Review: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

10 April, 2014 5:20 pm , Leave a Comment ,

7514925Tiger Lily
By: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: July 3, 2012
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating:
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Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn’t believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she’s ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland’s inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she’s always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it’s the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who’s everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

 

1thoughtsThis is a great retelling of Peter Pan. Well, actually it’s not really Peter’s story. Tiger Lily is the main focus in the story. Tinker Bell is a faerie who has taken an interest in Tiger Lily’s life. Tiger Lily is unlike any of the other females from her tribe. It’s also known that Tiger Lily has cursed people who have crossed her. Leaving everyone wearing around Tiger Lily. The story is told in Tinker Bell’s point of view as she recounts her observations.

I will be honest that it took a little bit for me to get used to the narration. It’s in first person (Tink) but she focuses so much on the other characters that it’s almost like third person as well. It was very interesting and I have to give the author major props for pulling it off. After I got used to I could just imagine everything playing out.

I liked that the author showed a different side to Peter and even Wendy (who makes an appearance in the book). The only thing I have to go off of is Disney’s version of Peter Pan. So this was a very interesting retelling of a classic. The author added in so much that the only things that seemed the same in the story were the names. She really did a great job in taking a classic story and making it her own.

One thing I have to take a step back and applaud is how gritty the story was. For a YA the author touched on some interesting things. I don’t want to go into too much detail but there’s arranged marriages, village rapes, jealousy that causes malicious acts, and suicide. She doesn’t go into detail over the situations but she definitely eludes to these things happening. There were times that I was reading and my heart just felt like it stopped beating because things were so intense. I stayed up way later than I should have for a work night just so that I could finish it. And there is where my major complaint is… the end. It literally ends and goes into the acknowledgements. I seriously checked the pages to see if my library copy was missing one but nope. Maybe I need to watch Peter Pan again and the missing link will be there and everyone who’s a Pan fan will be like, “Oooooh, she’s so clever to incorporate that in her story.”, but I’m just thoroughly lost.

 

1favequote“Sometimes I think that maybe we are just stories. Like we may as well just be words on a page, because we’re only what we’ve done and what we are going to do.”

kRISTIN

Posted in: YA Fantasy

Guest Post: The Romeo Club by Rebekah L. Purdy

8 April, 2014 2:16 am , 1 Comment ,

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author234

Rebekah Purdy grew up in Michigan, where she spent many late nights armed with a good book and a flashlight. When not hiding at her computer and getting lost in her stories, she enjoys reading, singing, soccer, swimming, football, camping, playing video games and hanging out with her kids. She loves the unexplainable like Bigfoot, the Dogman, and the Loch Ness Monster (lots of good story material)! She admits to still having all the books she bought throughout her childhood and teen years, and she may or may not have an obsession with anything chocolate…

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Review: Charade by Nyrae Dawn

7 April, 2014 6:16 pm , Leave a Comment ,

CharadeMockCharade
(Games, #1)
By: Nyrae Dawn
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: Oct. 22, 2012
Genre: New Adult Romance
Rating:
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Nineteen-year-old Cheyenne tries to portray the perfect life to mask the memories of her past. Walking in on her boyfriend with another woman her freshman year in college threatens that picture of perfection.

Twenty-one-year-old Colt never wanted college and never expected to amount to anything, but when his mom’s dying wish is for him to get his degree, he has no choice but to pretend it’s what he wants too.

Cheyenne needs a fake boyfriend to get back at her ex and Colt needs cash to take care of his mom, so they strike a deal that helps them both. But what if Cheyenne’s past isn’t what she thought? Soon they’re trading one charade for another—losing themselves in each other to forget about their pain. The more they play their game, the more it becomes the only thing they have that feels real.

Both Cheyenne and Colt know life is never easy, but neither of them expect the tragedy that threatens to end their charade and rip them apart forever.

 

1thoughtsI thought this was going to be a cute romance but there were some really heavy topics in this story. You see, Chey’s mother left her at her aunts house 10 years ago and never came back for her. So Chey’s lived her life never really needing anyone. So when her boyfriend cheats on her, she’s left to fend for herself in his world. Since after all, she came to this college to be with him. At the same time Colt is dealing with a mother who is losing the battle with cancer. He does everything he can to make sure she has everything she needs and that there’s enough money to pay for the medical bills. So when Chey comes to him with the opportunity to not only stick it to her ex-boyfriend (who he’s not fond of) as well as get paid for it, he takes her up on her offer. However, while they are playing this game, the game changes.

Like I said, I was surprised by some of the more heavier parts that take place in this story. However, it’s the heavier parts that make this story awesome. This could have easily been a bad boy meets good girl new adult romance but Colt isn’t really that bad, he’s just trying to cope with his mother’s condition. I will admit that there were a couple of parts where I got teary eyed. This is definitely not a light romance.

 

1favequote “It’s easier to hide in the dark…but easier to let go too.”

kRISTIN

Posted in: New Adult, Romance

Sunday Wrap-Up #31

6 April, 2014 1:08 pm , 11 Comments ,

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Review: Immortal Hunter by Kait Ballenger

5 April, 2014 3:10 am , 1 Comment ,

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Posted in: Paranormal Romance

Review: How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper

30 March, 2014 5:41 pm , 3 Comments ,

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Posted in: chick lit, Paranormal Romance

Excerpt: Uncovering You by Scarlett Edwards

28 March, 2014 8:30 am , 1 Comment ,

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Posted in: Excerpt, Romance

Guest Post: Fighting Connolly’s by Roxie Rivera

25 March, 2014 7:14 am , 8 Comments ,

FC

 

 

author

I like to write super sexy romances and naughty erotica that make your pulse pound. I also write erotic romances as Lolita Lopez including the red-hot GRABBED series for Ellora’s Cave and the upcoming Dragon Heat series from Forever Yours/Grand Central.

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Review: Thrill Ride by Julie Ann Walker

23 March, 2014 7:59 am , 1 Comment ,

15831824Thrill Ride
(Black Knights Inc., #4)
By: Julie Ann Walker
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Published: April 2, 2013
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating:
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He’s Gone Rogue

Ex-Navy SEAL Rock Babineaux’s job is to get information, and he’s one of the best in the business. Until something goes horribly wrong and he’s being hunted by his own government. Even his best friends at the covert special-ops organization Black Knights Inc. aren’t sure they can trust him. He thinks he can outrun them all, but his former partner—a curvy bombshell who knows just how to drive him wild—refuses to cut him loose.

She Won’t Back Down

Vanessa Cordova hasn’t been the team’s communication specialist
very long, but she knows how to read people—no way is Rock guilty of murder. And she’ll go to hell and back to help him prove it. Sure, the sexy Cajun has his secrets, but there’s no one in the world she’d rather have by her side in a tight spot. Which is good, because they’re about to get very tight…

 

1thoughts“The story of a woman who was scared of the dark and a man who was scared of love, who’d come together to overcome all their fears…”

I don’t know why but I didn’t gravitate to this story like I did the others. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the story but I just didn’t get wrapped into it as much as the others and I’m not really sure why. The characters were likable and the sexual tension was there like the previous books. Heck, Vanessa and Rock are crawling through the Costa Rican rainforest and hiding in trees to get away from the enemy. So the suspense was there as well. I just don’t know why I didn’t fall into this story like the others.

“I just thought I should drag you down off that high horse you climbed up on. Wouldn’t want you to start suffering from altitude sickness or anything.”

I did like the humor in this novel. Vanessa doesn’t back down from Rock, and Rock tries his hardest to hide from Vanessa. You see, Rock lost his fiancee years ago and he never wants to feel that loss again and he knows that his life is currently forfeit and doesn’t want to cause Vanessa and pain either. So he hides behind behind being a sarcastic ass and Vanessa gives as good as she gets to hide her frustration over this man.

“She was in a hollowed-out log, in the middle of a Costa Rican rainforest, being hunted by the CIA with a man ho had no qualms telling her that, while he thought she was hot-to-trot and he wouldn’t mind letting her polish his rocket-so to speak-he has absolutely no plans to start anything permanent with her because…and get this… he would never-that would be with a capital N, his tone had made that very obvious-fall in love with her.”

Like I said, I enjoyed the story and all the puzzle pieces that fell into place but I just couldn’t dive fully into it for some reason. However, I still really enjoyed the storyline and look forward to the next Black Knights Inc novel.

 

1favequote“Zut! Just give me some bubble bath and a tampon. I think I’m officially part of the estrogen party.” -Rock

kRISTIN

Posted in: romantic suspense

Excerpt: Trust Me by Natasha Blackthorne

22 March, 2014 8:52 am , 1 Comment ,

unnamedTrust Me
(Regency Risks, #2)
By: Natasha Blackthorne
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Erotic Historical Romance

Goodreads

Anne and Jon’s story continues.

Is she insane?

All of Mayfair is whispering the question.

Anne Lloyd, the new Countess of Ruel, thought she’d finally begun to heal from having witnessed the terrible death of her first husband. But, from her new husband’s grandmother to his ex-mistresses, it is all that is on everyone’s lips. What scares her more than the potential social ruin is that even she isn’t sure they aren’t right.

Jonathon Lloyd, the Earl of Ruel, has commanded men on the battlefield and women in the ballrooms and bedchambers with his dominant personality. It tears him apart that he can’t command his wife’s terrors to go away. To top it off, he has to battle his grandmother, for Anne’s acceptance as the new Countess. There are times when it seems to him that the bloody battlefields of Europe were easier to navigate than the so-called civilized graces of Society.

There are those who will stop at nothing to tear apart the fragile bond between thenewlyweds. Can Lady and Lord Ruel learn to trust each enough to keep their love, andher sanity, intact?

Reader Advisory: Trust Me is an erotic historical romance. It features frequent, graphic descriptions of sexual acts and frank sexual slang from the time period. As a work of historical fiction, it is not meant to be an accurate portrayal of modern BDSM lifestyles or practices. It is also not meant to be an accurate portrayal of modern treatment or recovery from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

 

Excerpt

 
Jon released his tension in quiet whistle, and then tapped his fingers upon the desktop again.
There was no help for it. They must face this. No one could be allowed to believe that either of them was hiding in shame.
The bed creaked and drew his attention.
Anne had sat up, her black-as-midnight hair tumbled over her shoulders and her dark blue eyes were huge in a face that seemed a bit strained. A catch in his chest caused him to hold his breath.
He glanced back at the letter.

You stupid boy, did you forget yourself and stash your brains in your breeches?

Lady S. tells me that this Lady C. threw herself at your head and made such a spectacle of herself that you will be forced to marry her. Lady W. B. and the Countess of C. both say they believe you are already gone away on your wedding trip. Is that it then? I demand to know! Have you married Lady C.? Please tell me you haven’t wed this hoyden!!!

“It is unfair to be judged solely on such a moment.” Anne’s voice was very soft.
“I don’t like it, either. But it is the way our world is arranged. You are a lady and now you are my lady.”
Her shoulders rose and fell with her deep inhalation and then they slumped. “She makes me seem so dreadful.”

He ran a caressing hand over her upper back. “Anne, don’t be distressed. You must trust me to think on what to do. And you mustn’t worry.” He squeezed her hand. “We’ll give lie to the rumours.” He put all the confidence he possessed into his tone. However, he knew Cherry and Maria could be very vindictive. As could his grandmother.
A slight pounding began at Jon’s temples. Was Anne strong enough to face the fire?
 

 

author

I am married to my own hero and we share our life with a very quirky calico cat. I have a BA in History and I love to read, both romance and scholarly history and I listen to a variety of music from classical to reggae. But mostly I am hard at work researching and writing my next story.

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Posted in: Excerpt