Day / July 30, 2011

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Soul Survivor by Misty Evans

Format: E-booksoulsurvivor
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Lost Worlds, Book 1
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Rife St. Cloud
Heroine: Keva Moon Water
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: June 20, 2011
Started On: July 30, 2011
Finished On: July 30, 2011

FBI Special Agent Rife St. Cloud is on vacation back in Wolf River, Oregon his hometown when a ritualistic killer leaves behind 6 dead women, all Native American with matching tattoos carved right above their left breast. Someone who has extensive knowledge in native languages and religion and having worked as a profiler for the past 5 years, the symbols carved into the dead women stirs unease deep in his gut until one of the women stirs back into life leaving him with more questions than answers.

Keva Moon Water is an immortal, someone who has walked the Earth for thousand years, waiting for the soul of the love of her life who had died from her hands to be reincarnated. Kai is the warrior who was sent to kill her if she didn’t marry Kai’s half-brother and had fallen in love with her instead. But Keva underestimates their mutual enemy’s dark obsession with her, someone whose willing to travel across time to finally claim what he has always considered his to do with as he pleases.

Though Keva longs to embrace the man who stands in front of her, her beloved Kai whom she has been waiting to see for a thousand years, the doubt that clouds Rife’s eyes whenever the subject comes up has Keva reeling back in pain. But even Rife who lets his life be led by logic and evidence cannot deny the flood of need that Keva opens up deep inside of him and neither can he deny the memories that keep taunting him to take a step beyond the realms of reality as he knows it and believe in the impossible for once in his life.

Soul Survivor is a story that spans a time period of thousand years and takes the reader on a journey of love that has withstood the test of time, heartache, loneliness and pain. It tells of a man’s obsession with possessing ultimate power in his hands for his own purposes and how ultimately good wins over evil, not without a few sacrifices along the way.

Rife McCloud is a strong and determined hero, definitely the type warriors are made out of, and Rife in the form of Kai, the warrior that lays claim on Keva the High Chieftess of the Salt Coast Clan just about took my breathe away. In Keva Rife finds a woman whose strength rivals and matches his, whose determination and courage to do what’s right leaves him in awe. The passion and need for each other that is so much a part of both of them is never too far, always prodding them along to reach new heights, to embrace a love that has traveled so far in its need to be embraced by two people who so very much need it.

A story that cleverly combines and weaves together the past and present, with two people courageous enough to face the impossible, Soul Survivor is a novel highly recommended for fans of time-travel romances with a twist.

Favorite Quotes

She drew a finger through her blood and then through his, mixing them. “Our souls are bound forever, warrior.”
Primal power raced through him and he ripped the bonds around his wrists free from the spruce. His muscled arms encircled her, forcing her to the ground underneath him. As she opened her legs to him, he drove inside her. She cried out, but it was with pleasure and passion.

by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: IOU Sex by Calista Fox

Format: E-bookiousex
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Series: Standalone
Hero: Michael Houston
Heroine: Fiona Leslie Carlisle
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: August 1, 2011
Started On: July 30, 2011
Finished On: July 30, 2011

What was I expecting when I delved into the first pages of IOU Sex by Calista Fox? Certainly not a story written in the first person though amazingly the author made it work for me, delivering a novella that is worth a read if you love contemporary romances with tinge of erotic sexual content included in the package.

27 year old Fiona Leslie Carlisle hails from a prestigious family, her own mother a Judge, the whole family caring more about keeping up appearances than caring about what being a family actually means. Fiona dreads facing her family and her sister who snatched away her fiance’ Seth Corbett III, and knows that the only way to save face would be to show up in the hot little red dress she ordered especially for the occasion, completing the package with the ultra gorgeous and sexy as sin Michael Houston on her arm.

A year ago, when Fiona had her heart broken and her pride in tatters after walking in on her sister going down and dirty with Seth, it had been Michael her good friend who had understood what she was going through and offered her with rebound sex of the mind numbing and body tingling variety. However, the fact that Michael means to her more than just a convenient lay now and then made Fiona run from her burgeoning feelings towards Michael then, a fact that Michael is determined to turn around with the bargain he strikes with Fiona in return for attending the engagement party with her.

IOU Sex definitely surprised me, all in a good way of course, with the character development that Calista Fox managed to deliver with such a limited number of pages and somehow managed to give a satisfying well-rounded romance and happily ever after in the end. Though the story being told in first person meant that I didn’t get to learn more about Michael’s thoughts and musings which I definitely would have loved to know more about, even then the author manages to bring forth the fact that when it came to Fiona and Michael being romantically involved, Michael was well on-board with the plan.

Both Michael and Fiona are well developed characters who sizzle the pages with the scorching intensity of their passion for one another. But IOU Sex is more than just two people getting it on in the bedroom; it is the story of how two friends find within each other a craving that only the other can satisfy and how a woman finds the confidence and courage to let go of the past to grab onto the future with the man who is made for her right by her side. Loved how everything turned out in the end, leaving me a satisfied reader all around.

With a bite of erotic content, IOU Sex is a novella that delivers well and good on both character development and emotions making this a well deserving addition to your TBR pile!

by mvbookreviewer

MBR’s Realm of Romance Turns 2!

2nd-anniversary.gifA girl cannot help but be a bit teary-eyed knowing that the book review blog that she started on a whim back in 2009 has just turned 2 years old. The 2 years that has passed has certainly brought to light that this reviewing stuff can be addictive, time-consuming, at times a bit frustrating and nevertheless very rewarding. There is no greater feeling as a reviewer when you write down a review that is appreciated by the author and well received by readers alike, knowing that you have put forth your honest opinion of the story.

The past 2 years has also opened up doors that would have definitely remained closed if not for the initiation of Maldivian Book Reviewer’s Realm of Romance. I have “met” a lot of authors through both Twitter and Facebook, some of them wonderful and a few others not so much, but nevertheless knowing that I would be able to reach out to them via those means makes a lot of difference. I have also made some great friends and can only hope that the feeling is reciprocated and am always grateful to know that somewhere in the vast expanse of the world wide web I too may have made a minute impression that might someday surpass even my expectations.

Throughout the 2 years I have read some great books, had the opportunity to review some fantastic books for authors and I believe I would continue to do so in the time to come. Though time is definitely a constraint when work demands so much, I believe I treasure those moments that I manage to sink into a good book more than ever because of the fact.

So, to celebrate in style, and to give visitors to my blog a chance to join the celebrations, I am giving away 4 different gift certificates to 4 lucky winners.tiggerhappy.jpg

Giveaway: 10$ gift certificates from Amazon, Samhain, BooksOnBoard and Barnes&Noble.

So here’s what you need to do to enter to win either one of the 10$ gift certificates.

  1. Let me know which gift certificate(s) you would like to enter to win. If you don’t state one, I will enter your name for ALL of them.

  2. Give me the title, author name and genre of the current book that you are reading. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a romance. If you are not reading a book at the moment, you can tell me the title, author and genre of the last book that you’ve read. And I want you to rate the book between 1 and 5, 1 = Don’t even attempt to read this and 5 = Get this book ASAP!

  3. Help me spread the anniversary glow and contest details to others like you. If you tweet about it, you get 5 extra entries, if you LIKE this post on Facebook,  you get another 5 extra entries. If you share it on Twitter, don’t forget to mention me (@mdvbookreviewer) so I would be able to verify your tweet. And don’t forget to mention the fact that you have tweeted or LIKED the entry of this post on MY Facebook page if you have done so! Otherwise you might miss your 5 extra entries into the contest which would  be a sad, sad thing!

  4. Last, but not the least, just hit “LIKE” on my Facebook page or “Follow” me on Twitter! Doing either of them would give you 5 extra entries each! And do let me know if you do either of them because otherwise you might miss out getting your 5 extra entries. Just state you have done so and give me your username on both/either of them!

    Please note that in order to enter the giveaway you DON’T need to tweet or share this on Facebook. All that would just gain you extra entries to the contest which improve your chances of winning!

This contest will go on till the end of tomorrow, i.e. end of 31st July 2011, Maldivian time!

And don’t forget to wish my blog a happy anniversary! *winks*