Sheep Book Review: The Professional: Part 2 by Kresley Cole

The Professional (Part 2) 
The Game Maker Series
By: Kresley Cole 
121 pages
Erotica 

Plot: 
He makes the rules . . .
Mafiya enforcer Aleksandr "The Siberian" Sevastyan’s loyalty to his boss is unwavering, until he meets the boss’s long-lost daughter, a curvy, tantalizing redhead who haunts his mind and heats his blood like no other. Ordered to protect her, Sevastyan will do anything to possess her as well—on his own wicked terms.

Rules are made to be broken . . .
PhD student Natalie Porter had barely recovered from her first sight of the breathtakingly gorgeous Sevastyan before the professional hit man whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. With every day she spends under his protection, she falls deeper under his masterful spell.

Are you ready to play?
Yet all is not as it seems. To remove Natalie from an enemy’s reach, Sevastyan spirits her into hiding. From an opulent palace in Russia to the decadent playgrounds of the mega-wealthy in Paris, the two lovers will discover that even their darkest—and most forbidden—fantasies can come true…

Here we are at second novella in this three part series, and I find myself taken in by the story overall, but put off by most of the rest. 

The sexual tension between these two starts to become the focal point of the second story. Natalie wants some BDSM in her life and Alex wants to make a good girl NOT turn bad. Unlike Robin Thicke. 

The story is largely about cravings, dark yearnings and hungers, but no fulfillment. We also miss out on a lot of the mafia aspects to boot. The book seems to just circle round the runway, but never lands. Our lead couple now struggles with trying to communicate better and figuring each other out. Maybe, just maybe they could have done all this chit-chat getting to know you BEFORE jumping to the sexual escapade bits. But hey, it's erotica and a fictional story, so I can deal. 

What I don't like is; the lack of this book making much forward momentum. It felt very strongly like a 'book 2 filler story', which is fine I guess. Though, I would have enjoyed more progression in the overall story arc. More laughs and adventure situations. 

Cole is keeping the final result of this one close to the chest. Which leaves me wondering how epic the final installment will be. It better be amazingballs! Cause at this point, I want very, very amazing balls to satisfy my hunger. (Take that comment as you like.) 

Overall, buy this one. Read the saga thus far and then go back and read everything Cole has ever written. She's that damn good! 

Getting 3 'just spank me already!' Sheep
KD

Book Review: Nightlife by Matthew Quinn Martin

Nightlife
By: Matthew Quinn Martin

amazon

For centuries an ancient evil has slept beneath the streets of New Harbor. This Halloween, it wakes up.
An action-packed debut horror novel from talented new writer Matthew Quinn Martin, Nightlife pits a feisty bartender and a mysterious loner against bloodthirsty terrors as alluring as they are deadly.

Nightclub bartender and serial heartbreaker Beth Becker might be a cynic. But when her best friend goes missing Halloween night, Beth knows it's up to her to find out what happened.

Her quest will take her on an odyssey through the crumbling city of New Harbor, Connecticut. Along the way she meets a homeless prophet warning of something he calls the "Night Angel"-a bloodthirsty creature that feeds on the forgotten. And she will form an unlikely bond with a hunted stranger who knows all too well what stalks the streets at night.

This is a dark and gritty urban fantasy full of suspense and horror. Martin has created a unique monster that hides underground till it needs to feed on blood, and guess what? It isn’t a vampire. Jack had his world destroyed by these monsters and has spent the last twelve years hunting them, driven by guilt and revenge. Martin did an excellent job developing Jack’s dark and desperate character. His struggle and motivations were believable. I found the heroine, Beth, a little hard to swallow. Her character was too accepting and…perky, considering the dark nature of the book. I know she is supposed to be the opposite of Jack and help him crawl out of the emotional abyss he has fallen into, but she just didn’t ring as true as Jack did. There is an attraction between them, but they don’t act on it, yet. Martin does a great job of creating suspense and horror. There is a powerful scene between Jack and Beth in the underground tunnels when a decision for the greater good is made and it gave me chills. Martin has the raw talent for writting dark urban fantasy.

The difference between this being a great book versus just a good one comes down to how the story was put together. I think at least 20% of the book could have been edited out. The story wasn’t as focused on the main plot as it could have been. Some of the fighting scenes were over the top and drawn out considering our protagonists are human. There is a secret organization running around, but that sub plot wasn’t integrated as well as it could have been. There were times I skimmed over passages, but I never thought about not finishing. I like Jack’s character and the story has a lot of suspenseful moments. This is a debut and has some of the problems associated with that, but I think once the author settles into his world and characters this will be a good one for dark urban fantasy fans.

3 “blood sucking” Sheep

SharonS

About the Author:
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American actor and writer of films and short fiction. Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Martin is a graduate of Albertus Magnus College. He is of mixed European heritage, but identifies strongly as Hungarian-American.

Martin's original screenplay Slingshot was made into a feature film by Bold Films and is distributed by theWeinstein Company. Slingshot premiered at the TriBeCa Film Festival and was featured on Access Hollywood.

His short fiction has appeared in Transition Magazine, Thuglit,The Oddville Press, MFA/MFYou Literary Journal,Aphelion Webzine, The Flash Fiction Offensive, A Twist of Noir, and the anthology Arcane II (co-written with Libby Cudmore),

As an actor he has appeared in the remodernist film Shooting at the Moon, and P.S. I Love You, and was a minor recurring co-star on the first season of the TV show Fringe.

Sheep Movie Review: Lone Survivor

Lone Survivor 
Directed By: Peter Berg

Staring: Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Taylor Kitsch and Eric Bana 

Rated R

Plot: 

LONE SURVIVOR, tells the story of four Navy SEALs on an ill-fated covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative who are ambushed by enemy forces in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. Based on The New York Times bestseller, this is a story of heroism, courage and survival. 

As the title of the film states, this is really a tale of the lone survivor. Watching this heart wrenching film, you're truly hopeful that maybe, just maybe, the story will have a different ending. I was! It sadly does not and even though you know only one man makes it out alive, you're no less hurt by the loss of each. 

The movie starts out with some interesting moments taken from real Navy SEAL bootcamp footage. I had a GI Jane flashback for a second (Suck my dic@!), but after that passed I was watching first hand what these men, and hopefully soon women, have to go through. It's rigorous and physically demanding. Many wash out, but those that push through find themselves in an elite group of bad asses. 

The story moves along to show free time before they deploy for a hush-hush mission in Afghanistan. Some rowdy banter, male posturing and crap talking snark take place, while also giving a glimpse into their personal lives back home. I would have liked a bit more time in this area of the film. More chances to know the faces that this film revolves around. However, all to soon the action kicks in. 

Once it does, it's game over. 

The amount of hits these guys took was staggering. Not just the stunt doubles in the film, but thinking about the real life men. I stub my toe and I want to ball my eyes out. These guys got injured many, many times, and kept going. Good to go sir! Just walk it off. Phhft, not me. I would call time out, wave the white flag and get the hell out of dodge. But, this is why (among many reasons) a Navy SEAL I am not. 

Major kudos to the stunt team that took this one on. Being thrown off a cliff, rolling down a hill over and over, hitting rock after rock, then trees! My word, it was so gnarly! It almost seems unreal, but truth is in the story and I was trapped in the moment with them. 

Overall, this is one to watch for those that enjoy a drama about real-life heroes. They come in all shapes and sizes, but heroes they are. 

Just be prepared for some major gore and nail bitting situations. You've been warned. 

Getting 4 'Hooyah' Sheep 

KD

Book Review (ARC): Wicked Waves (Solsti Prophecy #2) by Sharon Kay

Wicked Waves (Solsti Prophecy #2)
by Sharon Kay

ebook, 355 pages
Expected publication: January 21st 2014

Making daggers out of raindrops is only the tip of the iceberg for Brooke Bonham. As one of four women who can control the elements, her ability to manipulate water packs a deluge of potential. Eager to learn more, she’s frustrated at the precautions she must take to avoid the wrong kind of attention on Earth.

Kai's duties as a Lash demon have kept him busy on Earth for nearly two hundred years. Fighting? He was born to do it. Females? They're drawn to him. And Earth? The perfect place for him to avoid supernatural bounty hunters.

Though the two of them mix like oil and water, Kai senses that beneath Brooke’s frosty exterior hides a vortex of simmering passion. He’s determined to thaw his ice princess.

Forced to work together in the immortal realm, they track a rogue Lash demon at the helm of a widespread kidnapping operation. All too soon, Kai’s dark past catches up to them. Time runs out as a second enemy, bent on revenge, vows to stop at nothing short of Brooke’s enslavement and Kai’s death. As they and their foes stalk each other in a demonic game of cat-and-mouse, will her evolving skills and their fledgling bond be enough to save them?


Kai knows what it's like to be a slave because many years ago he had been caught and brought to the arena where he had to fight other kidnapped slaves just to stay alive. But he escaped with the help of a guard who asked him to kill a slave who raped and murdered his sister. Now, years later the Solsti have returned and he along with the other demons he lives with are trying to keep them safe as well as help them learn how to use their powers. There's something coming, something bad and they have to be prepared for it. What Kai isn't prepared for is Brooke.

Brooke and her sisters have recently learned they are Solsti and they have powers over the elements. Brooke's element to control is water and she's just now learning what she can do with this power. The demons are teaching her and her sister how to defend themselves against the bad demons who would hurt or kill them. There's just one problem and his name is Kai.

I knew right away that I was going to like this book because Kai and Brooke hate each other and always had something snide to say when they were in the same room with one another. You could feel the sarcasm dripping off the walls when they talked to each other and could picture the eye rolls and sneers that they gave to one another in passing.

I love it when the hero and heroine start out hating each other and slowly one of them sees past the flaws of the other because they have the hots for them. That is what happened here with this couple. Kai knows he really messed up their initial meeting and knows Brooke can't stand him but he doesn't know what to do to fix the situation until he realizes that some of those stares she's been giving him haven't been filled with daggers but with lust.

Their budding relationship is really put to the test when they have to travel to the demon realm, Torth. Brooke learns about Kai's time as a slave and she also learns she's more powerful than she realized.

There is another storyline going on at the same time the main storyline is happening. Raniero and Ashina find themselves back together after one hundred years apart. Ashina's father made a deal with Raniero, that he wouldn't kill his daughter if Raniero agreed to be his employee and stay away from his daughter for the time of his forced employment. There's more than meets the eye to these two characters and I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of them in subsequent books.

I've read two books in this series so far and have loved them both and can't wait to see what happens next. If you like your books filled with demons, demon realms, witches, hot alpha males and heroines who aren't afraid to kick some ass when they need too, then this is the series for you.

check out Mary's review: Wicked Wind (book 1)

I give this book 5 sheep!

Mary Kirkland
My Published Articles
Dark Thoughts Blog

About the Author:

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Sharon Kay was bitten early by the writing bug. At age twelve she wrote a short story, about a magic ring, that won a statewide contest. With her nose always in a book, she read the most novels for her age group in her local library’s summer reading program.

In her teens, writing took a back seat to fashion, as she was determined to find clothes different from what everyone else bought at the mall. And what she couldn’t find, she created. She learned to sew, worked in a fabric store after school, and spent her spare time with a needle in hand. Her black and orange prom dress is still one of her favorite creations.

She majored in apparel design in college, spending her summers working in costume shops and bridal boutiques. She worked for ten years in the Chicago garment industry, then switched her focus to apparel production logistics before becoming a stay at home mom.

Sharon lives in the Chicago area with her husband and son, and didn’t expect to write again. But Wicked Wind and the Solsti series formed in her head one weekend and refused to stay quiet until she put pen to paper. Her characters tend to keep her up at night, as they banter, fall in love, and slay endless varieties of power-hungry demons.

Book Review: The Page Turners: Blood by Kevin T. Johns

The Page Turners: Blood
by Kevin T. Johns
Publisher: Cat and Bean Publishing, Ottawa, Canada.
YA Paranormal Horror
November 2013

From author Kevin T. Johns comes the novel critics are describing as "a crimson-stained love letter to genre fiction" and the first book in a "must read" series.

Nate Bourdain and his friends are thrilled to discover an ancient book of magic spells hidden in their school library--they now have the means to stand up to the villains who make high-school life such a battle. But, when the book's dark magic releases a fictional killer into the real world, the teens must prove they have what it takes to be heroes, or fall as bloody victims in their own horror story turned real.

The Page Turners: Blood is the first book in the Page Turners trilogy: a genre-spanning series sure to please young adult fans of paranormal horror, science-fiction, and fantasy.

Each of the teens seem realistic to me, as a mother who remembers my son and his friends as teenagers. Nate seems to have issues that are unresolved, and refuses to talk about them or his mother’s death when one counselor broaches the subject. I suspect that whoever left the book of dark magic in the library knew of his unresolved anger and knew that he would be the prime subject to speak the spell to awaken the darkness within. Surprisingly to me, it is not Nate’s book, or frightened Spencer’s that is the first book, but Danny’s vampire character, Valande, from the Dark Wedding series. This is a vampire that can never be destroyed, but lives on book after book to plague men and their brides. And Valande does just that in the female classmate Danny becomes interested in and who lives near him.

The author brings to life a small town, its various inhabitants, the high school and the three main characters. He also shows, just as in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that monsters aren’t always just the fictional ones, and sometimes adults are not monsters either, but have their own issues and problems. I am hoping Nate and his friends will learn this by the last book. The cover is super. And I admit, the author has me waiting for the next book in the series.

4 sheep

Pamela K. Kinney
Website Blog Facebook
aka Sapphire Phelan
Website Newsletter Facebook

About the Author:
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As we release the first two novels in the trilogy in the coming months, this website will be your source for news, interviews, press, and behind the scenes peeks at the creative process.

I’m eager to hear from YOU, the readers of the trilogy, and there are a lot of way you can get in touch with me. You can follow me on Twitter at @kevin_t_johns, find me on Facebook, or use the contact form below to email me directly.

I am happy to answer any questions you may have about The Page Turners Trilogy, the writing process, or my experiences with independent publishing.

I hold degrees in film studies and English literature, and I love a wide variety of narratives in a multitude of genre and formats. I’m also interested in hockey, weightlifting and fitness, as well as nutrition, particularly low-carb and Paleo eating. I live in Ottawa, Canada.

I look forward to hearing from you!