fascinated by Felicity’s potent mix of spirit and scientist, not to mention her delicious curves. When Felicity asks him to return the favor by teaching her how to pick up guys, he can’t refuse—but he’s not at all happy with the idea of her using a formula for flirting on anyone but him. Can he convince her that together they have the perfect chemistry?

Her Perfect Game Excerpt

They sat side by side as friends during the lecture. They laughed at the same jokes and listened to the criticisms of current games. Jonah listened to know what players wanted so he could improve their gaming experience. He didn’t know why Charlie wanted in on this panel. Was this where she wanted to take her career?

As they wrapped up questions from the floor, Charlie nudged him. “I’m going to head out to grab some food before the next session. See you later?”

Although he wanted to hear the remaining answers, he found himself asking, “Can I join you?”

“Sure.”

When they were back in the main hall, he reached for her hand to fight against the crowd. She didn’t shy away from his touch, so even when the throng of people passed, he continued to hold on, running his thumb along her knuckles.

“Are you flirting with me?”

He stopped and yanked her over near the wall. Doing so made her body collide with his. “Of course I’m flirting with you. I want to kiss you again.”

She tilted her head up. “What’s stopping you, Best?

He lowered himself a little. “Why do you call me that?”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “It’s your name?”

“My name is Jonah, but the only time you ever called me Jonah was in the bedroom.”

She snorted. “It’s a little presumptuous for you to think I should call you Best in the bedroom.”

As much as he wanted a real answer, he couldn’t stop the laugh. He loved her snarky humor, and although he’d heard it while playing Resskaar, nothing beat it in person.

When his laugh slowed, she leaned in and flicked her tongue on his earlobe. “I call you Best because you taught me a lot. Out here, with the games and the computers and the code, you are the best.” Her breath whispered across his skin, making his pulse quicken. “But in the bedroom, it was just you and me. Everything else stripped away.”

Damn, that was a good reason. Her pale blue eyes shone with honesty.

“How hungry are you?” His voice was strangled and it was her turn to laugh.

“Are you offering something better?”

“When’s the next session you want to see?”

“A little over an hour.”

“Let’s go to my room.”

Her smile broadened. “Mine’s closer.”

He yanked her again, plowing through the crowds and lines, shooting straight for the elevator. When the elevator doors closed, they were crammed in with about eight other people. Charlie pressed against his body.

He looked down to the V on her chest. “How far down does the paint go?”

She ground her hips against his. “You’ll have to explore if you want to know.”

Several pairs of eyes looked their way, as if other riders had hoped Jonah would peel away her clothes. Instead, he ran a finger across her waist where her vest met her pants. A simple strip of flesh, smooth against the pad of his finger. “I’m thinking not this far.”

She bumped her hips again, and the bell dinged for her floor. They quietly excused themselves to get through the people and out the door. Their walk to her room was slower than the walk to the elevator had been mostly because Charlie walked backward in front of him, kissing his neck and tripping both of them as they made their way down the hall.

Charlie slid her key card in the slot and they tumbled through the door. The curtains were drawn, and only a sliver of light eked through at the edges. Charlie pulled him deeper into the room. She backed away, and he heard the popping sound of snaps being unfastened.

“Wait,” he said and slid his hand along the wall searching for a light switch. With a quick flick, the bedside lamp glowed, and he saw that Charlie had her vest open.

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Shannyn Schroeder is the author of the O’Leary series, contemporary romances centered around a large Irish-American family in Chicago and the new Hot & Nerdy series about 3 nerdy friends and their last spring break. When she’s not wrangling her three kids or writing, she watches a ton of TV and loves to bake cookies.

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Historical Road Trip with Elizabeth Moss

In Rebel Bride, Hugh and Susannah travel the dangerous roads of Tudor England together, forced into each other’s company by circumstances. Beautiful and feisty, Susannah has run away from her cruel father in Yorkshire. Finding her in the wild forest, Hugh is determined to escort his willful charge safely to the king’s court.

Fictional journeys like this often work as metaphors for a character’s inward journey towards emotional or spiritual development. For Susannah, this journey to London is about resistance and attraction; for Hugh, it’s a struggle between physical desire and his moral duty to protect this young woman – even from himself!

Travel in Tudor England was not easy, even for a courtier like Hugh Beaufort. Beyond London, major roads were little better than muddy tracks, with robbers and bandits lying in wait for the unwary traveller. Within towns, local citizens were charged with the upkeep of roads; in reality, this meant Tudor streets were dark, narrow and uneven, pitted with potholes, and strewn with rubbish and human ordure. The wealthy travelled by horse or curtained litter, a good horse covering up to 30 miles per day. There were no carriages yet, and carts would have been deeply uncomfortable for passengers, lacking any form of suspension as they jolted and bumped over every pothole.

Road trips around England could take a week to ten days to complete, and wealthy travellers like Hugh and Susannah usually preferred not to hurry. Every night would be spent at a wayside inn, as journeying after dark was impractical without lights. If you could find a place to stay that looked clean and was free of plague, you were lucky. Popular inns might be crowded with travellers, and being forced to share a bed with a stranger was not unheard-of. Though on their journey, Hugh has to be careful – in public at least – to keep his distance from an unmarried lady like Susannah.

Fare would have been simple too. Inn keepers or famers along the way might provide travellers with the equivalent of a packed lunch for the journey. Our hero and heroine probably dined on bread and cheese, smoked bacon, honey cakes, and a stoppered flask of beer, consumed at the roadside. As a courtier, Hugh might have insisted on wine and perhaps sweetmeats for his lady companion. Besides onions for flavor, even wealthy Tudors rarely consumed vegetables, though seasonal fruits were popular and often elaborately prepared.

Hugh and Susannah’s Tudor tips for your own road trip:

Never argue with thy love in front of thy companions on the road, for fear of shaming one another.

Journey not for many hours without ceasing, but take thy ease from time to time, for fear of some mishap.

Avoid excess of wine and music late at night when the body is weak and the desire strong.

Consume not strong onions with thy cheese. Or, if thou must, keep a sprig or two of parsley close at hand and so avoid the reek of foul breath.

Let neither wine nor ale confuse thee on horseback, but keep thy good wits sharp, remembering that robbers and uneven roads ever assail the unwary traveller.

Carry a saint’s bone or other holy relic in thy purse, and thou shalt end thy journey safely and in good spirits.

Title: Rebel Bride

Author: Elizabeth Moss

ISBN: 9781492613855

Series: Lust in the Tudor Court, #2

Release date: December 1, 2015

Genre: Erotic Romance

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Summary

Hilary Mantel meets Sylvia Day: the second installment in a deliciously erotic trilogy begun in Wolf Bride, set against the sumptuous backdrop of the scandal-ridden Tudor Court by Elizabeth Moss.

HE IS UNDER HER SPELL…

Hugh Beaufort, favored courtier of King Henry VIII, likes his women quiet and biddable. But Susannah Tyrell is neither of these things. She is feisty, beautiful, opinionated and brave. And Hugh is fascinated by her—despite himself.

When Susannah pulls an outrageous stunt and finds herself lost in the wilds of England, Hugh must go to her rescue. Neither of them is prepared for the dangers that lie in wait. But most deadly of all is their forbidden desire for one another. Hugh has long held himself in check, but even his iron will has its limits as they remain alone together in the forest, far from the restraints of court…

Buy Links

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Author Bio

Born into a literary family, Elizabeth Moss lives with her husband and five children in South West England, and is a keen countryside walker. She writes fun, sexy historical romances and also writes award-winning fiction as Victoria Lamb. For more information, please visit her website: www.elizabethmossfiction.com.

Social Networking Links

Website: http://www.elizabethmossfiction.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElizabethMoss1

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/731034.Elizabeth_Moss

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