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Showing posts with label Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance. Show all posts

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Book Review: 2 stories from Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance Anthology

Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance
by Jennifer Ashley, Alyssa Day, Felicity Heaton, Erin Kellison, Laurie London, Erin Quinn, Bonnie Vanak, Caris Roane
Eight hot paranormal romances by New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors. Alpha-male bad boys will fulfill your darkest, most deadliest desires in these stories about shifters, werewolves, vampires, magic, special powers and other realms. But only if you dare…

BODYGUARD (Shifters Unbound #2.5) by Jennifer Ashley
Elizabeth Chapman is saved from an armed attacker by a Kodiak bear who shifts into a tight-bodied, naked human male. Ronan takes Elizabeth to Shiftertown, becoming her 24/7 bodyguard. The mateless Ronan has adopted a houseful of orphaned Shifters--having grown up in foster care, Elizabeth is touched by his protectiveness. Ronan only wants to keep Elizabeth safe, but the sassy woman is triggering his long-buried need to mate.

ALEJANDRO’S SORCERESS by Alyssa Day
He’s a warrior, hardened by years of protecting his town from vampire attack. She’s a garden witch who sees the world in shades of sunshine and delight. Opposites don’t only attract, they go supernova in this sizzling tale of magic and mayhem.


When offered the opportunity read and review this eight book box set it was a bit daunting, so I decided that rather than eating the entire desert buffet in one sitting, I would start off with a couple of new treats to satisfy that reading sweet tooth. Being familiar with several of the authors' works offered up in this bundle it was my choice to go for the unfamiliar and try out some new treats. I was certainly not disappointed and must say the two I have read so far alone are more than worth the price of a first class ticket. 

The first read was Bodyguard (Shifters Unbound #2.5) by Jennifer Ashley and who would have thought a Kodiak bear would be the shifter of my dreams. The story takes place in a society where shifters have been outed to the mundane world and forced to live in communities segregated from the human population. Significant prejudice exists with little to no rights afforded the shifters. Elizabeth runs a small store on the edge of town and unlike other establishments she does not refuse to serve the shifter population. When the baddies attack her, Ronan shifts and saves her life and is arrested. Elizabeth stands up for him and testifies and we are off on a great adventure.

The story is very well written and full of wonderful world building and characters that will steal your heart leaving you begging for more. Of course there is intrigue and showdowns, as well as some wonderfully sensual tasteful smexy going on. 

This is one series I fully intend to keep my eye on and go back for seconds and hopefully thirds or more. 

The second read was Alejandro's Sorceress by Alyssa Day. This was a wonderfully uproarious tale of magic and fun with great characters you wish were your neighbors just so you could peak over the fence and watch. Alejandro is a tough as nails P-Ops agent and about as cynical as they come. He and his partner are dispatched to deal with a complaint of garden pests and when they arrive they meet Rose, a garden witch who would rather deal with the pests on her own without the bureaucratic bother the P-Ops crew brings into the mix. Alejandro's partner is turned to stone by the pests and magical mayhem ensues with sparks flying between Rose and Alejandro, interfering family members, brownies, pixies, trolls and more thrown into the mix.

The world building was delightful and writing very well executed leaving me laughing and occasionally shedding a tear. The smexy was swoon-worthy, very tasteful, and sensually written. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of this author's work and certainly hope there will be more from The Cardinal Witches to come.

Overall I have to say that even if you read only the first two of the books in this wonderful set it is well worth the price of admission and I fully intend to continue the journey through the next six books with high hopes. This is definitely a recommended read for paranormal romance fans with a taste for shifters, vampires, magic and more, which also offers sensual smexy, and a host of fun stories. I received this book with a request for my honest review without any compensation whatsoever, other than the joy of reading a new book.

5 Sheep




DeniseZ

Monday, June 2, 2014

Book Review: The Bodyguard by Jennifer Ashley

Bodyguard (Shifters Unbound #2.5)
by Jennifer Ashley

Paperback, 224 pages
Published December 2nd 2011 

Elizabeth Chapman is saved from an armed robber by a giant Kodiak bear who shifts into a large, well-muscled, and fully bare human. But when it's revealed that the robber is the brother of a dangerous criminal, Elizabeth finds herself the target of a vendetta.

Ronan, the Bear Shifter, takes her to Shiftertown, where she finds that mateless Ronan takes care of Shifters who have no families or clans of their own. Having grown up in foster care herself, Elizabeth can only admire how protective Ronan is, even while she chafes at the confinement.

But Ronan will only let her leave the safety of Shiftertown if he becomes her 24/7 bodyguard. Elizabeth finally agrees. The trouble is, the sassy human Elizabeth is triggering Ronan's long-buried need to find himself a mate.


The Bodyguard is part of the Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance


I read The Bodyguard, by Jennifer Ashley, which is part of an eight-book box set called Dark and Deadly. In it, Elizabeth Chapman, completely human heroine, finds herself under the protection of a very cute, very single Kodiak bear named Ronan. Ronan, having saved Elizabeth’s life, takes it upon himself to become her full time bodyguard. As the danger escalates, he forces her to move in with him in Shiftertown where he can keep her safe. Elizabeth, not used to relying on others, isn’t so sure moving in with the big bear is such a good idea. She just might have to learn to trust someone other than herself.

The Bodyguard was a quick read but in some ways too quick. Although the book is exactly what it promises, when it was done I was looking for a little more or maybe just something a little different. It had a touch of been there, done that feel to it. There was nothing overly unique or fresh about the story or its characters, however I enjoyed them anyway.

So would I recommend The Bodyguard? YES, if you like paranormal romance, specifically about shifters, then I’m sure you will enjoy this book. It definitely delivers. In addition, if the other seven stories in the box set are like this, I would be quite happy to recommend them to all you romance lovers out there. I’m not ready to add it to my top favorite books of all time, but I would definitely read this author again.

4 Simply Satisfied Sheep





LisaA



About the Author:
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New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Jennifer Ashley has lived and traveled all over the world, and now lives in the Southwest. She writes historical, paranormal, and contemporary romance as Jennifer Ashley; mysteries as Ashley Gardner; and paranormal romance and urban fantasy as Allyson James.

Jennifer's/Allyson's/Ashley's more than fifty novels have won RWA's RITA award, the Golden Quill, RT Reviewer's Choice awards, and the Prism award, among others. Jennifer's novels have been also been translated into French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Norwegian, Hungarian, Italian, Thai, and other languages.Jennifer enjoys writing and reading above all else, but her hobbies include cooking, hiking, playing flute and guitar, painting, and building miniature rooms and dollhouses.

Jennifer’s backlist includes the HIGHLAND PLEASURESSHIFTERS UNBOUNDNVENGARIA, and REGENCY PIRATES series.


Monday, May 12, 2014

Book Review (sort of): Darkness Falls by Erin Kellison

Darkness Falls (Reveler #1)
by Erin Kellison

ebook, 115 pages
Published May 12th 2014
Fire Flower Publishing, LLC
Agent Malcolm Rook is hunting for people with the rarest of talents—the ability to master dreams. He finds the undeniably gifted Jordan Lane, but she’s wary of mysterious Rook and resists his pursuit as long as she can. Yet the dreamwaters they enter are too exhilarating to resist, and attraction soon ignites electric passions. Delving too deep stirs a nightmare, one they must defeat, or be forever lost to darkness.

Darkness Falls is part of the Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance book bundle which you can get for only $.99!


This isn't an 'official' review because I was involved in the editing of this novella. But if you've read any of my reviews of Erin Kellison's work you know I am a big fangirl of all of her Shadow books. Also, I think she is one of the best novella writers out there. She gives a full novel experience in every one of her novellas with the perfect mix of PNR and UF.

In urban fantasy an author creates a world, I guess you can call it their play ground. Once the mainframe of that world is established all they have to do is let their characters out to play. Creating a unique and fascinating playground is what will lure the reader to play along too.

The Reveler Novella Series is a dark, dangerous and thrilling place to go. I love the whole idea behind Rêve's, a place where people go to share an artificial dream and anytime you start playing with people's minds you know there will be bad guys looking to exploit it. Only there are things in the Dreamwaters that can't be controlled.

Darkness Falls is the first in the series and lays down the foundation of the world building. There is also a romance with a conclusion between the main characters just like any full PNR novel and you also meet the couple that will be the subject of the next story. 

Loved this story and I can tell you the next book, Lay Me Down (releasing May 6), is even better as we learn more about the darkside of Rêve as well as Jordan's sister Maisie and the bane of her existence Steve Coll.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/mBJD1M

Sharon



About the author:
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Erin Kellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of the Shadow series and Shadow Kissed series, which share the same world, where dark fantasy meets modern fairy tale. Delve into dreamscapes in her new Reveler series, releasing Summer 2014.