REVIEW: Princess After by Rachel Hauck

Title: Princess Ever After
Author: Rachel Hauck
Series: The Royal Wedding Series #2
Publisher: Zondervan Publishing
Published Date: expected Feb 4, 2014
Genre: religious romance, royal
ISBN: 0310315506
Buy it Link: Amazon
Rating:  4 1/2 stars
Synopsis: Regina Beswick never dreamed of faraway places. She’s happy with her life as a classic car mechanic and owner of a restoration shop.

But an unexpected visitor and the discovery of a fairytale, drawn by her great-grandma, causes Regina to wonder if she might be destined for something more.

Tanner Burkhardt, Minister of Culture for the Grand Duchy of Hessenberg, must convince the strong-willed Southerner, Miss Beswick, that she is his country’s long-lost princess. Failure could destroy his reputation and change his nation forever.

As Regina and Tanner face the challenges before them, neither are prepared for love to invade their hearts and change every thing they believe about themselves.

However, when a royal opponent nearly destroys Regina’s future, she must lean into God and trust He has sovereignly brought her to her true and final destiny.

Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I read the first book of the series, back in September (my review of Once Upon A Prince). This book is even better. This time I understood what I was getting into. There weren't as many religious overtones to it, however, those that were there were enjoyable.
I loved Regina, or Reggie, as her friends call her. She is a no-nonsense kind of gal, who likes to get down and dirty with her old cars. She enjoys rebuilding them. In fact, she's good at it, and as the book goes along, you can tell she's good at rebuilding, period. I enjoyed the scenes where she was in the pub in Hessenberg, getting to know the people that she will hopefully, one day be Princess of, should she choose to accept the challenge.
Of course, as the other book went, chastity is a big theme, showing that when you're not so chaste and let your lust get ahead of you, there are life-long consequences to be dealt with as Tanner shows.

REVIEW: Westin's Case by Cristin Harber

THE MASTER OF EVERYTHING HAS FOUND HIS MATCH Jared Westin knows his reputation and likes it. He gets the job done. No emotion. No baggage. That’s why his elite ops company, The Titan Group, is better than the best. They complete projects classified as mission impossible. And then, in walks a woman as tough as she is sexy. His counterpart in every way, should he choose to admit it. SHE’S NOT WILLING TO LET HER HEART FALL Ousted undercover ATF agent Lilly Chase only answers to “Sugar.” Jared is the only man who can see past her leather-and-lipstick demeanor, and that revelation is terrifying. She was fired for helping Titan on a questionable arrest she should’ve ignored, then partnered with Jared’s rival on an assignment in Afghanistan. Distance and danger do nothing to change her feelings. When she’s left on the side of a mountain to die, an unexpected ally comes forward, and might open her heart.
THE STAKES COULDN'T BE HIGHER Saving Sugar isn't a normal rescue operation. It pits Titan against its rival, Jared against his nemesis. Chasing Sugar’s heart isn’t a simple task, either. She fights him, fights them, always ready to run. When she becomes a pawn in a game of collateral damage, Jared must risk his life to save her—the woman whose bravado and surprising sweetness has given him the one thing he never had. Love.

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 RATING: 4 Stars

REVIEW: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I have completely fallen in love with this series. It's all about really tough, alpha men and the really tough women whom they love.
We've seen Jared from the very beginning of the series, the big kick-butt guy who leads the Titan Group. He always the hard-nosed one who you are sure he will never find his equal, the "Master of the Universe". I truly expected this series to be like the Guardians of Ascension series, where the leader takes the backseat to romance until almost the very end of the series. While this is the third of the series, its definitely not the end of it.
We also met Sugar earlier in the series as well, and I've loved delving into her backstory more. Bringing them together was one of the best stories I read in this series. Sugar is the kick-butt ex-ATF undercover agent in charge of GUNS. And of course, they fall in love, but they fight it. Especially her. It is definitely not in her plans.
There's so much action, romance, and yes, the sex scenes are pretty hot too. There isn't anything in this book you can dislike.

Meet the author:

Cristin Harber is an award-winning romantic suspense author. She lives outside Washington, DC with her husband, toddler, and English bulldog. Coming fall 2013, she’s expecting a baby and will debut her Titan series. Couple that with the holidays, and it’ll be a busy time of year. There’s a special place in her heart for the men and women who serve and protect. Since she can’t save the world alongside them, she’s content to write their happily ever after stories.

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REVIEW: Drones by Johnny Ray

by Johnny Ray

Matalina heads the elite special forces of Baltonia, a small country near Switzerland, and where the Maliviziati maintain their secret society that opposes the Illuminati’s various splinter groups that want to create a new world order. While she directs the most powerful special operatives in the world, she is very capable of going solo when needed. She was bred like her parents and theirs before to be the best warrior in the world. Unfortunately, her chosen mate, Bjorn, has turned against them, killing her sister in the process. She loved him earlier, and perhaps she still does. Still, when she finds him, she will kill him. When a new faction attempts to release drones in America, Matalina has to respond to keep this from playing into the hands of those wanting to create a new world order. She soon learns that the leader of this group is one of Bjorn’s operatives, Mario, a guy she should kill, but he is also the one person she needs to take alive to be able to locate Bjorn. With mercenaries flown in from Columbia to help this terrorist faction which was formed out of Afghanistan, this novel circles the globe as many players fight for eventual control of the world.

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About the Author:

Johnny Ray has a passion for life and adventure that he loves to share with his readers. As an avid traveler and professional businessman conducting business worldwide for years he has made many interesting contacts and received numerous awards for top production. He has owned and operated several real estate companies, several insurance companies, and a stock brokerage company. He loves radio and TV talk shows, as well as speaking in front of various audiences. Feel free to contact him if you need a guest speaker. When it comes time to play, he is very active in many sports including dancing, swimming, tennis, biking, and skiing. While he loves adventures that are new, interesting and challenging, making friends that share his passions is a special gift. Johnny lives in Clearwater, Florida where he works full time as a writer, and he can be often found in one of the hundreds of coffee shops along the beach working on his next novel. He belongs to the Florida Writer Association where he recently won the Royal Palm Literary Award for best thriller, the Romantic Writers of America, and the Mystery Writers Association. He attends various national writer conventions throughout the year, as well as several local writing groups in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.

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RATING: 4 stars

REVIEW: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I found this book extremely well-written. The writing flowed smoothly, and the scenes were very descriptive. There was plenty of action to keep the reader turning the pages, full of espionage, explosions and one very kick-butt woman. Matalina is probably the hardest woman I've ever known as a character, not confusing, but physically overpowering.
Being as hard of a woman as she was, it was hard to really empathize with her. She had no problems with killing anyone, no remorse at all at times, and yet, at the same time, she was supposed to be this princess of a country that no one has ever heard about. A country that was centered around destroying the Illuminati.
The Illuminati never really showed up in the book, and it seemed to end up being a power battle between Matalina and the US CIA. Apparently she has bigger cajones than the US CIA.
The ending was what kept me on the edge of my seat, because for some odd reason, I'm hoping to see a softer side of Matalina through her semi-arranged marriage.

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It's Monday, What are you reading?!

2014 has started, and its the first Monday of the New Year! I have completely dropkicked 2013 to the curb, as the end of it was getting pretty suck-ish. 2014 will be so much better of a year! And its starting out with some awesome books! Here are a few of the books I have on my immediate TBR shelf:

1. A Warrior's Redemption by Guy Stanton III: A Warrior’s Redemption is the beginning of a family saga that starts with a boy named Roric. He lives on a distant world that is full of unrest, where disputes are settled by the sword. Little is known of how they came to this world, only that they came from a place known as Earth, in the distant past. How they came is a mystery that some want to discover again while others would gladly die to keep those secrets from ever seeing the light of day. Roric’s father tired of keeping the secrets of his ancestors, from the people of his nation, forsakes his family’s oath, and leaves to find peace in another land. Little did he know that the wickedness of the land that he settles in would kill him and all his family, except for his oldest son, Roric. Roric, embittered by seeing the death of his family, finds himself sold into slavery. He becomes a survivor in the arena, where man is matched to the death against man and beast alike. He escapes only to pursue a life of vengeance against those who afflicted him and killed his family. Tormented by a life without peace, he remembers the guiding words of his mother, which open up a path of redemption that becomes the guiding influence of his life. Through acts of intrigue and deception he is lead to the awareness of the darker menace within a spiritual world that is unseen, but that he is no less involved in. He travels to the land of his ancestors, a place of majestic mountains and the valleys that lie between them that are settled by a people that exist in peace only because of the warriors that have fought and died to keep them so. It is in protecting these people that Roric finds a reason worth fighting for. He grapples with the long held secrets of his family and unlike his father before him, decides to fight so that his people can remain free. He rises above his humble past to become a leader that inspires a nation in its fight for survival and becomes a legend.

2. Scattered Links by M Weidenbenner : Scattered Links is a novel that pulls its characters from the gutters and, in the end, celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit. 
Thirteen-year-old Oksana lives on the streets of Russia with her pregnant mama and abusive aunt—both prostitutes. When Mama swells into labor, Oksana makes a decision to save herself from abandonment, a decision that torments her forever. But her plan fails when her aunt dumps her in an orphanage before she has the chance to say goodbye to her mama or tell her the secret that haunts her.
Scattered Links is a story of family and the consequences that come from never learning how to love, of a girl’s inability to bond with her adopted family and the frustrations that follow. 
How can a child understand the mechanics of forming a healthy relationship when she never had a mother who answered her cries, held her when she was frightened, fed her when she was hungry, or loved her unconditionally?
Only when the child meets a rescued abused horse, and recognizes the pain in his eyes, does she begin to trust again

3. The Evelyn Project by Kfir Luzzatto: A loving father's cry for help gets into the wrong hands, and a hundred years later things get out of control.
Evelyn’s father did everything that was in his power to save his dying daughter, black magic included. But when a century later his plea for help gets into the wrong hands, all hell breaks loose.
Caught in the slippery battlefield between the Vatican and a cult that wants to change the past, a young Italian professor and a beautiful French aspiring actress are too busy running away from murder and conspiracy to let physical attraction develop into love.
And it doesn’t help that Her Majesty's Secret Service decides to take an interest in what everybody else is doing and to pull some strings of its own. Quite the contrary, in fact…

BOOK TOUR: The Arcadia Novels by Jesi Lea Ryan

By Jesi Lea Ryan

Most people who experience death don't live to tell about it. When sixteen year old Arcadia "Cady" Day wakes in a hospital after experiencing what can only be called a psychic episode, she finds her family in tatters. With her twin sister gone, her dad moved out, her mom's spiraling depression and her sister's boyfriend, Cane, barely able to look at her, the only bright spot in her life is Bryan Sullivan, the new guy in school. When Bryan's around, Cady can almost pretend she's a regular girl, living a regular life; when he's not, she's wracked with wild, inexplicable mood swings. As her home life crumbles and her emotional control slips away, Cady begins to suspect that her first psychic episode was just the beginning...    


Think high school sucks? Try being an empath who has to experience everyone else’s suckage on top of your own. (Literally.) In the months since her family life imploded and her psychic gifts began to arise, Cady has struggled to figure out how she can fit into her normal life without going crazy from the constant presence of emotional energy. Her grades have tanked. Her best friend is afraid of her. And she begins to have doubts about why her boyfriend, Bryan, is really keeping her around. But a chance meeting with another gifted girl online opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Unfortunately, this new world comes at an awful price.  

Find The Arcadia Novels here: Amazon (Arcadia's Gift)/Amazon (Arcadia's Curse) AUDIBLE Audio Book of Arcadia's Gift

Author Bio:

Jesi Lea Ryan grew up in the Mississippi River town of Dubuque, IA. She holds bachelor degrees in creative writing and literature and a masters degree in business. She considers herself a well-rounded nerd who can spend hours on the internet researching things like British history, anthropology of ancient people, geography of random parts of the world, bad tattoos and the paranormal. She currently lives in Madison, WI with her husband and two exceptionally naughty kitties.
 Stalk Jesi Lea here: Facebook/Twitter/Website/Blog

REVIEW and TOUR: Mice by Kfir Luzzatto

Phantom Lover

by Kfir Luzzatto

genre: Paranormal Detective Series It was bad enough, I can assure you, finding a half-naked ectoplasm sitting at my desk, but she had to talk nonsense too.

Buy: Amazon / Smashwords

 

MICE

by Kfir Luzzatto

genre: Paranormal Detective Series “Where the hell are they coming from?” When Frankie asked a question, it always sounded like he was placing the blame on someone—me, in this case. Instead of answering, I squashed the white mouse that had just climbed out of his coffee cup. The mouse had the consistency of putty and felt like it; no bloodshed was involved in the squashing.

Buy: Amazon / Smashwords

 


RATING: 3 stars

REVIEW: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was a short novella about a paranormal detective, or maybe it was a detective series with paranormal parts to it.The storyline was okay. If the story was any more drawn out however, it would have been boring, so the length was about right for the action.
I found the characters that were living to be one dimensional, however, all of it was made up by the ghostly character whom I absolutely adored. From the main character, Dave Callaghan, to the oracle he goes to for help (called the Cornflake Oracle) to a possible romantic interest, I didn't find there was much character development or storyline. I didn't feel any of the sparks fly between Dave or his romantic interest until the very end when it was obvious there were some sort of feelings.
Ultimately, Mice was a short novella that was cute and quick to read, but don't expect anything life-altering out of it.

Meet the Author:

Kfir was born and raised in Italy, and moved to Israel as a teenager. He acquired the love for the English language from his father, a former U.S. soldier and WWII veteran, a voracious reader and a prolific writer. With a PhD in chemical engineering and a long family history that he needs to live up to, Kfir work as a patent attorney and heads the patent law firm that was established by his great-grandfather in Milan, Italy, in 1869. Kfir lives in Omer, Israel, with his full-time partner, Esther, their four children, Michal, Lilach, Tamar and Yonatan, and the dog Elvis. Writing has always been Kfir's passion and for almost four years he wrote a weekly "Patents" column in Globes (Israel’s financial newspaper), which also yielded his only (if he can help it) non-fiction book, THE WORLD OF PATENTS, (a not-so-boring tale of what patents are about, in Hebrew), which was published in 2002 by Globes Press. Kfir loves writing short stories but has too many novels waiting to be written (and possibly not enough years ahead of him to write them all), so now he mostly writes full-length fiction. His other passion is working with other authors on stories he loves and that's how he wound up serving on the editorial board of The Harrow Press as Anthology Editor. You can read about Kfir's books here. He loves them all, but never had greater fun than when working on “HAVE BOOK WILL TRAVEL”, a YA fantasy that he wrote together with his son, Yonatan.
 Follow on Twitter: @KfirLuzzatto
 Find Kfir on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kfir.luzzatto
 Kfir's Blog: Click HERE
 Kfir's Amazon.com page: HERE
 Kfir's Goodreads page: HERE
 Kfir's Smashwords page: HERE
 Kfir's Literary Addicts page: HERE

Phantom Lover Tour:

MICE Tour:

REVIEW: To Tempt A Viking by Michelle Willingham

Title: To Tempt A Viking
Author: Michelle Willingham
Series: Forbidden Vikings #2
Publisher: Harlequin
Published Date: expected Jan 21, 2014
ISBN: 9780373297733
Buy It Link: Amazon

Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis: Warrior Viking Ragnar Olafsson stood by as his best friend claimed the woman he desired the most. There was only one way to quench the deep darkness within him—become merciless in battle.
When Elena is taken captive, fearless Ragnar risks everything to save her. Now they are stranded with only each other for company. Suddenly every longing, every look, every touch is forbidden. Elena could tempt a saint—and sinner Ragnar knows he won’t be able to hold out for long!
Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.
The time period this book is set around is, I'm guessing about 800-1000 CE, since the scene is set in and around Ireland. The author doesn't really say, that would have been helpful from the beginning.
The characters are alright. Nothing really to pull your heartstrings over, or make me emotionally invested in them. Ragnar is your typical alpha male, who overcomes all sorts of pain and adversity by becoming even more of an alpha male. Elena is the barren wife of his best friend, emotionally destroyed over not being able to bear children for a man who she really doesn't even love. Styr is the jerk of a husband who gets captured, thus forcing Elena and Ragnar together for the requisite amount of time.
The only thing that kept me reading this book was wanting to see how her marriage to Styr would be dissolved, after all, how else would a happy ending come about? Thankfully this was the one thing that kept me reading because it actually ended up being a situation which emotionally invested me, and I wanted to go into the book and slap all three of the main characters.