Category / Toe Curler!!

by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Catch Me by Lorelie Brown

Format: E-bookcatchme
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Elmer Dean Collier
Heroine: Margaret Bullock
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 18, 2011
Started On: July 15, 2011
Finished On: July 15, 2011

Set in Arizona territory in 1882, Catch Me by Lorelie Brown is an entertaining romance of the American-Western variety that fans of the genre should not miss out on. Lorelie Brown serves the reader with enough adventure, red-hot passion and a love between two strong-willed people who have no clue as to what they are in for when fate throws them together in the most trying circumstances.

22 year old Margaret Bullock, daughter of the current sheriff of Fresh Springs is at her wits end as to how to obtain money for her ailing father’s treatment. Maggie does the only thing a headstrong and willful woman who won’t take what fate hands over lying down would do – rob the only bank in Fresh Springs and leave her hometown with the intention of never to return.

Elmer Dean Collier is a man who seems to have lost his way since the loss of life as he knew it five years back. A bounty hunter who has lived on the high that each righteous kill brings lifting up the haze of anger that has shrouded him since that fateful day five years back, Dean knows that it wouldn’t be long before he loses whatever shred of humanity that is left within him if he were to continue as he has been. Tired of the constant round of killing his life has become, Dean grabs at the chance of becoming the new sheriff of Fresh Springs upon capture and return of the woman who seems to have robbed the town’s only bank.

Blinded by the need to turn his life around and attaining his one chance at redemption, Dean at first doesn’t pay heed to the mischievous, daring and headstrong woman who turns him inside out when he at last manages to find Maggie. Bit by bit, Maggie manages to chip away at the coldness that seems to have become his protective shield for so long, until all he can think about is surrendering himself to the warmth he is sure to find in his captive’s arms.

Maggie though an innocent knows when passion blindsides her that there would be no regrets for her where Dean is concerned and she is determined that they both experience what their bodies seem intent on telling them would be one tempestuous coming together. But Dean is a man not to be swayed on his mission to deliver Maggie as he has promised, a promise that seems to eat away at him as their destination draws closer, making him question whether the peace that he hunts would embrace him if he were to give up the woman who has managed to sneak her way into his heart.

Catch Me is a novel that urges the reader to turn the pages, to keep on reading to find out whether the sexual tension that simmers between Maggie and Dean is as explosive as one would hope it to be, to experience the way Dean crumbles by bits and pieces until ultimate surrender is all he can think of and to find out the secrets that seems to shroud the lives of Maggie’s father and that of the infamous banker whose less than stellar intentions nearly drive Maggie and Dean apart for good.

Dean reminded me of the type of heroes that Maggie Osborne creates, the type of hero that I immediately fall in love with, as beneath their rough, gruff and tough exterior lies a man who hurts a lot more than I can even comprehend. Maggie is the type of heroine who is feisty, sensual and giving, the type of woman who can turn a man’s well ordered life all around until he is left with only one choice, i.e. to love and cherish her till death does them apart.

With invigorating banter between Maggie and Dane to liven things up along the 3 week journey these two make from Texas towards Fair Springs and the characters that are introduced in between, Catch Me is a story that well earns its position as a great read. Highly recommended for fans of the genre.

Favorite Quotes

Their lips clung and released, then came back again. His tongue dipped into her mouth and she received it with a quiet sigh of welcome.
She was sweet like apples. Sweet to the taste, to the touch, to all his senses. More succulent than anything he’d dared touch for a long time. He’d been lost in the dark, but if he gripped her tightly enough maybe she would lead him out.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo | Carina Press

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Don’t Look Back by M.J. Fredrick

Format: E-book
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Hero: Captain Gerard Delaney
Heroine: Dr. Olivia Olney
Sensuality: 3.5
Publication Date: August 12, 2010
Started On: July 13, 2011
Finished On: July 14, 2011

Don’t Look Back by M.J. Fredrick is going to be a hard book for me to review, not because I didn’t love the story that unfolded but rather because of just how much the story drew me in and wrapped its words around me, making me savor every emotion that it wrenched from me that I want to do this book the justice that  it deserves. Before I begin my review however, there are two things that I would like to thank the very wonderful M.J. Fredrick for. Number one being for the blog post that she published which drew my attention to this gem, and the second for being generous enough to give me a copy of this book which I appreciate from the bottom of my heart.

Don’t Look Back kicks off seven years prior to the start of the actual story when Dr. Olivia Olney is rescued by a team led by Captain Gerard Delaney from Special Forces who specializes in hostage recovery. Broken, battered, raped and barely alive, Olivia finds the strength to persevere and come out fighting by never letting go of the image of the tough blue-eyed soldier who arrived to her rescue when she had right about given up hope.

Seven years later, Olivia is a changed woman, the scars of the ordeal that she underwent which she carries with her every day. However, that doesn’t stop her from helping out the less fortunate souls who struggle to survive the depths of hell that is war riddled Africa, even if it means going back to the one place that brings back the nightmares of how she was captured and tortured at the hands of violent and vicious men.

When her best friend Jill gets taken as a hostage by the man who imprisoned Olivia and introduced her to the depths of hell, there is no stone that Olivia would leave unturned in her quest to rescue the one woman who stood by her through every single step of her recovery. When Olivia finds out that the soldier who has haunted her dreams since the night of her rescue is very much alive and living in exile in Spain, she doesn’t hesitate to pull out all the stops, even kicking Delaney where it hurts to get him to lead their rescue operation.

Delaney is a man who has been stripped bare of everything, a man with nothing left to lose who remains in hiding, fearing for the life of his son and his ex-wife whom he has left behind. Three years of merely existing comes to an end when the sexy and vibrant Olivia sashays into his life, opening up the wounds that have been quietly festering all this while. Olivia forces Delaney to confront his fear of failure and his reluctance to go back to a country that has already taken too much from him and left him high and dry.

Making their way to Amadan, a jungle-choked country with very poor roads begins their journey towards endless violence and danger which seems to lurke amidst every step they take. But the biggest threat comes not from the danger to each of their lives but rather that to their hearts when desire races like a raging inferno through both of them until there is no choice left but to surrender.

Combining sizzling sexual tension, toe-curling passion, heart pounding adventure and vicious war lords whose agendas change as swiftly as that of the colors of a chameleon, M.J. Fredrick earns herself 5 solid stars for penning such a fantastic romantic suspense that ALL fans of the genre must read. Bringing together two souls who have already seen the worst life can offer, but still has the courage to stand tall, both Delaney and Olivia are heartwarming and endearing characters that I fell in love with right from the very beginning.

In my opinion, the fact that M.J. Fredrick portrays the story in gritty and realistic terms to the very last detail made this earn a spot from my favorite reads for this year. Raw and honest in the gut wrenching emotions that it brings forth, heartbreaking in the details of the rape and torture that is part of every day life for women in the region, Don’t Look Back is a novel that has got it all. If a well-balanced romantic suspense with a bit of dark edge to it is what you want, don’t hesitate to pick this one up and let yourself be taken away on an intense adventure that would have you biting your nails before halfway through!

Favorite Quotes

To compensate, she took a deep breath and found herself with a noseful of Del-scent. Something about the sharp smell of him, lying beneath what might be Old Spice, made her want to bury her face in his throat and breathe him in.

Words escaped him. All his energy was in controlling his desire. He had no business looking at her, no business wanting to run his fingers through her hair, to bring her body against his and warm her with his kisses. He was the last thing she needed in her life.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Tempting the Enemy by Dee Tenorio

Format: E-booktemptingtheenemy
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romantic Suspense
Series: Resurrection, Book 1
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Pale Rysen
Heroine: Jade-Scarlet
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: June 14,  2010
Started On: July 11, 2011
Finished On: July 13, 2011

Tempting the Enemy is my first taste of Dee Tenorio’s ability to spin an incredible tale in the paranormal romantic suspense genre. Book one in the series entitled Resurrection, Dee introduces us into a world of shape shifters and a fascinating breed known as Sibiles who have different kinds of abilities together with a history of bad blood between themselves and the wolf shifters.

Pale Reysen is an Alpha who has sworn to create a safe haven for wolf shifters whose vast numbers have rapidly declined since humans had started hunting them down. Part of the Violent Crimes Division at the Moonridge Police Station where the chase is on to find a serial killer dubbed as the Woodsman by the media, Pale is as ecstatic as someone waiting on deathrow when their captain announces that a Sibile would be helping them on their race against time as the dead body parts continue to pile up.

When half-Wolf and half-Sibile Jade-Scarlet walks into his police station bringing with her the undeniable scent of a Wolf female in Heat, Pale nearly loses it as his Wolf growls, pricks and pokes at him to unleash the beast so that it can claim its rightful mate. However, the fact remains that having being once betrayed by her kind, Pale would never have a reason to let Jade in nor give into the hunger that seems to shred his insides to pieces.

Jade is a Wolf who has too long denied her animal side, having lived with The Order ever since her parents were killed. A Sibile whose abilities lie in being able to hunt down emotional signatures left behind, Jade however has a hard time keeping her mind on the mission of uncovering the identity of a vicious killer as all her instincts scream at her to lay down and offer herself to the Wolf that seems to unleash such violent desire within her.

Bound by a need neither can deny, both Jade and Pale learns to trust one another as they are forced to spend time together chasing a killer whose nefarious intents when it comes to light sends cold dread racing through Jade’s insides as she realizes what it is she must do in order to rid the world of a mad man who would stop at nothing in his quest to belong. With the future shrouded in uncertainty, Jade gives herself up to the Wolf she will mate with for life, knowing that in the end that they would both have to go their separate ways regardless of how much they would be giving up by forcing themselves to walk away from one another.

Tempting the Enemy is a story that combines a fantastic paranormal world and delivers edge-of-the-seat suspense together with a passion that is scorching enough to render you into a puddle of goo. From the start, the intense connection between Jade and Pale never lets up and the killer’s cunning plans which ties along neatly with Jade’s appearance rendering this a well balanced paranormal romantic suspense.

Pale is a broody and mouth-wateringly sexy hero whose possessive streak is a mile wide, his protectiveness an undeniable facet of him that endeared him to me from the start. Jade is the type of heroine I have come to accept and love when it comes to books by Dee; loyal, feisty and vulnerable with a core of steel that doesn’t let anyone run roughshod over them. Each of the characters introduced along the way held my riveted, undivided attention, marking them off in my mind as future candidates who should receive their own stories in this series somewhere down the  line.

Highly enjoyable, Tempting the Enemy is recommended for fans of paranormal romantic suspense and fans of Dee Tenorio who have yet to find out the amazing things she can do in this genre.

Favorite Quotes

He turned his head toward the open double doors across from his desk, inhaling a deep breath. A new scent drifted to him, distinct from the usual grime and wear inside the department. Warm honey. Cloves. Citrus soap under the light salt of sweat. Female.

“You are what I want.” Did he even know the way his eyes glowed when he watched her? That when his voice was so gruff, she could feel it and all the longing he had in it? That he was stealing parts of her heart with every word? “I want all of you. For always.”

Pale circled the bed and picked her up in his arms. Her cheeks turned his favorite shade of red as he kissed her, his heart full of so many things he couldn’t say. Not yet. So he kissed her again and felt the rest of his soul become hers.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo | Carina Press

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Heartbreak Creek by Kaki Warner

Format: E-bookheartbreakcreek
Read with: Amazon Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: The Runaway Brides, Book 1
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Hero: Robert Declan Brodie
Heroine: Edwina Whitney Ladoux
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 5, 2011
Started On: July 8, 2011
Finished On: July 9, 2011

Heartbreak Creek is book one in the series Runaway Brides by author Kaki Warner. Recommended by my friend Jill on Goodreads, I needed no further urging as I am a huge fan of American Western romances. From the very start, the concept of 4 women who find love in the most unexpected places grabbed me and held me enthralled as each of the characters wormed their way into my heart, telling a story that would linger with me for the time to come.

Heartbreak Creek brings the story of 26 year old Edwina Whitney Ladoux from Southeastern Louisiana who makes her way towards Heartbreak Creek of Colorado as a mail-order bride for Robert Declan Brodie, a man she has never laid eyes on. Knowing that there was nothing worth staying around in war ravaged Louisiana for her and her half-sister Pru, Edwina makes the journey that brings her that much closer to the reality of marriage the second time round.

33 year old Declan is a widow who has his hands full looking after 4 children and managing his ranch which is a full-time job in itself. Knowing that his children require a mother’s touch, Declan is expecting a sturdy farm woman who can take charge of his family and instead finds himself married to the reigning belle of Sycamore Parish once upon a time.

Though Edwina dreads the thought of marriage to anyone and feels like fleeing from what she has gotten herself into, with Pru to help things along, Edwina finds herself drawn into the lives of her strong and silent husband and his children who tug at her heartstrings right from the very start. For a woman who has had a disappointing experience with intimacy, Edwina finds herself fascinated with how her body yearns for things it cannot voice, a desire that seems to be reciprocated by the man with whom she is bound to share her life till death does them apart.

For Declan, Edwina is the direct opposite of the mother of his children, who betrayed him and their children in the worst way possible, his heart and emotions encased in a block of ice afterwards which had begun to thaw in Edwina’s energetic presence. But peace and happiness in their lives seems to be elusive as an old enemy hunts them down with vengeance and death on his mind for all he has lost, a man that Declan knows wouldn’t give up until only one of them is left  standing. And when Declan’s dead wife turns up unexpectedly, both Declan and Edwina must fight harder than ever to truly win the battle of their hearts once and for all which lends this story that emotional wrangling quality that I just love.

Kaki Warner tells a great story somewhat similar in style to that of Ellen O’Connell whose American-Western romances are to die for. Heartbreak Creek introduces us to the very intriguing four ladies whose stories sound equally enticing with Edwina’s story laying the foundation of this delectable series. Declan is the strong and silent warrior type of hero beneath whose tough and stoic mask lies an endearing sense of humor which made me fall head over heels in love with him from the very beginning.

Edwina is the type of protective heroine who stands firm in what she believes in, who fights for those whom she loves and that makes for an appealing heroine all around. The sexual tension and awareness that slowly creeps into Declan and Edwina’s life is sizzling hot and well-done and though there aren’t much detailed love scenes included, it still manages to satisfy the cravings of the reader.

With heart pounding acts of violence thats the reality of life in the western frontier and tender scenes of love, Kaki Warner seems to have struck gold with this enticing series, book 2 of which I will definitely be stalking in the time to come.

Recommended highly for fans of the genre. This is one series you ought not miss.

Favorite Quotes

She drew in an exasperated breath, and suddenly her senses exploded with the essence of Declan, his heat, the smell of soap, horses … him. Her body instantly reacted – her heartbeat quickening, her skin tingling, her thoughts scattering like some addlepated adolescent sneaking her first kiss under the pawpaw tree.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo | Book Depository

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: The Fifth Kingdom by Caridad Piñeiro

Format: E-bookthefifthkingdom
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Special Agent Guillermo Santana
Heroine: Dr. Deanna Vasquez
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 11, 2011
Started On: July 4, 2011
Finished On: July 5, 2011

The Fifth Kingdom by Caridad Piñeiro is a novel that combines romance and adventure in equal spades delivering a romantic suspense that ought to please many a fan of the genre. Most of the story takes place in Mexico where the buried treasure of a long lost civilization seems to bring out the most cutthroat criminals who would cross no boundaries in order to attain the prize they are after.

The heroine Dr. Deanna Vasquez is a history lecturer at one of the premier prep schools in Manhattan. When Special Agent Bill Santana from the CIA seeks her out claiming that her estranged mother might be in trouble, Deanna’s first reaction is to go crawl under a rock and forget that she ever heard the news.

When Deanna comes to know that her mother’s quest to find the tomb of Montezuma, one of the last Emperors of the Aztecs might have borne fruit after 14 long years during which she had left behind her 13 year old daughter and husband behind, Deanna knows deep in her heart that she can’t turn away from her mother’s obvious need for help with her conscience intact.

What stirs Deanna more than anything else is the strong and larger than life Bill who manages to invoke all sorts of emotions in her, a man with a heartbreaking past of his own who finds a haven of warmth and comfort in Deanna’s arms. As Bill and Deanna travel to Mexico in the guise of engaged lovers, their pretend arrangement suddenly takes a more realistic edge as both of them give into the feelings of passion that have stalked them right from the very start.

As danger escalates together with each step they take closer towards the buried treasure, their salvation comes in the form of a relic that could change the world as we know it, that could drive the world to the brink of disaster and beyond if it were to land in the wrong hands.

The Fifth Kingdom proved to be an entertaining romantic suspense with an endearing hero and heroine thrown together by circumstance, and yet find the best thing to happen to each of them in one another. Bill is a tender hero who doesn’t let his past color his future and Deanna is a strong heroine who finds reason enough to trust in a man like Bill. The scenes of passion between the two were hot and tender at the same time, perfectly in tune with the adventure aspect of the novel.

Recommended for fans of romantic suspense.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo | Carina Press

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Dangerous Kisses by Trish Milburn

Format: E-bookdangerouskisses
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Jake Radley
Heroine: Sydney Blackburn
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: June 7, 2011
Started On: July 2, 2011
Finished On: July 2, 2011

I am someone who wants to give in to a good crying jag when I pick up books that do not live up to my expectations. This one stirred my interest and of course along with it my ‘high’ expectations upon seeing the rave 5-star reviews for the book on Amazon. Needing a good romantic suspense with enough scorching passion to light up my world, I trusted the reviews and believed that Dangerous Kisses would deliver a smashing read and sadly I found this to be just an average read, most of the story which I skimmed through to reach the end.

32 year old Sydney Blackburn is the police beat reporter for The Nashville Courier and someone who takes her job of keeping the public informed very seriously. When a girl is found murdered in her town, all her reporter senses go on red-alert knowing that the police would always withhold vital facts that could save someone from stumbling onto a killer’s path.

Jake Radley is the officer in charge of the investigation of the murder of Maggie Field, a murder which brings home the fact that Nashville has a serial killer amongst its midst. Jake is a man who has been burnt badly by a reporter early on on in his career with her ambition to get ahead no matter the consequences. Needless to say, Jake has a deep rooted mistrust for reporters which rears its ugly head when the beautiful reporter from The Nashville Courier is relentless in her efforts to get the details of the investigation from him.

All that Sydney knows is that although Jake’s mere presence makes her feel breathless with longings better left unvoiced, Jake has no such problems when he goes out of his way to be his utmost rudest with her. But when the killer’s unwanted attention focuses on Sydney, Jake pulls out all the stops in his quest to keep her safe from harms way, the result of the ‘forced’ proximity building up a layer of intimacy between the two which makes both Jake and Sydney give into their desire of one another. However, Jake is a man who believes that he is better off alone and goes out of his way to drive home the fact until it might be all too late to let the woman he loves know that he is a man who is ready for the ultimate commitment.

For me, Dangerous Kisses didn’t make that much of an exceptional impression. Yes there was a hot hero and there was a gutsy heroine who didn’t back down but I just didn’t feel that sizzle between the two and didn’t find myself captivated by the chemistry between them. The killer though creepy made for an okay villian and even though he managed to surprise me when his identity was revealed, yet again I wasn’t wowed with the thriller aspect of the novel as well. It just pains me to write reviews such as this one when I am someone who reads for enjoyment, the sizzle and the adventure which provides me with my escape from reality. Though this one didn’t live up to the mark for me, it just might be what the doctor ordered for you.

Recommended for fans of Trish Milburn.

Now I am seriously in need of a story that would deliver me from the funk I find myself in at the moment. Sigh!!!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Smashwords

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Passion Becomes You by Michelle Reid

Format: E-book
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents, #1752
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Leon Stephanades
Heroine: Jemma Davis
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: June 1, 1995
Started On: July 3, 2011
Finished On: July 3, 2011

Passion Becomes You by Michelle Reid is an okay read, that somehow didn’t live up to my expectations. I wanted this novel to captivate me, the hero to dazzle me and of course wanted all my emotions in a tangle because of the hero and somehow I ‘think’ that I just expected too much from this Harlequin.

24 year old Jemma Davis bears the scars of living with two promiscous parents whose lifelong passion it had been to goad one another by sleeping with the next available piece of human flesh of the opposite sex. A determination that she would never let herself become embroiled in passion that could make her vulnerable, Jemma doesn’t know what it is that hits her when Greek tycoon Leon Stephanades strolls into her life and turns it completely upside down.

Jemma says yes to her very first affair with eyes wide open, fully knowing what it is that Leon is offering and just how vulnerable her emotions are when it comes to Leon. Though Leon tries to show otherwise, he is as much besotted with how she makes him feel and throughout their two month long affair during which Jemma keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop, for her fragile happiness to come crashing down in front of her.

When Jemma realizes the consequence of her first night of reckless abandonment with Leon, and knowing that Leon wouldn’t take the news of impending fatherhood lightly, Jemma hides the fact from him until a turn of events once again brings Leon back into her life; this time a determined Leon who wants her in his life once and for all.

What I expected to find from this short story and what I actually did find were two entirely different things. I wanted a ruthless and passionate hero whose desire to possess the woman who ignites him unlike any other woman make him lose his iron-clad control and of course I wanted the angst that would go with a story that includes such a strong hero. But Leon though is a passionate hero, I didn’t find myself overly fascinated with him and neither with the heroine though Jemma is not the type to get on one’s nerves. The story lost its appeal halfway through and I found myself skimming through the bits and pieces to reach the end.

Recommended for fans of Michelle Reid.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Abe Books

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Caressed By Ice by Nalini Singh

Format: E-bookcaressedbyice
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Psy-Changeling, Book 3
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Hero: Judd Lauren
Heroine: Brenna Shane Kincaid
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 4, 2007
Started On: June 30, 2011
Finished On: July 1, 2011

The 3rd book in the Psy/Changeling series seems to be a favorite amongst its fans and I too have succumbed and joined the legion of fans who loved the story of the very lethal Psy Judd Lauren and the strong Brenna Kincaid whose dark past would have completely broken down a lesser woman.

Judd is a fascinating Psy not only because this is the first time that a male Psy is in the position of a hero but because Judd is a defector from the Psy world where he was trained to be a lethal killing machine, a member of the elite team of soldiers known as the Arrow Squad. Highly skilled in the art of mental martial combat, Judd is a Psy who is more in control of his emotions than most Psy, someone who has been conditioned from the tender age of ten to never ever give in to any sort of emotion which would make him and the others around him vulnerable to his abilities.

Brenna Kincaid is the wolf from the SnowDancer pack who manages to escape the brutal kidmapping and invasive rape of her mind by the psychotic Santano Enrique in the first book of the series. Since then, Brenna struggles every day to fight her fears and come out a winner although it feels like an uphill climb every single moment that terror paralyzes her. Surprisingly, it is towards Judd that she turns to knowing that he would give her exactly what she wants and needs instead of the constant pity and understanding to which she is subjected to by her own kind.

It is the vicious murder of a male wolf in the pack that bears eerie similarity to how Enrique used to cut up his victims that kick-starts a series of events that propels the growth of the relationship between Judd and Brenna. Judd who resists the feelings and emotions that are as foreign to him as the lack of any sort of emotion or touch is foreign to Brenna, whose changeling nature needs and craves emotional and physical contact to survive.

Though Judd faces animosity from Brenna’s brothers who go beyond the bounds of normal protectiveness given Brenna’s close encounter with death at the hands of a Psy, Brenna is a wolf who knows what she wants and is prepared to go through any lengths to make a union between her and Judd possible by any means.

Judd is certainly a dreamy hero; ruthless, dangerous and a hot inferno of feelings waiting to burst forth when it comes to Brenna. His mate for life though mating is a foreign concept to Psy is strong enough to take him as he is and wouldn’t have it any other way. There is no way on Earth you can read Judd and Brenna’s book and not crave some of that icy-hot passion for yourself that Judd is certainly more than capable of giving.

Together with their romance continues the story of the play for dominance by the Psy race who think themselves to be superior than any other beings to inhabit the Earth. As they move onto the next phase of Silence, a plan so nefarious that within the Psy population itself starts a movement of rebellion helped along by their allies on the outside that makes for a great continuing story.

Recommended for fans of the series.

P.S. I am having such a hard time sticking with reading the series in order. Hawke is tempting me to jump into his book which is the 10th book in the series and the temptation certainly seems to be doing its number on me. Sigh!!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo

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by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Walking the Edge by Zee Monodee

Format: E-bookwalkingtheedge
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Corpus Brides, Book 1
Publisher: Noble Romance Publishing
Hero: Gerard Emmanuel Besson
Heroine: Morgane Mary Catherine Van Heerden
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: June 30, 2011
Started On: July 1, 2011
Finished On: July 1, 2011

Walking the Edge is the explosive debut novel of the Corpus Brides series by Zee Monodee. Shrouded in mystery and half-truths until its climactic ending, Walking the Edge is a romantic suspense novel that rightfully earns its position as one of the best romantic suspense novels to line my e-book shelves this year.

Walking the Edge kicks off with the heroine Amelia in the midst of a shopping complex, closely guarded by the hulk of a man sent with her seemingly for her protection by the cold and aloof man who proclaims to be her husband. Amelia suffers from amnesia and though her ‘husband’ tries to keep her under the influence of mind altering drugs, some deep hidden instinct within Amelia refuses to let her believe the nicely made up history of her life that comes out of Peter’s mouth.

Its the dreams when she she is forced to slumber that brings her to France to meet the man who seems to have been her lover, a man who doesn’t recall the fact which makes her lose all hope of ever finding out the truth about herself.

The last thing Gerard needs is a woman to turn up claiming to be his long-lost lover even though he has no recollection of the beautiful woman in obvious distress who stands in front of him. When Amelia saves his life from a close call and inevitably shows a side of herself that even she is not aware of, Gerard knows that he cannot walk away from the lure that this woman poses, a woman who makes him crave as he had craved for another woman that he should best have forgotten about.

As Gerard and Amelia give into the explosive mind numbing passion that whirls between them, questions about who she is and why she resembles the woman whose death seven months back which still haunts him mount up with no answers forthcoming. Amelia who is a mass of contradictions refuses to bow down to the fact that she is just merely the wife of someone she can’t stand and continues to stalk the truth about herself which frustratingly remains elusive until everything comes tumbling down, giving both Amelia and Gerard answers which once again has the power to drive them apart once and for all.

Walking the Edge delivers the sort of suspense that I love to find in books and movies, the type that makes my mind restless to find out the hidden truth which is so very well done in this novel. Together with this aspect, Zee Monodee keeps up with the relentless passion of the red-hot variety which escalates from one encounter to the other, delvering raw emotions between her characters that they both need to face head on. The basis of the covert secret agents that makes up the bare skeleton of the series is well done and I for one am definitely looking forward to more novels in the Corpus Brides series.

Recommended highly for fans of romantic suspense novels who love those stories that deliver on a mystery that puzzles you and makes you positively itch to find out the truth. A story that combines red-hot passion, sizzling sexual tension, a mystery that taunts you to read on and a love so powerful that even forgotten memories couldn’t keep them away.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Noble Romance

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Viper’s Kiss by Shannon Curtis

Format: E-bookviperskiss
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Luke Fletcher
Heroine: Margaret Elizabeth Kincaid
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 25, 2011
Started On: June 26, 2011
Finished On: June 26, 2011

Who in the world wouldn’t want to read a title with a cover as this one? I fell completely for it and though Shannon Curtis is a totally new author for me, within the first chapter itself I knew that in this instant judging the book by its cover had been the right thing to do.

Margaret Elizabeth Kincaid is the Information Services Librarian at the University of Washington whose wildest nightmares couldn’t have shown her the turmoil her life could turn into. Arrested and taken into custody for economic espionage and murder, Maggie’s orderly life is turned upside down when being arrested with the whole university looking on is just the tip of the iceberg.

When the squad car in which she is held is stopped by gun-toting vicious looking goons who have no problem with killing two federal officers whilst they are at it, Maggie undergoes the goons’ vicious onslaught whose only aim is to retrieve the research of the world-altering kind she supposedly has stolen for their boss. Being called the ‘Viper’ when she she has no clue as to who she is, Maggie is at a loss which doesn’t stop her from fighting for her right to survive.

Maggie narrowly escapes being manhandled to death by one set of goons only to run smack-dab into the arms of Luke Fletcher who is Ex-Special Forces and works for the McCormack Security Agency who has been entrusted with the task of retrieving the sensitive information stolen by the notorious and vicious Viper.

What Luke doesn’t comprehend happening is that he would screw up his first solo assignment so royally by lusting after the notorious Viper, almost believing the lies that comes out of her delectable mouth. Tall, blonde and too dangerous for her peace of mind is what Luke is to Maggie who has never been so tempted to break her own ninety day rule before. The fact that he almost makes her forget the reason for their acquaintance is reason enough for Maggie to be wary of the man whose rough and hard kisses stir her to her very soul.

And just when it seems like things may finally work out for Luke and Maggie, reality intervenes making Maggie take matters into her own hands to prove once and for all that she is not the infamous Viper whom everyone thinks she is.

For me, Viper’s Kiss turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable read. I liked both Maggie and sexy as hell Luke and the chemistry between the two. Luke surprisingly is the only ex-military hero that I have encountered who actually has plans of settling down and what scares him is the fact that Maggie is the one he wants to do that with whilst still thinking her to be Viper.

The adventure aspect of the novel was fast-paced with plenty of action and thus never a dull moment in the story. And I enjoyed Drew Michaels and Noah Samuels entry into the story, the two other agents sent in who lend the story something extra with their presence. Would love to see more stories about the rest of the guys at MSA and I definitely look forward to reading more from Shannon Curtis.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo | Carina Press

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