Author Archives: Kristin

Review: Wed to the Orc Captive by Penny McMara

7 September, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Wed to the Orc Captive
Orc Wed, #2
Penny McMara
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Sept. 7 2026
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

My village was desperate to stop the orc raids, and moved to force the only kind of treaty orcs one sealed with passion. They captured an orc and told the monster that he’d take a human bride, or he’d die.

I’m avoiding a slightly worse fate.

We’ve both made the choice to survive. Now, we’re saying our vows through prison bars, neither of us fully able to trust the other. Everything about him screams danger, from his chiselled body to his too-intelligent eyes. He’s called us barbarians; he’s mocked at our faith. He’s wary of me, as a magic user, as a human, as a weakling…though that doesn’t seem to have dampened his interest in taking me to his bed.

I want to hate him. I want to see him as a monster. I want him to be someone whose blood won’t weigh on my conscience, if I have to kill him.

If only he didn’t show me more tenderness than any man I’ve ever known.

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Posted in: Fantasy Romance , Tagged: ,

Review: She Who Hunts the Moon by Jay R. Wolf

4 September, 2026 7:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

She Who Hunts the Moon
Vargrborn Legacy, #1
Jay R. Wolf
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: July 16m 2026
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating:

In the Alfarie court, a daughter born without magic is not an heir. She is an embarrassment, and Sarai Silverthorne has spent her life being treated like one. So she sets her sights on the one thing no one else has ever managed to do.

Kill the Wolf King.

Kayde Bjornson knows war with the Alfarie is coming. As leader of the Valkara, he will do whatever it takes to protect his people from the kingdom that has hunted wolf shifters for generations. But, when Sarai is pulled into his territory, her presence threatens to destroy everything his family has built.

Among ancient gods, brutal traditions, and wolves bound to human souls, they uncover a truth that could spark Ragnarok itself.

As the deadly Lunar Hunt approaches, Sarai is forced into a trial meant to awaken the beast sleeping beneath her skin.

If she fails, the hunt will kill her. If she survives, she may become something far more dangerous than the monsters she once swore to destroy. And Kayde may be the only one who can help her survive it.

The moon is rising, and whatever lives inside Sarai is beginning to wake.

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Posted in: Paranormal Romance

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Reign of Silver & Stardust by Diana A. Hicks

2 September, 2026 5:00 am , Leave a Comment ,

Reign of Silver & Stardust
Stardust #1
Diana A. Hicks
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: Aug. 27, 2026
Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance

My twin sister was murdered. To find her killer, I had to die. CATALINA
I was never supposed to survive.
As the mortal spare to an immortal sister, I lived in the shadows
until Ry was murdered by a weapon that shouldn’t exist.
Now, justice is all I want.
To find her killer, I must take her place in the Queen’s Elite Cadre
and become the very monster everyone fears.
But becoming a weapon means losing my humanity…
and losing the one man I can’t resist.

VALOREK
The immortals bleed my world dry while my sister rots from the inside out.
I swore to burn their reign to the ground,
until I met her.
Sterling is the enemy,
a silver-blooded soldier of the regime that destroyed my family.
But the electricity between us is undeniable.
We are on opposite sides of a brewing war,
and falling for the enemy is a dangerous mistake
neither of us can afford.

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Posted in: Excerpt

Mission Accomplished: Finishing My Summer Reading Challenge

30 August, 2026 10:08 am , 11 Comments ,

This post is linked to Sunday Post, Staking the Shelves, Sunday Salon, and #IMWAYR

 

This month we saw two typhoons. So, needless to say, I was able to get quite a bit of reading in.

Every summer I take part in a summer reading challenge with my friend and her circle of people. There’s usually a theme to the overall challenge, and there are 18 book categories. Things like “a book published before you were born”, “a book published this year”, “a new to you author”, etc. Every year I fail to finish the challenge, but not this year. This year I finally finished the challenge with time to spare since it ends Labor Day weekend.

I’m honestly surprised I read all the categories since some are things like thriller or mystery, and those aren’t really my genre. Somehow I made it work, found a book that would interest me, and got through it.

Below is the list of book categories and the books I read for each slot.

 

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Posted in: Ramblings

Review: Nine Month Contract by Amy Daws

28 August, 2026 7:51 pm , 2 Comments ,

Nine Month Contract
Mountain Men Matchmaker #1
Amy Daws
Publisher: Canary Street Press
Publication date: Oct. 29, 2024
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Help Wanted: Grumpy mountain man seeks baby momma. Job is an incubator position only. Surrogate must be impervious to grunting as the form of communication and nosy brotherly neighbors. Rustic mountain range housing available upon request.

I wanted to pummel my irritating brothers when they posted their own version of a wanted ad to help me with my life.

But I can’t fault the results once the right woman lands in my lap.

Becoming a single father is not a decision I made lightly. In fact, it’s the biggest decision of my entire life.

Which is why when I interview Trista, I know she’s perfect.

She’s wild, she’s opinionated, she wears cowboy boots. Even my pet goat loves her…

She’s the exact type of person I was holding out for.

And to my great horror, I realize on our first night of attempting this baby-making dance—when the lights are low, the cheap wine is flowing and the home-insemination supplies are laid out on the kitchen counter—I want to do a lot more than just make her my surrogate.

I want to make her mine.

 

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Posted in: Romance

Sneak Peek Wednesday: The Champagne Crush by Caroline O’Connell

26 August, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

The Champagne Crush
(Les Femmes Series, #1)
Caroline O’Connell
Publisher: SparkPress
Publication date: Aug. 20, 2026
Genre: Romance

Catherine Reynolds has enjoyed a life of luxury, but her diplomat parents have cut her off financially, leaving her flat broke. She is determined to turn things around and gain her independence—so, when an old family friend offers her a lifeline as a PR consultant for his sparkling wine company, she jumps at the chance. But working with Chris McDermott, the company’s no-nonsense president, is anything but easy.

A purist at heart, Chris clashes with Catherine’s glitzy marketing flair; still, the chemistry between them is undeniable. As they travel from New York to Napa, Paris, and the Champagne region of France, their partnership blossoms amid high-stakes industry rivalries and a launch that could make or break them.

When sabotage threatens to shatter their dreams, Catherine must dig deep to prove her worth. With the dazzling unveiling of their new sparkling wine in Bordeaux in jeopardy, will she and Chris overcome the challenges of the past and present to secure their future—and find love in the process?

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Posted in: Excerpt

Review: Land of Wolves: Revelations by Invi Wright

21 August, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Land of Wolves: Revelations
(Land of Wolves, #1)
Invi Wright
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: March 31, 2026
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating:

Evelyn intends to kill the man she’s destined to love.

She’s the shifter alpha’s fated mate, and the red marking on her hand is the proof. Captured as a child and raised in a human government facility, she’s the weapon that will finally bring the shifters to their knees.

Evelyn knows her purpose. Get close. Learn the alpha’s secrets. Then kill him.

Sent into shifter territory under the guise of a failed kidnapping, she quickly finds herself in the presence of her mate—the elusive Alpha Knox. He’s feared, ruthless, and yet nothing like the monster she was taught to expect. Instead of brutality, he offers protection. Instead of cruelty, he offers patience.

For the first time in her life, Evelyn begins to question who the real enemy is.

If she accepts the mate bond, she betrays her people. If she completes her mission, she destroys the only man who has ever treated her like she matters.

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Posted in: Paranormal Romance

Sneak Peek Wednesday: His Beautiful Game by Peyton Lux

19 August, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

His Beautiful Game
(Lanark Soccer Club, #1)
Peyton Lux
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: Aug. 11, 2026
Genre: Sports Romance

My childhood crush is my injured captain… and I’m the physio secretly keeping him on the pitch.

Rafe Calder is everything I learned not to want: flashy, reckless, adored, and far too beautiful. He is also hurt, lying about it, and somehow mine to fix.

I catch the limp no one else sees, then make the dumbest deal of my life. Private rehab, locked rooms, my hands on him daily, and one rule I keep pretending still matters.

At first, he pushes because he hates being handled. Then he listens when pain scares him, lets me see the lonely man under the captain’s armband, and looks ready to break when Donovan Reid makes me smile.

Somewhere between treatment lights, late-night checkups, and one reckless after-hours mistake that turns into more, I fall. Not for the fantasy I used to worship, but for the man who finally stops performing.

Then his injury truth explodes, and protecting him could cost me everything.

Worst of all, loving him might end his career.

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Posted in: Excerpt

Review: So F*cking Special by Raye Murphy

14 August, 2026 7:55 pm , 1 Comment ,

So F*cking Special: 1996
Raye Murphy
Publisher: RupertBossier
Publication date: March 15, 2024
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

A 90’s Friday Night Lights meets Fifty Shades… only the town is the sadomasochist and the two young lovers its pawns.

July Elizabeth Edwards is stuck in the existence her pretentious, rural East Texas town has allotted her. A shift in social status junior year provokes unlikely ride or die friendships, others’ secrets she’s not allowed to tell, and an unexpected crush on the ambitious Adrian Reed. The result is far more insatiable than anyone anticipated.

Before cell phones and social media, walk the halls of Pure Pines High as they are set figuratively to a Soundtrack of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Counting Crows, R.E.M., The Cranberries and Radiohead… When the preps were challenged by the grunge phase, and polo shirts and loafers were traded in for flannel shirts and name brand combat boots. Their world was changing, and it was hard to remain CLUELESS.

She’s known and competed with him her entire life. He was conceited and arrogant. She was treading water to survive Pure Pines. When circumstances strip them of cheerleading and football, the odds throw a replacement neither of them expects, and something the halls of Pure Pines High are certain to reject. One touch, an out of ordinary lingering stare, and something ignites that won’t die down, only does it count if it’s a secret? How long will it stay behind closed doors? When love is denied, lust becomes unapologetic.

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary, Young Adult

Review: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

7 August, 2026 8:00 pm , 1 Comment ,

Dungeon Crawler Carl
Dungeon Crawler Carl #1
By: Matt Dinniman
Narrator: Jeff Hays
Publisher: Dandy House Publishing & Sound Booth Theater (audiobook)
Genre: SciFi
Rating:

The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend’s cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you’re in, you can’t get out. And what’s worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it’s game over. In this game, it’s not about your strength or your dexterity. It’s about your followers, your views. Your clout. It’s about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can’t just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that “it” factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That’s the only way to truly survive in this game—with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it’s anything but a game.

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Posted in: Sci-fi

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