Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Review- A Bedtime Story (The BTS Trilogy, #1) by L.C. Moon

Title:  A Bedtime Story (The BTS Trilogy, #1)   
Author:  L.C. Moon
Publication Date: December 10th 2014 by D. A. D. inc Publishing

Plot:   Laura Spencer. Young, pretty, introverted. She worked at a local deli, where she left more broken plates than collected tips. Apologizing to aggravated waiters and cowering from overfriendly male clients made up most of her social interaction. The only friends she had lived inside the pages of books or on movie screens, offering slim comfort during the long, dark nights of her lonely life. Every two weeks, a postcard was delivered through her mail. She lived for those deliveries.

Peter Spencer. Her brother, her lifelong protector and her only family. The only one who truly knew her, who would sacrifice it all for her. Peter made a bad decision, involving the worst kind of people.

Kayne Malkin. Tall, dark and handsome. He belonged to the Organization, the Quebec fraction of a ruthless Russian Mafia. He was known for many things. He killed and tortured for a living. He seduced and destroyed for pleasure. But above all else, he built his reputation on one trait only. Kayne Malkin never lied. Not to the men he interrogated, not to the women he set his sights on. He got what he wanted, while staring them in the eye. Honest and remorseless. Kayne Malkin’s assignment: The Peter Spencer case.

On the first warm spring night, while Montreal celebrated the passing of winter, Laura reluctantly accepted to accompany a coworker out on the town. Kayne smirked by himself seeing her arrive, all dolled up, looking uncomfortable. Lurking in the shadows, he patiently waited. The trap was set.

WARNING: Contains explicit sexual content and dubious consent. Read at your own discretion.

 My Review 

☆ I received an RC via the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!! ☆

**A Note to readers: For those of you who’s hard limits include: **cheating** and a **non-happily ever after** then this book may not be for you. :)

So, with that said…

The story in short: To sum everything up in a jiffy---The heroine’s dimwit brother messes up, BIG TIME, with the Russian mafia no less….and in comes, our male anti-heroine to collect his debt with the heroine. From there, you could say, “the rest is history” as Kayne Malkin is literally a wolf luring the poor little lamb Laura into his world, and from then on-- their worlds are forever changed with: love, lust, debt, ploys, blood, vengeance, and sacrifice.

★★★★★★

My thoughts:
A Bedtime Story was quite the baffling read if you ask me. It went in a totally different direction from what I had expected.

When I think of the literal impressions of what comes to mind of the title, A Bedtime Story, I picture a story that albeit rough and imperfect throughout—to being one full of surprises and happy endings with a pretty bow on top.

This is the complete opposite of what happens in this particular bedtime story.

Here, Laura-- the female protagonist’s, character development and evolution utterly shocked and surprised me. I get that in reads where it deals with the mafia, it's going to be intensely dark, gritty, and ruthless…but, I guess from my stand point, I didn’t expect Laura’s personality to alter drastically from that innocent, quiet girl to eventually becoming hardened and cunning.

Granted, it's only natural that she would be forced to to assimilate with Kayne’s world, so it would naturally change her a bit. It's just that, her character was just scandalous that it startled me a bit.

(++)Now add in Kayne, the ever enigmatic and mysterious one, to which I just did not know what to really expect from him or what to happen next...and you've got yourself a story!!

Definitely kept me on my toes with the thrill and suspense!!

My conclusion?:
A good read that perplexed me....kept me intrigued and wanting some more… AND! at times pissed me off like no other because it touched on some of my hard limits….

But over all, I liked it in my own way. Can't wait for bk2!! Gawd, I soooo need it!! I feel so unsettled by that ending!! Aahhh!!

Kawehi
My Rating:
 About the Author 

L. C. Moon is a graduate of Concordia University. She lives in Montreal with her husband, black Labrador, and Calico cat.

She has written several poems and a few short stories. A Bedtime Story is her first novel. As with all her other works, it touches on themes such as forbidden fantasy, duality and inner struggle.

A Bedtime Story is intended as the first installment of the BTS trilogy.

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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Review- Mending Michael (Hunter Hill University #2) by J.P. Grider

Title:  Mending Michael (Hunter Hill University #2)
Author:  J.P. Grider
Genre: New Adult, Romance
Publication Date: December 13th 2014 by Fated Hearts Publishing

Plot:   There is a fine line between love and hate.

When bartender Mick Ross first sees Holly Buchanan walk into Donny's Bar, his heart comes to a halt. That is, until she serves him her fake ID and reveals her true nature when she's declined her drink.

Holly thinks Mick is an ass, and she has no clue why he can't stand her. Though, she does enjoy looking at his ass.

So, when Donny hires Holly to waitress at his bar, she must either deal with Mick's hatred toward her or give him a taste of his own medicine.

Tensions are high.
Comments are made.
Hearts are hurt.
But if there really is a fine line between love and hate, then Mick and Holly must decide on which side they stand.

 My Review 

☆ I received an ARC via Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ☆

Mending Michael was an incredibly sweet romance which touched home on love, family, finding your own path, and making your own choices.

Michael “Mick” Ross has a lot on his plate. After tragedy struck his household at a young age, he and his sister have had to fend for themselves since a young age. Now with said sister now finding herself in a pickle with the law and CPS, Mick now has to find a way to save his sister from her own path of destruction and his beloved niece from being taken away by child protective services forever.

Now enter Holiday “Holly” Buchanan. The girl with everything going for her. Or so it seems.

Holly is everything that Mick does not have. Money, a pristine family background and social standing, and a shining future.

What Holly does not have is control over her life. Everything is carefully mapped out for her by her over controlling father.

Can she break out of daddy’s thumb and succumb to her own dreams and desires?

Can Mick save his family from crumbling beneath him, or suffer an endless string of disappointments once more?

And when an ex-flame comes into the picture and tries to re-capture Mick’s heart, what will become of this unlikely couple?

Read and you will find out!

#Over all, a pretty tame romance from what I’m used to, but nevertheless, a very cute read!!

Mending Michael was a very clean read with themes of coming over loss, tragedy, scars of abandonment, infidelity, drug use, and pre-conceived misinterpretations and impressions we perceive of people.

--A great addition to this lovely series!!--

Kawehi
My Rating:
 About the Author 


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J.P. Grider is a Young Adult and New Adult author. She is the author of six novels. Her young adult series The Honor Trilogy consists of A Touch of Honor, A Man of Honor, and A Heart of Honor, while her first two novels - Unplugged (A Portrait of a Rock Star) and Maybe This Life - are standalone adult contemporary novels. Her most recent release is the new adult romance Calling California, which is the first in her Hunter Hill University series. The next book in the series – Mending Mick – will be released in October, 2014. All the books in the Hunter Hill University series will be standalone books and can be read in any order.

You can follow J.P. on Facebook at J.P. Grider, Author, on Instagram and Twitter @JPGrider1, and on her blog at jpgrider.com.

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Monday, December 29, 2014

Blog Tour Review- Wild and Free (The Three #3) by Kristen Ashley

Wild and Free Graphic (take two)
Title:  Wild and Free (The Three #3)  
Author:  Kristen Ashley
Publication Date: December 29th 2014
 
Plot:   Abel Jin and Delilah Johnson have lived their lives with a hole in their soul, yearning for something they don’t understand. 

Until one night Delilah is in mortal danger and a man who’s otherworldly strong and supernaturally fast saves her. Delilah is then cast into a world where fiction comes to life in the form of Abel, her destined mate, a vampire/werewolf hybrid who claims her at first breath as his. 

But Abel knows the danger isn’t done. He’s dreamed for centuries that his mate will perish and he will stop at nothing to keep her safe. 

For Delilah, she’s not only coping with fantasy come to life, but a mingling of very different families. Not to mention, she has on her hands a man who doesn’t understand his true nature and has lived his long life thinking he’s a monster. 

Abel and Delilah together fills the hole that has been clawing at them for decades. But finally finding each other, it also tips their destinies as the last of The Three. They must unite with the other destined lovers, who with Abel and Delilah, are fated to save the world. 

Or die trying.

 My Review 

--> November 25th 2012 <--- A day that will be forever etched in my mind as 'The day' I read With Everything I Am (The Three #2). The day I also got a tiny tease of Wild and Free...

Sooo... with just a month shy of TWO YEARS we FINALLY! have Wild and Free (The Three #3)
*Who else is doing their Happy Dance with their Kindle right now?? I know I AM!*

I can't tell you how much I have been hanging out for Wild and Free. To be able to finally read the 3rd instalment and for it to actually live up to all that I thought it would be! *Huge smiles*

Abel and Delilah together are just WOW! Abel by himself... SWOON! Abel has to be the roughest KA Alpha yet! And that is definitely saying something! You will LOVE him! For example...

"Even if it's to my peril, I think it's pertinent to point out at this juncture that you're in a serious fucking jealous rage and I haven't even kissed you yet."I snapped my mouth shut.He watched me do this before he grinned.My stomach flipped over.Oh yeah, he was beautiful."You wake up in a bad mood all the time or just when you think of me bangin' another bitch?" he asked."

and... 

"You need to take a breath. That doesn't work, you need to take another one. Then you need to feel it. Feel it. And you know exactly what I'm talkin' about. When you feel it, you'll know this shit isn't crazy. This shit is something else. I don't know what the fuck it is. I just know you're not gonna get dead because of it, seein' as I've waited three lifetimes for you, and now that I've got you, I'm keepin' you."

Okay, into the book itself. The Three... apart from the story of Abel and Delilah, we also have the whole clan, Lucian and Leah, Callum and Sonia, Yuri and Gregor along with the families of all three. Its a huge family affair, as it should be with the fight for humanity in their wake. There is alot of drama, alot of love and some heartbreaking loses.

I loved this! I am so happy I finally got to read the last installment at the same time heartbroken that it's over. You will love this! To everyone who has been hanging out for this as much as I have, you will not be disappointed! K. A. as usual gives us what we crave for.

Kawehi

My Rating:
 Excerpt 

“I’m a monster, Lilah.”
“What?” I whispered.
“I’m a werewolf vampire. I exist on human blood. I can tear a man’s head off and I have. I’m a monster.”
“You—”
“I am,” he stated flatly. “And the first chance I’ve had in all my years to understand why I am as I am is to go to that fuckin’ hotel.”
I stared at him, then straightened my body so I was fully facing him. This caused his jaw to get hard again, but I ignored that and stated, “Okay, let’s break this down.”
“Nothin’ to break down.”
“Humor me,” I snapped, his head jerked, and his lips curved up.
“Carry on,” he muttered.
“Thanks,” I bit out. “First, how many men’s heads have you torn off?”
“Four, and two wolves.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“These being the night we met,” I stated.
“Yeah,” he repeated.
“The night some of them were trying to kill me and the others were trying to kill you.”
To that he said nothing.
I kept going, “So you haven’t torn off unsuspecting citizens’ heads willy-nilly, for the fuck of it, or on a psychotic rampage?”
He pressed his lips together and I knew it was to hide his humor because his eyes lit with it before he unpressed them to say, “No.”
“Right,” I said sharply. “Have you ever had a psychotic rampage?”
He shook his head.
“So let’s get to the human blood part,” I suggested. “When you were,” I paused, “drawing from one of your ex-bitches, did you ever kill one of them?”
“Fuck no.”
“Take too much and make them sick?”
“No.”
“Do it against anyone’s will?”
His eyes went guarded, but he said, “No.”
I threw up a hand. “Okay, so what’s the problem?”
He blinked, straightening in his chair, but again said nothing.
“I mean, seriously,” I went on, “I’ve seen lots of vampire movies and TV shows and even the good vamps screw up and overindulge. Hell, Jessica killed three fairies in a ravenous attack. She might have had her issues as a young vampire, but by that time, she was full-on good.”
His brows shot together. “Fairies?”
“Fairies.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I threw up both hands and cried in exasperation, “True Blood!
“Jesus, Lilah,” he muttered.
“No, seriously, Jessica is very sweet.”
“For fuck’s sake,” he growled, sounding like he was losing patience, which I didn’t figure was a good thing.
“Okay, back on track,” I began. “Tell me. Tell me one instance in your life where you actually behaved like a monster.”
“I wanna fuck you,” he snarled.
I stared.
“Yeah,” he ground out. “I wanna fuck you, Delilah. Consumed with the need and I have no idea why, but I can guess, seein’ as it’s like you’re a bitch in heat, I’m a dog that catches the scent and his mind is wiped…wiped of anything…but the need to mount you and”—he leaned forward—“rut.
“Holy fuck,” I breathed.
“Yeah,” he said again. “That make you feel safe?”
“Abel—”
“I can smell your fear.”
I swallowed.
“It turns me on,” he kept going. “Makes me wanna tear into your throat and fuck you and feed from you. 
Now, does that make you feel safe?”
“No,” I whispered, because it really fucking didn’t.

“Right. No,” he bit off. “So I’m not a monster?”

 About the Author 

Kristen for banner

Kristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA. She nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorise and she hadn't taken her first breath!). 

Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.

Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up. 

And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better. 

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Sunday, December 28, 2014

ARC Review- A Promised Fate (The Beautiful Fate #3) by Cat Mann

Title:  A Promised Fate (The Beautiful Fate #3)
Author:  Cat Mann
Publication Date:  December 30th 2014

Plot:  Devotion, passion and promises are no longer enough. Everything Ari has built his universe around threatens to come to a tragic end. Ava's seven Kakos foes have been vanquished, but a new and even deadlier terror threatens the Alexander home. As Ari struggles with his role as a deity, he is forced to reveal to Ava his true lineage and what his identity means for their future together. The Zilotis, an occult group of surviving Kakos extremists, rise up to set themselves against the Fates...and no one is safe, no one can be trusted. Ari’s fears control him. Trust crumbles and promises lose all meaning as Ari comes to grips with his past and the vows made in the past in his name. Ari will do anything for Ava, even if his devotion means his own death. Secrets are rampant, lies and new nightmares emerge. Will Ari be the man he promised he would be?

 My Review 

☆ I was gifted a copy by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ☆

A Promised Fate was a definite rev-up from the previous 'Fate' installments. Before, it was Ava in the forefront and Ari acting as a secondary character but not here!! Now, with Ava taking a backseat in the chaos, it was awesome to see Ari show what he’s made of and finally reveal what he's kept hidden all this time!! *Yay!!*

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Ari really steps it up as the man of the house as the stakes are lifted to another excruciatingly higher level of extreme, and only Ari can save him and his family from the path of destruction.

As said by the famous Dr. Phil, Ari proves to be the sequential “Man in the Family” as he acts as the—provider.protector.leader.and teacher.

But in doing so, Ari has to make some very tough decisions and do things, although at times rash, for the better good of everyone.

After all, the fight between good and evil has only begun…Will Ari rise up to his destiny amongst the lies, secrets, and devious revelations set against him? Who can be trusted? What can he do to prevent the obliteration of his entire world? Or will he crumble to the pressures set against him?

♥♥♥♥♥♥

#An astonishingly solid read full of mythological and modern ideals filled of love, family, anguish, and increasing risks and consequences that could mean life or death!! Can't wait to see what happens next in book 4!!
Kawehi




My Rating:
                                        About the Author 

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Cat Mann is an Illinois author who writes teen and adult romance. She is happily married to a genius of a man and together they are raising two beautiful daughters.
With her dog at her side, Cat obsessives over French music, witty films and lengthy novels.
Cat’s books have been listed on numerous Amazon bestseller lists, including the Amazon Top 100, Literature & Fiction Fantasy Based Novels, as well as being a top contender in Mythology & Fairy Tales.

To find out more about Cat’s projects and get dates on upcoming releases, find her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authorcat.mann and follow her blog, http://authorcatmannblog.blogspot.com/.

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