Review: Neo’s New Home by D.T. Dyllin
Neo’s New Home
By: D.T. Dyllin (author) & J.N. Sheats (illustrator)
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: Sept. 27, 2013
Genre: Children’s Book
Rating:
Neo may call the animal shelter his current home, but he has bigger dreams… Dreams of finding his forever family and getting his doggie ‘happily ever after’. With the help of Tala, his doggie guardian angel, he may just find what he’s been looking for.
Neo’s New Home is a fun and yet heartwarming story that will teach as well as entertain. (Ages 4 & up)
*All proceeds from the sales of Neo’s New Home will be donated to the Middle Tennessee German Sheperd Rescue. (mtgsr.com)
Review: Dark Waters by Toni Anderson
Dark Waters
By: Toni Anderson
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: Aug. 6, 2013
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating:
Danger once again laps at the shores of Barkley Sound, the Graveyard of the Pacific…
Since her rocky childhood and its abrupt, brutal ending, schoolteacher Anna Silver hasn’t given her trust easily. But when her estranged father gets in over his head—again—and winds up dead, his last message to Anna is as clear as it is insistent: she’s in danger and Brent Carver, the man with whom he shared a prison cell for five years, is the only person she should turn to for help. With nowhere else to go and with her father’s killer on her trail, Anna flees to what she hopes is safety.
Tucked into the west coast of Vancouver Island, Brent Carver’s isolated home hasn’t seen many visitors. And his friend’s daughter is the last person he ever expected to grace his doorstep. She’s in trouble, and he can’t deny her protection…just as he can’t deny his attraction to the independent beauty. As their passion sparks into flame, the perfect storm brews off the coast of his island home, bringing with it a sadistic killer hunting Anna and the secrets she’s come close to uncovering.
Excerpt & Guest Post: Bad Reputation by P.W. Creighton
Bad Reputation
(North Shore, #1)
By: P.W. Creighton
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: Sept. 5, 2013
Genre: YA Mystery/Romance
The North Shore Sheriff’s Department has a bit of a problem. Someone contacted the local radio station last night and left an alarming confession.
Logan and his friends may be gossiping about it but their only concern is getting through the last day of school before summer vacation. After all, tonight is the party of the year. No one wants to miss it.
But the weight of secrets will have a costly price…
Through the trees I could just barely make out the practice field ahead of me. Another little secret Sara had let me in on. The truant officer tended to make his rounds on the half-hour and kept a close eye on the path through the woods to the parking lot. If I came in from the practice field, no one would bat an eye.
“Then again,” I said aloud.
I thought about grabbing my jacket, but it really wasn’t cold enough. My phone on the other hand, I needed. Checking the screen, it was only a little after nine. Tardy, but not something that would stand out.
There was still a chance to ditch the entire day. My phone gave a brief buzz of notification. I checked it to find a text waiting. It was Hailey again.
“Where R U?”
I groaned. She was pissed at me. If I bailed, not only would Sara and Mom freak on me, Hailey would jump down my throat. I could avoid them, but I needed to take Hailey to the party tonight. I could just stand her up. I let out a heavy breath. I wanted to go though, and if I didn’t take her, she would still find a way to get there. It was just better to deal with her now than to put it off till the end of the day. Maybe she wouldn’t be too pissed.
“5 Min” I texted back and started walking towards the practice field. Old leaves and branches crunched underfoot, keeping my mind off the fact that Hailey was going to rip me a new one, and I had no clue what she was going to want.
The girl could hold a grudge better than anyone I’ve ever known.
I emerged into the open near one of the maintenance sheds. Why was I still with Hailey? She was constantly pissing me off, and she didn’t even hear me most of the time. I turned right to follow the maintenance path. I dumped Jamie for less than what I was putting up with now. I opened the texts from Hailey to scroll back. There had to be some reason.
A few days back through the texts was all I needed as a reminder. It was a ‘selfie’ shot from Hailey angled down at her. She was giving me a playful smile. Straight, platinum blonde hair, a tight low-cut top and a teasing attitude, she was hot. Knowing how she felt silenced any objections my brain could come up with at the moment.
I smiled to myself.
Tucking the phone in my front pocket, I crossed into the parking lot. I couldn’t see anyone over the cars but I didn’t need to push it. I quickened my pace towards the end of the science building.
At the far end of the concrete and faux wood building I walked around the corner to the concrete steps and black railing. I took one last breath of the free air before climbing the stairs to the heavy fire-door. It was always left unlocked so teachers could duck out to the parking lot or students could get to the athletic fields. The cold handle slipped from my grasp as I tried to open the door. I finally noticed the grease and dirt on my hands.
“Ugh,” I groaned.
A Matter of Perception
“The Boldest Actions Often Conceal The Darkest Secrets…”
While high school feels like it was an eternity ago, a statement one of my teachers made has been a defining influence on my life. When one student was concerned with how everyone was going to see them, the teachers stated that- “Everyone is too caught up in their own drama to even notice. Why waste your time wondering what they think when they’re wondering what everyone else is thinking?”
It’s that sentiment that we always fail to recognize.
There are motivations for everything. Why that one person is a bully, why that girl is a cheerleader, why that boy is a geek, and even why that teacher is being so mean.
It’s all about how we perceive it.
That very thought is at the heart of all of my novels. It was also really prevalent in our high school days because most of us just wouldn’t question the motivations, nor would we look at it from any perspective but our own. It’s in our nature to just accept what we see and filter it through our own beliefs and ideals rather than attempt to understand.
Looking at that cool guy from high school: we only saw him from our perspective. We saw that he always seemed to be mouthing off to teachers, getting in fights in the hall, skipping class, going to all of the parties and even getting in trouble with the police. Everyone knew him but no one ever questioned just why he did the things he did.
The same is true of everyone that we knew, everyone that we currently know. We perceive the actions but we never really know the motivations unless we seek to understand. Even then, the more bold the action, the more guarded the motivation.
Everyone has secrets that drive their motivations and actions.
Born in California, I have spent most of my life traveling throughout the US. I draw inspiration from my many adventures, turning my strange reality into fiction.
Over the years, I’ve found myself in many unusual situations, ranging from hanging off an 80 foot cliff-face in New York, to sailing off the coast of Salem, Massachusetts. I have had an opportunity to work at an archaeological excavation, and have even reported from the middle of a police stand-off.
When a teacher asked me in the second grade what I wanted to be when I grew up, I didn’t have an answer. To be honest, I still don’t know. I let my characters make that decision for me.
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Review: Kat Scratch Fever by D.T. Dyllin
Kat Scratch Fever
(Kat Scratched Trilogy, #1)
By: D.T. Dyllin
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: Sept. 30, 2013
Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance
Rating:
It’s tough being a cat in a dog eat dog world. Something that Katrina Walker learned the hard way being a were-cat raised by a pack of werewolves. And after her taboo love affair with the future Alpha is discovered, Kat has no choice but to leave the only home and man she’s ever loved behind for good. Or so she thought…
Seven years later Kat is forced to return to pack lands and the man she left behind. But Jason Benson has changed, and so has she. Will she find her way back into the arms of her first love, or will James, the mysterious were-cat wriggle his way into her heart?
Review: Panic by J.A. Huss
Panic
(Rook and Ronin, #3)
By: J.A. Huss
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: Oct. 24, 2013
Genre: New Adult Romance
Rating:
Rook is chasing her dream—film school and a chance at a life beyond the one she ran from six months ago. But before she can become the girl she wants to be, she must deal with the girl she left behind.
Ronin is also chasing his dream—a family of his own and a life away from erotic modeling. And he too, has a past he’s trying to forget. A past that makes Rook question everything about their life together.
Lies, secrets, and shocking truths will rock the foundation Rook and Ronin have built. Can they put the past behind them and move forward together? Or is this just another too good to be true relationship that will crash and burn in the end?
There are no crazy contracts going with modeling. In fact, Rook’s contract with STURGIS is winding down and she’s not playing her part of running errands for Shrike Bikes for the tv show. Meanwhile, Ronin is back at the studio casting girls for the GIDGET campaign. So the two of them are separated for the majority of the book. However, even though the story starts off like everything is looking on the up and up for these two, the sh*t hits the fan and pretty soon everyone’s world is turned upside down.
I must say that J.A. did a great job with ending this trilogy. She didn’t leave any loose ends. We find out everything that happened with Rook before stumbling into the studio and landing a modeling gig. We also learn more about Ronin, Ford and Spencer. Their past as a “team” that lead Spencer as the muscle, Ford as the brains and Ronin as the front man.
J.A. paced the story beautifully since we get a lot of information in this one and a lot does happen. However, the story never felt rushed or like it went off course. This book was the climatic grand finale for the trilogy. Even though I’m sad to see Rook and Ronin’s story end, I’m happy with how everything ended.
“How did I get here? We’re Three’s Company. Spencer is airhead Chrissy, Ford is international Janet, and I’m pretending to be gay so I don’t notice that you two are roommate eye-candy.”
Previous reviews from Rook and Ronin
Tragic
Manic
JA Huss is a SF and new adult romance junkie, has a love-hate relationship with the bad boys, and likes to write new adult books about people with real problems. She lives with her family on a small acreage farm in Colorado and has two donkeys named Paris and Nicole. Before writing fiction, she authored almost two hundred science workbooks and always has at least three works in progress. Her first new adult romance is called TRAGIC.
Review: A Perfect Mess by Zoe Dawson
A Perfect Mess
(A Perfect Mess, #1)
By: Zoe Dawson
Publisher: Blue Moon Creative
Published: Aug. 5, 2013
Genre: New Adult
Rating:
I know what you did last summer.
Aubree Walker, the perfect girl most likely to succeed, is sure there’s only one person who knows what she did.
Booker Outlaw, one of the three Outlaw brothers—all identical, all gorgeous, all from the wrong side of the tracks, and all pure bad boys. He was always the unpredictable one, the one who would be brash enough to make it big self-publishing horror novels on the internet. He promised never to tell, but everyone knows you can never trust an Outlaw.
Then a year later, in the middle of the night, she receives a phone call at Tulane. Her aunt, who took her in after her mother’s death, is in a coma under suspicious circumstances. Now she has to face that one person who knows all about what she did that summer—sexy Booker.
Returning to Hope Parish to be with her aunt, stirs up all those ugly memories. When Aubree starts getting threats, she can’t help but wonder if what she did last summer was tied to her aunt’s “accident.” Afraid, she turns to the only person who knows the truth and Booker doesn’t hesitate to offer his broad shoulder for her to lean on. But Booker has a secret of his own that could crush their fledgling relationship.
As the hot, sultry summer days move on, she finds that even a perfectly smart girl can lose her heart to a perfectly bad boy. What is she going to do when someone starts asking questions Aubree doesn’t want to answer? She’s knee deep into a terribly dangerous, wholly life changing, who-can-she-really-depend-on perfect mess.
Aubree is the 19 year old goodie two-shoes math whiz while Booker is the 19 year old bad-boy who just so happens to be a best-selling author. They each share a secret. The same secret that made Aubree run from her hometown one year ago. But when her aunt (who raised her), takes a serious fall and ends up in a coma, Aubree goes back to the place that she never planned on visiting again. A place that holds her deepest darkest secret.
This was an entertaining read. You had some suspense over Aubree getting these cryptic text messages from someone claiming to know what she did last summer. The summer that holds her dark secret. So she confides in Booker since he was involved in what happened that night. However, we as readers have no idea what this big bad secret is until the very end. So the entire time I was speculating what could have happened. So I did like the mystery behind the big secret.
However, I had a problem with the characters. These are supposed to be 19 years. What I read were people in their late 20’s or early 30’s. The way they portrayed themselves and the way they talked did not come off as someone in their teens. So throughout the entire time I pictured people who were older. I mean, Booker self published a few books online and all of a sudden he’s this big hot shot author who has 3 vehicles, a fancy house and is pretty much a famous author. Maybe because I’m a blogger and talk to authors who are not only published through big publishers but indie authors as well, I’m calling bullshit. All the stories I’ve ever heard from authors is that it’s not as glamorous of a job as people think. They are not rolling in the dough, in fact most still have day jobs. Then you have Booker’s brother who owns a bar/grill. Who again, is 19. Not only does he have a liquor license at his establishment but him and his brothers (triplets) drink there. I just couldn’t get on board with it. No one at 19 were saying things like “I was ‘overcome’, not just by your emotions but by my own.” The characters should have been written as adults instead of teens. I think had that been the case I would have enjoyed the story so much more and wouldn’t have had to keep pulling myself out of the story to remind myself that this was a group of teenagers not full blown adults.
I liked the idea of this book and I enjoyed it as a whole but I really had a problem with the way the author wrote the characters. It felt more like the author had written this story initially about a 25-35 year old couple and then went back and changed the age to 19. And that really messed up my reading when I had to keep reminding myself that these were teens not adults. If it weren’t for that, I could’ve easily given this 4 emotes but it messed with my head way too much.
“I couldn’t stand there and stare at her. My reputation in town was bad enough. I didn’t need to add perv to it.”
Review: Someone Else’s Skye by Christine Wenrick
Someone Else’s Skye
(Men of Brahm Hill, #1)
By: Christine Wenrick
Publisher: Red Tree House Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating:
One night . . . one violent, supernatural battle . . . and five stories of the men whose lives will be changed by it.
Kane, Brethren Guardian and one of the few Natural Shape-Shifters left in existence, survives the bloody battle of Brahm Hill but loses two of his closest friends. For all of his good-natured sarcasm and eye-popping good looks, Kane finds himself unable to completely forget about that night, so he seeks comfort in the one thing he is truly good at . . . sex!
This shape-shifting bad boy believes in having a good time—a very good time, usually involving mingled heavy breathing with a sexy Dhampir in a tiny closet somewhere. But when Kane is sent into the freezing tundra of the Northwest Territories to investigate a troublesome supernatural being reported to be on the loose, he soon crosses paths with a woman who almost instantly drives him insane with desire . . . because she doesn’t seem to be falling for his charms.
It’s completely inexplicable.
Skye Matthews has a job to do, and she needs to be focused on that, not spending all her time rebuffing the advances of this way-too-cocky and handsome stranger. Yet, there is something irresistible about this self-involved playboy that she can’t seem to ignore. And when the ‘Unidentified’ Kane is sent to investigate takes an unnatural interest in Skye, protecting her becomes the Guardian’s top priority.
But . . . can he save Skye from a supernatural being no one has ever encountered before?
Even though this is a first in a series, this is a spin off series and should ultimately be read after reading the Charmed trilogy. The big battle that starts this series is actually the climatic battle scene from the last book of the Charmed trilogy. The main characters from this story are actually secondary characters from the previous trilogy. So I think that, had I not read the Charmed trilogy, I’d have been lost going into this story.
I really enjoyed catching up with all of the characters again. Since they were secondary characters in the previous storyline, we didn’t really get a chance to know them on a deeper level. So it’s nice to have them get their time in the lime light. Plus there was the added bonus that the “Angel” from The Charmed Fates turns out to be Skye. So like I said, the two series sort of interlock with each other.
Skye is something that no one has ever witnessed before. She has special powers that don’t really classify her as any given supernatural that we’ve seen before. For instance the fact that she’s invisible to the lycans or why she’s always sent out on dangerous missions by her father. The entire time I was guessing what she was and it isn’t revealed until the end of the book.
There was also the added mystery behind the Wraith. It appeared to be attracted to Skye and always seemed to pop up wherever she was. It was described at basically the Loony Toons version of the Tazmanian Devil. It’s just this force to be recon with that can take out trees, cars and is pretty much indestructible.
I liked that this story had more than one thing that kept the reader guessing until the end. Yeah it’s a paranormal romance so you know that in the end they will be together but you don’t know what’s really going on between the Wraith and Skye until the very end. Plus, I also liked getting inside Kane’s head who was somewhat of a “tough-guy” in the last trilogy. I will definitely be keeping up with this series.
When Skye comes across Kane for the first time in his animal form he’s under the disguise as Bogart the jaguar. However, Skye doesn’t think Bogart fits him.
“You really are a beautiful animal. But Bogart? I assume that’s for Humphrey. You don’t look like a Bogart to me. You should have a much more exotic name. Something proud, strong… like Mufasa.”
Christine is the author of The Charmed Trilogy. She lives in the scenic Pacific Northwest where she enjoys hiking, camping and photographing many of the wonderful places that served as inspiration for her novels. Her biggest reward in life is any given day when one of her books connects with a reader, because she herself is such a lover of reading.
You can connect with Christine via her:
website | twitter | facebook
Review: Play With Me by Piper Shelly
Play With Me
(Grover Beach Team, #1)
By: Piper Shelly
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: Dec. 9, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Rating:
Ryan Hunter’s parties are legend. And tonight she’s going to be there.
Liza Matthews anticipates the return of her best friend and only love since kindergarten from soccer camp. But when Tony finally shows up, his mind is more focused on another girl. And worse, she’s a soccer player. Fighting for the attention Liza craves, she’s just a hairbreadth away from making a very stupid decision. But when extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, she’s prepared to play ball to get her man.
The tryouts are hell, the first match ends bloody, and the morning after the selection party she wakes up in the worst place possible—in the arms of the captain of the soccer team. The hottest guy in school. Ryan Hunter.
Liza’s been in love with her best friend, Tony, since they were little but things have always remained platonic between them. However, Liza is determined to make him see her in a new light when he gets home from soccer camp. However, she finds out that while she was pining away for him while he was gone, he was getting cozy with a co-ed player. Confused as to what’s going on with Tony, the new girl and her feelings, the captain of the soccer team, Ryan starts showing a softer side of himself that she never knew existed. He’s even there to pick up the pieces when it seems like her world is falling apart but can she trust him with her heart?
I don’t usually like short stories. I can never seem to connect with the characters, however, I LOVED this story. I was aggravated at Liza for pining away for Tony when he was clearly shacking up with someone else. My heart melted every time she interacted with Ryan. No seriously, Ryan is the typical “bad-boy” that’s become the norm for YA novels. He’s so freaking sweet and caring. When Liza got really drunk at his party, he carried her to his room so that she wouldn’t be disturbed by other party members “using” the spare bedrooms, since his was off limits to anyone but himself. When she decides to join the soccer team to get closer to Tony, he takes it upon himself to practice with her one-on-one. There were just so many sweet moments that my heart was literally melting the entire time. I don’t think he could’ve been any more swoon worthy if he were holding a basket full of kittens. *Thinks about that for a moment…* Nope, not even with a basket full of kittens.
Considering that this is under 100 pages I fell in love with the characters. I was extremely invested in their life. The author wrote the book in such a way that I didn’t realize it was a short story. I really wish it have been about 4x longer but that’s just because I couldn’t get enough. Piper definitely brought the characters to life as teenagers. I know you’ve heard me whine about it before but I hate when an author writes teens as they THINK they should behave, instead of the way that teens really are. Piper got this one spot on. There was angst, drinking, grounding (how many YA books have you read where the parents are absent?!) and the mention of sex.
I really couldn’t have been happier with this story. I loved it from start to finish. I loved this story so much that I’m clamoring to get my hands on the second novel, Ryan Hunter, which is a retelling of this story but in Ryan’s pov. Piper has made her way to the top of my fave list with just 80 pages. I’m pretty sure I will gobble up anything she writes.
This is probably my favorite part simply because this is what goes through my mind on the few occasions I was crazy enough to go for a run with my husband… who’s a Marine. Yeah, not the smartest thing on my part since I’ve been told on numerous occasions that, “You don’t walk, you clomp.”
“How did he do this? Run so far and still speak to me like he was lounging on the sofa. Gasping for aid, I only nodded.”
The quick-and-dirty: I’m a cool girl with a passion for writing. The genres you’ll find me hanging out at are contemporary and paranormal YA, but I’m also snooping into some adult paranormal right now. All of them romances…of course. The nitty-gritty: I’m an Austrian lass—totally uncomplicated and up to anything fun. I grew up in Vienna, not by free will but because my parents decided to move there when I was only 4 years old. I. Hated. The. City. Everything about it. So right after graduation I moved back to Upper Austria, where I settled down with a nice husband and an awesome laptop. I’ve been a storyteller all my life. Already in kindergarten, I came up with the most exotic fantasies and tales. My teacher would call me a liar. I call it the cornerstone of my writing career. People always told me you can’t make a living with being an author. So when my first novella PLAY WITH ME came out and shot straight to the stars within the first week, I was totally dumbstruck. Took me a while to realize what was happening, LOL. And the personal stuff: At the (awesome) age of seventeen, I met the love of my life. But he was a playboy, and I was so not going to be his next trophy. It took him another four years of fighting for me until I finally decided to give that “couple-thing” with him a shot. I’m now married to this man. 😉
We have an eleven-year-old son, and together we travel a lot…although I sometimes wish the trips were shorter because I can’t wait to get back to my laptop and my many stories. Unless we’re in Disneyland. No stress to go home then…
